[TomWinMD]

My car is approaching 8K miles on the clock and I thought I'd share some comments on it.

The car has paint protective film applied, and beyond keeping it clean, I've made no changes other than swapping out the Pirelli PZ4's for Continental DWS 06's for the winter.

The car has the following packages/options: Driving Assistance Plus, Dynamic Handling, Parking Assistant, Executive, 20-inch wheels, heated front and rear seats, and front massaging seats.

First off, I love the car! It handles beautifully, and the power under the hood (bonnet if you prefer) is impressive.

Mechanically/functionally, the car has been great. The N63 TU3 engine is running well, no oil leaks, or coolant leaks. In the interest of full disclosure, the car has been in for one warranty visit - to replace the glass next to the right rear passenger door's C-pillar. The glass was ever so lightly scratched during transport from Dingolfing.

I've have turned off the gesture control - it's just too annoying to be useful for anyone who talks with their hands.

The integration of iDrive with Apple devices could be tighter - e.g. you can't select a music playlist from your iPhone.

Lane assist needs to be less sensitive to get close enough to the lane boundaries when another lane is not available to give room to law enforcement, construction, broken down vehicles, etc. – otherwise, the lane keeping tries to drag you back to center when you don’t want to be there. It doesn't matter how much you dial back the sensitivity (I have); you basically have to turn it off to avoid having the car try to drag you back toward the peace officer, parked car, etc.

Last, in a recent winter storm, the heavy wet snow accumulated on the LED headlights, likely because LED lights are cooler than other types, and the car doesn't come with a lens heating system or headlight washer to clear them.

On the positive side, the car handled very well in the snow and slush (put it in traction mode) and the recent update to the car's iDrive operating system installed without a hitch (be careful and follow the update instructions) as did the most recent quarterly map update for the navigation system.

On the whole, if I'm heading into the dealer to buy a new car, I'd buy a 2021 M550i again, loaded with the packages on mine now.

If anyone has questions, feel free to reach out and I'll do my best to answer them.

Tom

[modthispny]

gorgeous car. love the cerium grey trim pieces

[wigglebutts]

Thanks Tom! How are the seats wearing? Any rattles develop?

Beautiful car

[SteveinArizona]

I agree with you about the lane keep assist. I do want and did order the driver assistance packages but I have turned the lane keep assist off. On the other hand, I do love adaptive cruise control.

[paquet]

Question for you - what do you mean by can't select a playlist from your phone?
can you elaborate please?

[hlothery]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I agree with you about the lane keep assist. I do want and did order the driver assistance packages but I have turned the lane keep assist off. On the other hand, I do love adaptive cruise control.

Me, too, lane keep assist was the first nanny to go. Didn't like ACC at first, but have grown to love it. Only trouble I've had (37K now) is the battery in the emergency call system had to be replaced, and the lower shutters had to be replaced, both under warranty.

[Dummy Salapa deux]

Originally Posted by modthispny

gorgeous car. love the cerium grey trim pieces

Interesting that some like the cerium. My mirror covers come in today and that will be the last bit of cerium to go on my Black Sapphire Metallic.

[positiveions]

Car looks beautiful.

[5Pilot]

What a fantastic machine.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by modthispny

gorgeous car. love the cerium grey trim pieces

Thanks. I wasn't totally sold on them, and was considering changing them to black (I didn't order the shadowline package), but they've grown on me. They make the car a bit more distinctive.

Although, if they add that gaping mouth of a grill on the next engineering model of the five, I'm tapping out and holding onto this one until they do away with it.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by wigglebutts

Thanks Tom! How are the seats wearing? Any rattles develop?

Beautiful car

The seats are fine - no issues, rattles, or functional (massaging, heat, cooling) problems. Also, the interior fit and finish is very good - no gaps/seams, or blemishes.

Thanks.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

I agree with you about the lane keep assist. I do want and did order the driver assistance packages but I have turned the lane keep assist off. On the other hand, I do love adaptive cruise control.

I've kept the lane assist on so far in it's least annoying (i.e. most forgiving) setting, and so far, so good.

It's definitely less annoying, but once in a while...

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by packet

Question for you - what do you mean by can't select a playlist from your phone?
can you elaborate please?

Sure. With my iPhone paired via Carplay, and the infotainment system in iDrive mode (i.e. the BMW software selected - not Carplay), I cannot reach the iPhone's music library/playlists via the steering wheel controls.

It's possible I don't understand how to do it, but the iPhone's playlists don't seem to be a selectable entertainment option unless I already have used the Central Information Display (CID) to bring up CarPlay and select music, etc.

Hope that helps.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by hlothery

Me, too, lane keep assist was the first nanny to go. Didn't like ACC at first, but have grown to love it. Only trouble I've had (37K now) is the battery in the emergency call system had to be replaced, and the lower shutters had to be replaced, both under warranty.

I love the ACC/driver assist - particularly on the LCI version of the car. BMW adjusted the software for the US market to allow you only to have one hand on the steering wheel to keep the ACC/driver assist active.

The 2020 demonstrator I drove before placing the order required two hands on the wheel for ACC /driver assist to stay active. My understanding that was based primarily on the legal requirements in Germany, which are a bit more strict than here in the US.

I'm due for an oil change in 2K miles or so - we'll see what the dealer finds when they check the car out then, but so far, the onboard system shows no faults, etc. I'm going to post one or two other issues in a minute.

[TomWinMD]

I wanted to post two other items I neglected to mention in my first post, neither are major items. One is minor, and the other is a bit more curious, than concerning.

The tire pressure management system - I've had two sets of tires on the car so far. A summer set - the Pirrelli PZ4 high performance set that came with the car, and a winter Continental DWS 06 set.

First off - I love the DWS 06's - had them for several years on my old F10 550i, and never had a complaint.

So here's the curious issue - with the PZ4's on last year, the TPM system (which is now more advanced and tells you to adjust the pressure based on ambient temps, the tires installed, etc.) at the end of last summer and during the fall kept telling me to set the tire pressure to 48 psi. Max inflation pressure is 50 psi (based on the warning on the side of the tire), and the car's manual says the pressure should be 42 psi front, 39 psi rear (for speeds under and over 100mph). I manually checked the tires repeatedly, and the cold pressure was stable over many months until the weather got cooler in the fall and I needed to add a couple of pounds to get back to 42 and 39.

With the DWS 06's installed, the tires are set at 42 and 39 front and rear, and the TPM hasn't said a word about checking the pressure and adjusting it.

I have no idea what the deal is with this, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it in the spring when I have the dealer pull the DWS 06's and swap them for the PZ4's again.

Here's the minor functional issue - the new 2021 cars come with the Drive Recorder feature. I think it's great in case you end up in an accident (assuming you haven't been driving on a public road like you're on a track). You are supposed to be able to download the 40 second video clips from the car by plugging a USB memory stick into the USB port (Type A) - my car won't download the video. I've tried a couple of different USB memory sticks - no luck. I'm open to ideas on this one, and I'll let the dealer know come oil change time.

Thanks for all your comments and 'appreciates' so far.

Safe driving.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by modthispny

gorgeous car. love the cerium grey trim pieces

Thanks.

[TomWinMD]

Originally Posted by positiveions

Car looks beautiful.

Thanks.

[paquet]

Originally Posted by TomWinMD

Sure. With my iPhone paired via Carplay, and the infotainment system in iDrive mode (i.e. the BMW software selected - not Carplay), I cannot reach the iPhone's music library/playlists via the steering wheel controls.

It's possible I don't understand how to do it, but the iPhone's playlists don't seem to be a selectable entertainment option unless I already have used the Central Information Display (CID) to bring up CarPlay and select music, etc.

Hope that helps.

oh i get what you mean - you choose the steering wheel mode button to select carplay and then pick a playlist?
something i haven't tried and i'll have to check out.

[hlothery]

Just a word about tires, since you mentioned it. I have Michelin PS3ZPs on my 668Ms, and absolutely love them. Performance very similar to the PS4S I had on my M4 in the past, and a relatively smooth ride for a runflat. Summer tires, of course (we don't really have winter here). Just food for future thought.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by TomWinMD

I've kept the lane assist on so far in it's least annoying (i.e. most forgiving) setting, and so far, so good.

It's definitely less annoying, but once in a while...

I have a 2018 (pre LCI) so the feature may be slightly different. I found that if I had intervention turned on for both lane keep assist and lane departure, the car ping ponged back and forth. Turning off intervention on the lane departure warning stopped that.

[paquet]

so i tested this out - you are correct - no option to start playback by picking a playlist from the steering wheel buttons.
there is just no option to do so - have to go to the main screen and select from there.