Hi, my name is Dave. I have been around the forums for quite a long time now and have mostly been an M5 owner. For anybody that knows who I am on these forums, you will know that I am a well known BMW enthusiast and a recognized BMW M5 guru. I have owned both the E60 M5 and the F10 M5 among many other BMW's I have owned in the past.
I recently started my position as a Client Adviser at a BMW Dealership here in Southern California as well. Today we just got in our very first G30 5-Series! I had the opportunity to snap a few pictures of it with my iPhone 6 and shoot a quick video of it. I did a short test drive with it today as well.
Here is my short synopsis on the new G30 as I came to experience it today. Oh and I am writing this from the perspective of a long time 5-Series enthusiast and owner as well.
Overall, my first impressions of the car was that is definitely beautiful. A nice upgrade in executive feel over the F10 in almost every aspect. The overall size of the car is noticeable even though it is practically only 1 inch longer than the F10 and .1 inches wider, while being about 1 inch taller in height. I drove the car, sat in the passenger seat and sat in the back seats. This particular 530i we got in today was not equipped with the optional Nappa Leather, but the Dakota Leather still felt and looked great.
Edit: The dash is Sensatec but now is better stitched and designed than the F10.
The other highly noticeable aspect of the new G30 is the technology that is now in the car. Like many have pointed out, the G30 gets a lot of the tech from the 7-Series and even more. The polished finish of the lower center console and the center console in the middle definitely gives it an edge over the F10. With all of its new technology and fit and finish the G30 just feels more futuristic and luxurious at the same time versus the F10's feeling of only luxury. The way that the buttons and knobs are designed feel more in line with a spacecraft from science-fiction or even dare I say a Porsche Panamera.
On the exterior the tail lights look very good in their elongated form and I had my reservations about the headlights connecting to the grille in the front but I have to say that the headlights look great! What took me by surprise was now the actual size of the kidney grilles. I know that they had to stretch them out a bit in order to meet the headlights but I do feel with absolute conviction that they look too big for a 5-Series and give me the feeling that what we are driving is not a 5-Series but a mini 7-Series from the frontal aspect.
Sitting in the backseat, I got the same exact experience as sitting in the back seat of the F10 5-Series, nothing major to report only that the stitching and design of the leather on the back seats is quite nice and upscale.
Some other surprising things or things that I knew about but will report on anyways: One is the fact that with the G30 we now get the door unlock/lock toggle switch on the doors now and not in the center console between the air vents. I love this. Another thing is that they did indeed switch back to the old E60 way of adjusting the coolness or warmess of the air coming out of the vents. For many models now and for a couple of generations the control to adjust the cool/warm air has been controlled with the dial next to the vents themselves as many have been familiar with for quite some time, but for anyone who owned an E60 5-Series, you will remember that, that dial did not exist and in order to adjust the cool/warm air coming out of the vents you had to go through the iDrive. So yeah, BMW went back to the E60 way of doing that business, they removed the dials and now you have to go through the iDrive again. Don't ask me why.
Also one thing that was surprising was the addition of what the Europeans have always gotten standard for parking signals. It's true that on American Spec-BMW's you could hold the turn signal stock and the turn signals on which ever side you selected would blink a few times to alert passing cars that passengers were entering/exiting the vehicle. Well with the new G30, we get actual buttons for that feature. They are located next to the light switch dial and you have a button for each side of the car. Now this is a feature that I love.
Headroom felt great, nice and spacious, while the act of driving the car itself was very very good. I do have to say that BMW did a great job with giving the steering wheel good feel in the center lock zone. The suspension felt soft but not overly floaty, and I didn't expect it to with the M Sport Package on the car as well. The ergonomics of the interior are spot on, and I actually liked the little compartment sliding door where the cup-holders are. It is also a different feeling than the F10, where the center arm rest is going forward. The lower center console is now on an inclined slant as it moves toward the cupholders. I thought this was kind of a weird feeling. I was concerned that this area wasn't going to be well executed, but they did a good job. I also noticed a huge area forward of the cup-holders with a charging symbol displayed. This is where I am sure we will able to charge our wirelessly-charging equipped phones and the optional massive computer key fob.
Overall, I am left with the impression that the new G30 5-Series is a serious upgrade in terms of technology and luxury and comfort over the F10, but I still felt the exterior of the vehicle is a parallel design move from the F10 instead of a leap forward in design architecture like previous generations of the 5-Series has been, but this isn't exactly a bad thing. Exterior wise the car looked very sexy and executive. Pretty much like Jesus in a Tuxedo T-Shirt. Where class, style and luxury are easily apparent, but also exuding a look of sportiness, athleticism, and stamina with features like the slanted air vent behind the front wheel and its broad stance.
Thanks and I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Oh and I'm also kind of pissed that the stand G30 530i with the M Sports Package comes with a cooler looking key fob than my F10 M5. Lol!
Oh and sorry for the bad pictures. All I had on me today was my iPhone6 but I did shoot a video in 720p for everyone's enjoyment.
