So my accountant made me aware of the fact that if I put a vehicle in my company name I can write it off, like the whole thing. The caveat is that I can't simply put my car in the business name because I would a. pay taxes on it and b. can't write off payments. You can only write off depreciation which is capped at something like $3000 a year for luxury cars. So I'd have to get something new. Challenge accepted.
This is the 2015 BMW 535D. As you can imagine, the D stands for diesel and with only 255hp you might think it's a slug but you'd be wrong. Does it live up to my lofty expectations? Let's go for a ride and see! Or you can just stop here because yes, yes it does.
Drivetrain
I've got almost no experience with diesels outside of driving old Ford Powerstroke trucks and my dad's 1984 Maxima which didn't have enough power to go up hills, needed to be left on overnight when it was cold out (or it wouldn't start) and had so much exhaust drone that my folk's bought me a Walkman and left it in the back seat of the car for when we all went out. So I didn't know what to expect.
Power delivery is smooth and torquey as you'd expect. There is never a sign that this car is as underpowered as 255hp would suggest. The 415 lb/ft of torque has a lot to do with that. In fact, in daily stoplight to stoplight driving the diesel feels stronger than just about anything I've owned. About the closest thing I can imagine as far as how power delivery feels would be the Tesla. You have so much torque right off of idle. It's a sensation a gas engine can't match.
The only indication that this is a diesel engine is the low redline and the obnoxious amount of torque. There's no chatter, no noise and no roughness. I'm pretty sure almost anybody, car enthusiast or not, could drive this car hard, get out and have no idea they were driving a diesel.
It Gets Better
Fuel efficiency is staggering for a car this size that moves out as well as it does. In this city you can expect 26mpg which is nothing to sneeze at for an executive sedan. Where it shines though is on the expressway where you can squeak out a Ford Fusion Hybrid embarrassing 38 miles to the gallon. Thirty Eight. That's obscene.
Interior
Audi's have the nicest interiors. I think pretty much everyone agrees to that. What people don't tell you though is that Audi uses crap material and their interiors do not age gracefully. My A8 had more creaks and rattles than you'd expect from a $110,000 car and other things like the soft touch coating they put on the buttons wore off or scratched with startling ease. Then there was the dye in the leather which wore off or cracked, not to mention the leather itself which after 100,000 miles in my first A8 got so shiny that I could have clear-coated and waxed it and it would have looked better than the paint on the car.
The flip-side of that is my BMW. The interior is industrial, spartan, not nearly as luxurious as it's Audi A6 equivalent but built like a brick shithouse which I can only imagine is built very well. Everything is solid, nothing creaks because it all feels and sounds like it's as thick as the wall of a bank vault. Even the leather feels like it's a quarter inch thick. After 110,000 miles on my 550i the interior still looked amazing and after 40k on my 535 the interior still looks like new.
The higher trim levels of the new 5 series take the beauty of the Audi and the quality of the BMW and combine them into a solid, beautiful ergonomic interior. The 2011+ A8 is still my favorite to look at but after sitting in one and sitting in this I know which will stand the test of time better and it's not the Audi. The interior in the 535 is delightful.
Tech
iDrive is amazing. With the newest update it's on par with Audi's MMI if not better. The iDrive knob remains but now you can use the top of it as a touchpad to enter letters, similar to MMI but with the touchpad integrated into your main control instead of being a separate device.
The 16.4" screen is huge, bright and high resolution. It's everything any reasonable person could want. Then there's my favorite: LED headlights.
These lights make the HIDs in my car feel like halogen bulbs. They are intensely bright and white. Aside for these there's a host of other options you can get such as a Bang & Olufsen sound system, heads up display, night vision, park assist, etc.
The Good
The Great
The Bad
Overview
This is the 5 to get unless you're looking for all out speed. It's fast, it handles amazingly well, it's cabin is a wonderful place to spend some time and it's as efficient as many popular hybrids. It's best of all worlds and Chris Harris likes it so there's that too:
To those that think BMW has lost their way
I'd argue that this car, and largely the 5 series in general, is a perfect example of everything that's right with BMW. The current 5 series is better than the previous generation in every way imaginable but one. It's interior is loads better, it's a more solid feeling car, it's a very competent handler and it has a slew of amazing engines to choose from and there's literally not a bad choice in the batch.
There is a natural progression that comes with new models. The new version of an old car takes the foundation of what was there and improves upon it. This isn't that. This is a different car. This and my car are only alike in name. The newer 5 series is a better car for 95% of consumers out there. It's not that my car is junk, it's not. It's that the F10 5 series represents such a significant bump in performance, luxury and driving dynamics without any accompanying sacrifices. It's the perfect car.
So what's the one way it comes up short from it's predecessor? Enthusiasts. My car is 3700lbs. The 535D is something like 4300lbs. You can only hide so much of that weight. If you're looking for an all out sports car that can churn out 500hp with very little investment, is perfectly balanced and probably still the best all around performance sedan to date (with tuning), the 2008-2010 535 is it but most people buying these cars don't care about that and the new car improves upon everything else and is probably still 90% as capable and leaps and bounds better than what Audi or Mercedes are offering up as far as driver's experience goes. BMW hasn't lost it's way at all.
This is the 2015 BMW 535D. As you can imagine, the D stands for diesel and with only 255hp you might think it's a slug but you'd be wrong. Does it live up to my lofty expectations? Let's go for a ride and see! Or you can just stop here because yes, yes it does.
Drivetrain
I've got almost no experience with diesels outside of driving old Ford Powerstroke trucks and my dad's 1984 Maxima which didn't have enough power to go up hills, needed to be left on overnight when it was cold out (or it wouldn't start) and had so much exhaust drone that my folk's bought me a Walkman and left it in the back seat of the car for when we all went out. So I didn't know what to expect.
Power delivery is smooth and torquey as you'd expect. There is never a sign that this car is as underpowered as 255hp would suggest. The 415 lb/ft of torque has a lot to do with that. In fact, in daily stoplight to stoplight driving the diesel feels stronger than just about anything I've owned. About the closest thing I can imagine as far as how power delivery feels would be the Tesla. You have so much torque right off of idle. It's a sensation a gas engine can't match.
The only indication that this is a diesel engine is the low redline and the obnoxious amount of torque. There's no chatter, no noise and no roughness. I'm pretty sure almost anybody, car enthusiast or not, could drive this car hard, get out and have no idea they were driving a diesel.
It Gets Better
Fuel efficiency is staggering for a car this size that moves out as well as it does. In this city you can expect 26mpg which is nothing to sneeze at for an executive sedan. Where it shines though is on the expressway where you can squeak out a Ford Fusion Hybrid embarrassing 38 miles to the gallon. Thirty Eight. That's obscene.
Interior
Audi's have the nicest interiors. I think pretty much everyone agrees to that. What people don't tell you though is that Audi uses crap material and their interiors do not age gracefully. My A8 had more creaks and rattles than you'd expect from a $110,000 car and other things like the soft touch coating they put on the buttons wore off or scratched with startling ease. Then there was the dye in the leather which wore off or cracked, not to mention the leather itself which after 100,000 miles in my first A8 got so shiny that I could have clear-coated and waxed it and it would have looked better than the paint on the car.
The flip-side of that is my BMW. The interior is industrial, spartan, not nearly as luxurious as it's Audi A6 equivalent but built like a brick shithouse which I can only imagine is built very well. Everything is solid, nothing creaks because it all feels and sounds like it's as thick as the wall of a bank vault. Even the leather feels like it's a quarter inch thick. After 110,000 miles on my 550i the interior still looked amazing and after 40k on my 535 the interior still looks like new.
The higher trim levels of the new 5 series take the beauty of the Audi and the quality of the BMW and combine them into a solid, beautiful ergonomic interior. The 2011+ A8 is still my favorite to look at but after sitting in one and sitting in this I know which will stand the test of time better and it's not the Audi. The interior in the 535 is delightful.
Tech
iDrive is amazing. With the newest update it's on par with Audi's MMI if not better. The iDrive knob remains but now you can use the top of it as a touchpad to enter letters, similar to MMI but with the touchpad integrated into your main control instead of being a separate device.
The 16.4" screen is huge, bright and high resolution. It's everything any reasonable person could want. Then there's my favorite: LED headlights.
These lights make the HIDs in my car feel like halogen bulbs. They are intensely bright and white. Aside for these there's a host of other options you can get such as a Bang & Olufsen sound system, heads up display, night vision, park assist, etc.
The Good
- Ride - You'd never guess it weighs 600lbs more than my 5. It's very stable at speed and with properly weighted (thought slightly dead on center) steering. Handling itself
- Looks - Less Boy Racer than the E60 5 series and a nice progression of the model line altogether. With LED headlights and the M-Sport package it's hard not to love the front end of this car.
The Great
- Drivetrain - Smooth, torquey, quiet, efficient and coupled with probably the best auto gearbox ever put into a car: ZF's 8 speed auto.
- Ride - Stable and sporty without being jarring. It's a confidence inducing ride, even at 4300lbs, at least in M-Sport guise.
The Bad
- It will cost you - Base price for the 535D with no options is $58,600 delivered. Add on all the cool options and you're up to $76,000 or a difference of 16 Grand Prixs.
Overview
This is the 5 to get unless you're looking for all out speed. It's fast, it handles amazingly well, it's cabin is a wonderful place to spend some time and it's as efficient as many popular hybrids. It's best of all worlds and Chris Harris likes it so there's that too:
To those that think BMW has lost their way
I'd argue that this car, and largely the 5 series in general, is a perfect example of everything that's right with BMW. The current 5 series is better than the previous generation in every way imaginable but one. It's interior is loads better, it's a more solid feeling car, it's a very competent handler and it has a slew of amazing engines to choose from and there's literally not a bad choice in the batch.
There is a natural progression that comes with new models. The new version of an old car takes the foundation of what was there and improves upon it. This isn't that. This is a different car. This and my car are only alike in name. The newer 5 series is a better car for 95% of consumers out there. It's not that my car is junk, it's not. It's that the F10 5 series represents such a significant bump in performance, luxury and driving dynamics without any accompanying sacrifices. It's the perfect car.
So what's the one way it comes up short from it's predecessor? Enthusiasts. My car is 3700lbs. The 535D is something like 4300lbs. You can only hide so much of that weight. If you're looking for an all out sports car that can churn out 500hp with very little investment, is perfectly balanced and probably still the best all around performance sedan to date (with tuning), the 2008-2010 535 is it but most people buying these cars don't care about that and the new car improves upon everything else and is probably still 90% as capable and leaps and bounds better than what Audi or Mercedes are offering up as far as driver's experience goes. BMW hasn't lost it's way at all.
