Vacation rental: 528i Xdrive

[Laconian]

I rented a 528 Xdrive for 10 days in Maui. Kind of a strange choice for a car, given the pokey Hawaiian speed limits and even pokier Hawaiian drivers, but I still loved it.

Engine: I love the low end torque, it just pulls *so* hard. I was surprised at the power figure of the car, since I was seriously expecting it to have made more power. It's quite rough though, it's clattery when cold, thrummy all the time, and the auto start/stop feature -- while useful -- is anything but refined. The refinement is a definite step down from the 6cyl I drove when I test drove a 128 a couple years back.

Transmission: 8AT. Fantastic. Shifts smoothly and crisply. Always in the right gear, provided Sport mode is selected. The 7AT of the G37 felt sloppy by comparison when I came back home.

Ride and handling: Fantastic. Xdrive makes me corner like a hero. The way it tucks in so neatly reminded me of how the RDX felt with SH-AWD. Very civilized on rough roads.

Steering: Numb, but OK. G37's steering definitely has more feedback and heft.

i-Drive/MMI: Awful, awful, awful. Polished in all the wrong places. Menu system is an abomination. I'm a very technical guy with a high aptitude for complexity, but dear god, the options and activities are strewn around all over the place across innumerable sub-sub-sub menus. JUNK

Misc: high beams are awesomely eye-scorching, the cornering headlamps are nifty, and the ECO PRO mode is a fucking joke that makes the Prius seem zippy by comparison. Trunk is nice und big.


Best rental I've ever had. I wouldn't buy this car new -- wow, $$$! -- but I can appreciate the car's many superlative qualities.

[SVT666]

Good review, but why didn't you get a vert in Maui.  We were there this spring and had the roof down the whole time.

[CALL_911]

I like iDrive way more than any other infotainment system I've used.

[Laconian]

Good review, but why didn't you get a vert in Maui.  We were there this spring and had the roof down the whole time.

Too hot/muggy. High 80's all the time. Most of the Mustang and Camaro verts had their tops up, and for good reason - it's nice to get some A/C every now and again!

[cawimmer430]

You're in Hawaii in you didn't rent this?









I'm surprised that you can even rent a BMW in America! Was that even possible in say the '70s, '80s or '90s? I feel like that's a recent thing.

[afty]

Why do they rent AWD BMWs in Hawaii?

[Laconian]

AWD beach donuts? I have no clue, really.

[MexicoCityM3]

I rented a 528 Xdrive for 10 days in Maui. Kind of a strange choice for a car, given the pokey Hawaiian speed limits and even pokier Hawaiian drivers, but I still loved it.

Engine: I love the low end torque, it just pulls *so* hard. I was surprised at the power figure of the car, since I was seriously expecting it to have made more power. It's quite rough though, it's clattery when cold, thrummy all the time, and the auto start/stop feature -- while useful -- is anything but refined. The refinement is a definite step down from the 6cyl I drove when I test drove a 128 a couple years back.

Transmission: 8AT. Fantastic. Shifts smoothly and crisply. Always in the right gear, provided Sport mode is selected. The 7AT of the G37 felt sloppy by comparison when I came back home.

Ride and handling: Fantastic. Xdrive makes me corner like a hero. The way it tucks in so neatly reminded me of how the RDX felt with SH-AWD. Very civilized on rough roads.

Steering: Numb, but OK. G37's steering definitely has more feedback and heft.

i-Drive/MMI: Awful, awful, awful. Polished in all the wrong places. Menu system is an abomination. I'm a very technical guy with a high aptitude for complexity, but dear god, the options and activities are strewn around all over the place across innumerable sub-sub-sub menus. JUNK

Misc: high beams are awesomely eye-scorching, the cornering headlamps are nifty, and the ECO PRO mode is a fucking joke that makes the Prius seem zippy by comparison. Trunk is nice und big.


Best rental I've ever had. I wouldn't buy this car new -- wow, $$$! -- but I can appreciate the car's many superlative qualities.

Nice. I agree on all your comments except the one about iDrive. I like it and it's much better than anything else out there. Only Audi's MMI is on par.

Regarding the nice cornering feeling, I am not sure AWD had much to do with it unless it was really wet. It's more the signature of any BMW, that. More to do with suspension and weight distribution than AWD IMO.

[Lebowski]

Misc: high beams are awesomely eye-scorching, the cornering headlamps are nifty,

Did it have the LED headlights?


Where'd you rent from and was it a big upcharge?  When I rent a car (fairly rare) it's usually an econobox or a shitty domestic mainstreamer.

[12,000 RPM]

Nice review. Especially since it confirms my feelings on this current crop of turbo 4s. I will burn a little more gas for an engine note that doesn't make me wince.

[Laconian]

Did it have the LED headlights?


Where'd you rent from and was it a big upcharge?  When I rent a car (fairly rare) it's usually an econobox or a shitty domestic mainstreamer.

Yeah, AFAIK the headlights are LED. I rented it from Budget, and it was a +$25/day upcharge. It was $500 for 10 days.

[Laconian]

Nice review. Especially since it confirms my feelings on this current crop of turbo 4s. I will burn a little more gas for an engine note that doesn't make me wince.

You'll be burning a lot more gas if you want to get that kind of low end torque from a NA.

[Raza]

MMI is much better than iDrive.

[MX793]

You'll be burning a lot more gas if you want to get that kind of low end torque from a NA.

I've decided that these turbo 4s are a lot like the bigger displacement, low output motors that the US domestics were putting in cars in the late 80s and early/mid 90s (like Ford using the Vulcan V6 and GM using the 3100 V6 as their base motor in their midsizers instead of a ~2.4L I4 like the Japanese carmakers).  Gobs of low end grunt, but they fall flat on their faces as RPMs climb.  And they don't sound very good.

[MexicoCityM3]

MMI is much better than iDrive.

Have you used a recent iDrive? This is nothing like the system before 2010. I tried both. Last week.

[CALL_911]

Was older iDrive a version of Windows CE or am I delusional

[CALL_911]

Regardless, it did suck. Post 2010 idrive is done really well imo

[12,000 RPM]

I've decided that these turbo 4s are a lot like the bigger displacement, low output motors that the US domestics were putting in cars in the late 80s and early/mid 90s (like Ford using the Vulcan V6 and GM using the 3100 V6 as their base motor in their midsizers instead of a ~2.4L I4 like the Japanese carmakers).  Gobs of low end grunt, but they fall flat on their faces as RPMs climb.  And they don't sound very good.

When I worked for the utility I had a Chevy Venture. The low end grunt was intense. Really made me think the thing was a lot faster than it actually was. The absence of a tachometer helped reenforce that (maybe it had a tach, I don't remember.)

[Raza]

Have you used a recent iDrive? This is nothing like the system before 2010. I tried both. Last week.

I used it in 2011 or 2012, just before my brother bought his S4.

[MexicoCityM3]

Was older iDrive a version of Windows CE or am I delusional

You are correct. My E90 runs Windoze.

[MexicoCityM3]

I used it in 2011 or 2012, just before my brother bought his S4.

I guess familiarity plays a good part in preference. You drive the S4 frequently.

In my opinion, there isn't much between those two systems. The Mercedes one I found less atractive and the Cadilac Cue needs no further comment.

[CALL_911]

You are correct. My E90 runs Windoze.

My dad had an '08 535xi, that car's infotainment system was hilariously unrefined.