2008 BMW 535i Sedan In-Depth

I bought a '08 535i near the beginning of production in May '07. Since I've had a few months with it, the initial excitement has largely worn off.

Although I cannot yet comment on the service (I haven't had any experiences with that yet), the quality of the car itself seems to be quite excellent.

As far as looks, BMW's most recent styling motivations are hit or miss with most people - some people love them and some hate them. There are pictures of the 535i everywhere online, so you can find out for yourself if you like it. I personally love seeing angel eyes coming down the road at me, and the rear "light tube" brake lights make the car look exceedingly stylish at night.

Inside, the new refinements for '08 make the interior much more visually appealing than the older models. The door-mounted controls for windows and mirrors fall perfectly in hand. As far as space, it's definitely not as roomy in the back as my sister's new Toyota Camry, and the rear center seat is rather uncomfortable to sit in because of the pass-through which raises the floor about 7 inches.

There are many options available on the car, most of which are quite expensive. With the premium package, you get a full leather interior, integrated garage door opener (make sure you help your salesman program this for you when you take delivery), and auto-dimming power-folding mirrors (which make life so much easier). The sport package (which I regret forgoing) includes a sport-tuned suspension, faster automatic transmission, nicer seats, nicer steering wheel, nicer exterior trim, and active roll stabilization (which makes the car not tilt when you turn - much more comfortable). The navigation system is very well-integrated, allowing you to search for places, set guidance to the location, and even call the place via the integrated bluetooth adapter. At $1,900, the navigation system is extremely pricey, but the integration with iDrive is very useful and very stylish. Past these three essential packages, the other options are nonessential and will simply depend on the size of your wallet. Although I don't have it myself, I've heard from fellow Bimmer owners that the active cruise control works very well, and there have been several times when I wish I had it. The Night Vision is an extremely cool but extremely expensive option, but possibly worth it if you drive somewhere with no lights at night constantly.

In comparison to the other 5-series models, the 535i was, in my opinion, the best balance of price and performance. The now somewhat outdated 550i engine produces an extra 60 horsepower over the 535i's 300-hp engine, but the additional performance is really not very much increased over the 535. On the other end, however, there is a rather large jump in performance, the 528i's non-turbocharged 3.0 liter engine is much more sluggish and doesn't provide a driving experience near as thrilling as the 535i. The M5 is, of course, many orders of magnitude better to drive, but it is way too far out of my price range, and probably that of most other people.

The core of a BMW, of course, is the engine and transmission. For the 535i, the engine feels very smooth and very refined to drive (you can find all the specs somewhere else, like BMW's website, so I won't list them here). My car is equipped with the non-sport automatic transmission, which includes a manual shift mode. Unfortunately, when I first bought the car, the transmission downshifted to first gear too early whenever I slowed to a stoplight, causing a jump in revs and engine braking, making the car jerk as if I'd just hit the brakes. As the engine and transmission wore on through the break-in period, however, this seemed to fix itself and the transmission is now extremely smooth. There seems to be almost infinite power in 2-6 gears, but for some reason there isn't much power in first at low revs (when you're first pulling away from a stoplight). On the freeway, the potential for passing seems almost infinite, and the first 5.5 seconds going 0-60 while merging on the freeway are absolutely thrilling.

The handling is likewise spectacular, with loads of grip in turns at speeds under about 25-30 mph and absolute control in slides above that speed. This is, of course, assuming the traction control and other electronic handling controls are off - with these on it is just about impossible to get off track and slide.

One of the major complaints of most BMW critics (other than the styling) is the iDrive. My advice is simply to take a half hour out of your busy schedule and figure out how to use it. You'll find if you go into all the versatile functionality that the BMW designers made the system so it would be actually rather intuitive. Do you want to go down? Pull down. Left? Pull left. Select? Push in. It's very easy once you learn how to use it. As far as controlling everything in the car, from opening the center console to turning on the air conditioning, just remember that there is a button for everything (as far as I have found, the only exception to this is the driver's right side armrest, which slides out without a button). Armrest in the back? There's a button for that. Opening cupholders? There's a button for that. The list goes on...

Overall, you get the feeling from this car that the BMW engineers tried to do everything possible to make your life easy and comfortable. Many years ago when I was a small child in the back of a Toyota Camry trying to lie down in the backseat and sleep, the seat belt receptacle always dug into my back and made it uncomfortable. Solution? The seat has a small indentation for the center buckle to rest so you don't have this problem (and probably other more significant ones). Similarly, you can set a timer for the climate control system to blow air into the cabin while the car is off so that the interior isn't broiling hot when you get in. Or, while you're waiting somewhere with the engine off, it can blow warm air into the cabin to keep you from freezing. If you forget to open the power-folding side mirrors and you start to drive off, they will automatically open back up. If you hold down the unlock button on the keyfob while you're walking towards the car, all the windows will lower and the sunroof will open, which makes for a quite stylish entry when you get to your car. When you unlock the car at night, the rear brake light tubes will illuminate along with the angel eyes, meaning no matter which direction you're walking from, you'll admire your car's beauty as you walk up. Are any of these reasons important enough to make you decide to buy this car over any other one? Most likely not, but they're just small refinements that add to the overall luxury and comfort of the car.