[Notechy]

Our F31 335dx (with ACS springs) leaves on Saturday having done 47000 miles in 30 months or so. It was been a reliable fast and economical workhorse whether on limiter on autobahn (not so economical then) as part of a grand European tour, loaded with wine from Calais or Spain, or with the grandchildren's small bikes thrown in the back. We should be keeping it longer. We planned to do so, as we had with our two previous 3 tourers, running each of them over 7 years and 100,000 plus miles.

But reports of the greater refinement of series 5's in general, and the G30 in particular, seduced me. Especially tempting as we do a lot of long journeys largely comprising motorway miles. It is the first car for a very long time which I have ordered without an extended test drive. I ordered it despite, certainly not because of, its size. And when I had a mini test drive in a 520d MSport after ordering I was not especially impressed with refinement.

Yesterday collected 530d xdrive SE, Bluestone metallic with Ivory white and black Dakota - at a discount of £9212

Visibility package
Comfort package
Parking assistant plus
Heated steering wheel
Adaptive drive
Powered boot
Split-fold rear seats
Sports seats, from
Lumbar
Driving assistant
HUD
HK speaker

Very good service from Neville, and genius Chris, at Coopers, Cobham.

Now I have done only 40 granny miles in busy suburbia and on busy M25 but initial impression wholly favourable. It is far quieter than F31. And the ride is in a different league. Manhole covers no longer make me cringe and it seems to keep nice and flat round roundabouts. Despite size and weight, I think it is going to corner far better than my F31 335xd with its ACS springs - and be much more comfortable at the same time. I guess this is largely down to the expensive Adaptive Drive option.

Risks lie ahead. We may find it is too big to live with, especially as it will be our only car. It could suffer from gremlins as a result of being one of the first of the series. Legitimate concerns about diesel could lead to irrational over-reactions. But if none of these, I think I can look forward to a long and rewarding time with the car.

Don't expect much more reporting from me for a while as I am going to have little driving time before disappearing to South America for a month.

But here are a few photos hurriedly taken around the edge of storm Doris.

[Photos not loading. Will retry. If they don't arrive, then they don't arrive!

[JLR1969]

I have the F10 but it's great very refined and relaxing, it's a big car but I am used to it now so not an issue

[JD6]

Sounds great. I was admiring a Bluestone G30 in a showroom the other day, at least I think it was Bluestone - it looked like Space Grey but with a blue tint. Lovely colour.

[Notechy]

4th attempt - photo re-size was not working.

[Danny Fireblade]

That interior looks like a nice place to spend a lot of time. Very nice car.

Don't think I will ever be in the market for a 5er, which is a shame as I do like the look of them.

[CazuaLLUK]

Looks bloody nice inside

[creepy coupe]

Interior looks fresh. Like that you have a fan for each occupant now with the A/C.

[goodbyalfa]

the interior looks class...

[brtttt]

Sync button on the ac

Does look nice inside I must say , not a fan or the alloys but that's just my personal opinion

[Notechy]

Originally Posted by Bertz

Sync button on the ac

Does look nice inside I must say , not a fan or the alloys but that's just my personal opinion

Yes, alloys nothing special. Content to live with the base ones and certainly did not want to go bigger and jeopardise the ride. And easier than some to clean and repair.

[DanChapman90]

Looks gorgeous, congrats!
What's the black plastic for in the middle of the two kidney grills? Is it a camera?

[Isow]

I've sat in one at my local dealer.
A fabulous interior and I am sure it drives beautifully, but it's a shame about the width of the car.
Manufacturers will have to come to terms with the size of their cars, each generation gets bigger.
This can't go on forever, as the demand for larger cars can't be consumer driven.

[Notechy]

Originally Posted by DanChapman90

Looks gorgeous, congrats!
What's the black plastic for in the middle of the two kidney grills? Is it a camera?

Yes it's a camera. Fisheye, so does side view at front as well.

[creepy coupe]

No front fogs, or am I missing something?

[Notechy]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Interior looks fresh. Like that you have a fan for each occupant now with the A/C.

Just reread your post which made me blow up my own photo. I had not noticed separate fan controls!

[Notechy]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

No front fogs, or am I missing something?

No front fogs. Aesthetically I would prefer to have them. But I have not had any functional value from front fogs for decades. And I cannot quite persuade myself to pay for an ostensibly functional item for only cosmetic reasons! The come as standard on MSport.

Do you ever need front fogs?

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Notechy

Just reread your post which made me blow up my own photo. I had not noticed separate fan controls!

Yes, 5-series users get proper dual controls for the AC, plus a Sync button.

Car is looking good, I'm sure you will find Adaptive Drive gives you the best of both worlds.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by Notechy

No front fogs. Aesthetically I would prefer to have them. But I have not had any functional value from front fogs for decades. And I cannot quite persuade myself to pay for an ostensibly functional item for only cosmetic reasons! The come as standard on MSport.

Do you ever need front fogs?

I'm with you on that. Didn't realise they were an option though.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Isow

I've sat in one at my local dealer.
A fabulous interior and I am sure it drives beautifully, but it's a shame about the width of the car.
Manufacturers will have to come to terms with the size of their cars, each generation gets bigger.
This can't go on forever, as the demand for larger cars can't be consumer driven.

"Biggest in class" has driven a lot of the increases in size. Customers are fickle creatures.

Have you compared the size/width of 3/4-series? The 5-series is not that much wider.

[ajfoggy]

Looking good, I was very close to getting that colour but couldn't see it anywhere before I ordered!

[Isow]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

"Biggest in class" has driven a lot of the increases in size. Customers are fickle creatures.

Have you compared the size/width of 3/4-series? The 5-series is not that much wider.

The 3 is 1800mm wide if I remember correctly.
The 5 must be nearer 1900mm.

[Notechy]

Originally Posted by ajfoggy

Looking good, I was very close to getting that colour but couldn't see it anywhere before I ordered!

Our dealer had samples. Initially I ordered your gray one, which I do like a lot. When it is clean I might prefer it. But it is quite dark which might show the dirt more, as black does, hence the change in decision. But it was a tough call.