[PsychDoc]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

It feels much more powerful than the G30 version of the B58 engine. It just feels as if it has limitless power that's available instantly. Hard to imagine how anyone could want or need more power but guess that's a rather subjective issue. The engine is whisper smooth and there's no vibration or harshness at all. I have always hated auto stop-start and my prior G30 540xi had a button beneath the start button that permanently disabled this. So I was prepared to either drive in sport mode all the time or just bite the bullet and try to get used to it. Well, I was amazed with how unobtrusive and fast the ASS works on this car. It's almost instantaneous and you don't even hear or feel it. Would I prefer that it was defeatable? Sure, but this is really just fine.
The ride is buttery smooth. What a pleasure coming from the hard jolts of the RFT's that BMW has used up until now (my car came with Continental Procontact tires). Steering is light but very precise and responsive and braking is linear and easily modulated.
The technology and customization avaliable for this car is almost unimaginable. It's very, very complex and I'm going to guess it'll take me at least a month of tinkering and diving into all it can do to even begin to get comfortable with all it offers. But I like this kind of thing and look forward to what is sure to be a steep learning curve.
The B&W audio sounds great even though I haven't had chance to really put it through its paces yet.
The Veganza seats are significantly more comfortable than the Dakota leather seats in my G30 (both have the luxury seating package). Soft and supple with great support. Haven't found the perfect settings yet to store, but that'll come in the next couple of days.
So just some initial impressions which I'll update as I get more familiar with this really amazing car.

[RichardInCA]

Great to hear - and very glad your patience has finally been rewarded!

[Trevor G]

Looks great Doc.

[barclay]

Looks great. Enjoy in good health!

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by PsychDoc

It feels much more powerful than the G30 version of the B58 engine. It just feels as if it has limitless power that's available instantly. Hard to imagine how anyone could want or need more power but guess that's a rather subjective issue. The engine is whisper smooth and there's no vibration or harshness at all. I have always hated auto stop-start and my prior G30 540xi had a button beneath the start button that permanently disabled this. So I was prepared to either drive in sport mode all the time or just bite the bullet and try to get used to it. Well, I was amazed with how unobtrusive and fast the ASS works on this car. It's almost instantaneous and you don't even hear or feel it. Would I prefer that it was defeatable? Sure, but this is really just fine.
The ride is buttery smooth. What a pleasure coming from the hard jolts of the RFT's that BMW has used up until now (my car came with Continental Procontact tires). Steering is light but very precise and responsive and braking is linear and easily modulated.
The technology and customization avaliable for this car is almost unimaginable. It's very, very complex and I'm going to guess it'll take me at least a month of tinkering and diving into all it can do to even begin to get comfortable with all it offers. But I like this kind of thing and look forward to what is sure to be a steep learning curve.
The B&W audio sounds great even though I haven't had chance to really put it through its paces yet.
The Veganza seats are significantly more comfortable than the Dakota leather seats in my G30 (both have the luxury seating package). Soft and supple with great support. Haven't found the perfect settings yet to store, but that'll come in the next couple of days.
So just some initial impressions which I'll update as I get more familiar with this really amazing car.

Looks great. Sorry it's rainy. That's always a bummer with a new vehicle.

[Deho]

Even though we don't agree about the automatic start-stop issue (I'm happy it's not defeatable) I'm very happy for you, I know you've been anticipating the car for a while!

The seats of the G60 vs the G30 has been a big focus of discussions here; when you have a more detailed comparaison to offer I'll be interested to read what you think.

[PsychDoc]

Originally Posted by LVBMW

Looks great. Sorry it's rainy. That's always a bummer with a new vehicle.

Agree 100%. But not as bad as waiting another day. LOL

BTW, for anyone wondering. The process of selling my car to Carvana was incredibly easy. Their offer was $1500 higher than Carmax and for the princely sum of $40 they picked up the car with a flatbed at my address. Had a check in my hand three minutes after I met the [very nice] Carvana guy in the flatbed truck.

[sowlesa]

Great review! I’m assuming you have done this already, but there are some great YouTube videos on the 8.5 system that I think help with the learning curve. It’s crazy how much tech there is!

I’m even more excited for my 540i to show up now. Currently at the port so I’m hoping to have it by mid March (if I’m lucky).

[ando]

Congrats. Good to see you take delivery of your new 540ix. Looks great!

[Bklyn]

Congrats and best of luck. Awesome with the sale. With the way used car prices are plunging so fast you have to be glad it's gone. And the pickup deal is an added bonus.

[attack7777]

Congrats Doc! Glad it finally made its way to you.

[Hupp]

Congrats and enjoy. Im still stuck in Bremerhaven (day 38 and counting)…your review makes the wait a little harder.

[Scrapula]

Beautiful car and congratulations. I know you have been waiting a while.

[davgrigorian@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by Hupp

Congrats and enjoy. Im still stuck in Bremerhaven (day 38 and counting)…your review makes the wait a little harder.

Why so long? My car left the port after 10 days

[LVBMW]

Originally Posted by davgrigorian@gmail.com

Why so long? My car left the port after 10 days

Nobody knows. Everyone’s wait time is different. Mine was about two weeks.

[COBodom]

Congrats! Enjoy the new ride.

[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by PsychDoc

It feels much more powerful than the G30 version of the B58 engine. It just feels as if it has limitless power that's available instantly. Hard to imagine how anyone could want or need more power but guess that's a rather subjective issue. The engine is whisper smooth and there's no vibration or harshness at all. I have always hated auto stop-start and my prior G30 540xi had a button beneath the start button that permanently disabled this. So I was prepared to either drive in sport mode all the time or just bite the bullet and try to get used to it. Well, I was amazed with how unobtrusive and fast the ASS works on this car. It's almost instantaneous and you don't even hear or feel it. Would I prefer that it was defeatable? Sure, but this is really just fine.
The ride is buttery smooth. What a pleasure coming from the hard jolts of the RFT's that BMW has used up until now (my car came with Continental Procontact tires). Steering is light but very precise and responsive and braking is linear and easily modulated.
The technology and customization avaliable for this car is almost unimaginable. It's very, very complex and I'm going to guess it'll take me at least a month of tinkering and diving into all it can do to even begin to get comfortable with all it offers. But I like this kind of thing and look forward to what is sure to be a steep learning curve.
The B&W audio sounds great even though I haven't had chance to really put it through its paces yet.
The Veganza seats are significantly more comfortable than the Dakota leather seats in my G30 (both have the luxury seating package). Soft and supple with great support. Haven't found the perfect settings yet to store, but that'll come in the next couple of days.
So just some initial impressions which I'll update as I get more familiar with this really amazing car.

Congratulations on taking delivery! As you get more time in the car, I look forward to hearing more about your experiences. I bet those 19" wheels help make the ride as smooth as it can be. It's also nice to see a non-M Sport trim - most of the cars we see on here have the M-Sport exteriors. I like 'em both!

[PsychDoc]

One minor nitpick. The keyfob is enormous and the internal physical key to manually lock the glovebox is just a loose piece of metal held in place by plastic brackets. And, worst of all, there's no way to easily remove it from your keyring to give it to a valet (or something like that) without physically removing it from your keyring entirely. Previous keyfobs allowed you to press a button and detach the keyfob easily while the rest of the keys on the keyring remained in your possession.

Really not terribly well thought out. So far, that's about the only negative that I can think of.

[MikeElmendorf]

Congrats—glad you finally got it! You should just use the digital key and have your phone do the work. It’s pretty awesome, once you get used to it. It was a little unsettling not having the key fob in my pocket at first.

Now that you have it, let’s get that lunch meetup on the books.

[RichardInCA]

100% agreed with Mike about the switching to the phone as your key. I don’t take my key with me anymore.

[tsbrown]

Congrats Doc on the new car. Looking forward to more reviews of the 540ix as you get more settled with it. Very encouraging on the new B58…it’s such a great engine. I’m waiting for some other feature adds before I jump from my G30. I probably missed this in prior discussions but why didn’t you trade in at the dealer…offer too low?

[PsychDoc]

Originally Posted by tsbrown

Congrats Doc on the new car. Looking forward to more reviews of the 540ix as you get more settled with it. Very encouraging on the new B58…it’s such a great engine. I’m waiting for some other feature adds before I jump from my G30. I probably missed this in prior discussions but why didn’t you trade in at the dealer…offer too low?

Yes, even with the tax savings of a trade-in the dealer's offer was not great. The process with Carvana was so simple and straightforward and, after all was said and done I ended up $500 ahead of the game. It's a great outfit if you want a no fuss sale. Highly, highly recommended.