New 5 series revealed

[ryallm]

Poor spec is the killer for me with the Alpina D3s. They don't even have cimate control as standard and you have to pay a £1500 surcharge to add any options so hardly any of them are anything other than boggo standard.

I have looked into the D3 spec in detail and the only thing I would miss over an SE or MSport is cruise control, which apparently can be retro fitted for about £300, My E91 Beemer has climate control and I never use it as it always puts the fan on way too high. I much prefer setting it manually. The real killer with an E9* msport is the terrible ride quality which I just could not live with. By all accounts the D3 manages the remarkable feat of having rubber band profile tyres and a really comfortable ride, no doubt greatly helped by the fact Alpina correctly assess runflat tyres to be a fundamentally crap idea and optimise the suspension around conventional rubber. I came close to selling my E91 SE after the first 6 months because the tramlining and ride quality on the Bridgestone runflats irritated me so much. The ride and steering have been transformed by a switch to Falken 452s, but at the expense of a slight loss of sharpness on turn in to a corner. Alpinas don't suffer such compromises.

[campbell]

From what I can see of the current D3 spec, cruise is standard.

We only have manual climate control in the SkodaBargeTastic and are managing fine

[I-Mac]

I like the new 5 series. It will be top it's respective class I am sure.

The electric steering sucks, my 3 series has it, it loads up dangerously if the car fishtails making it hard to get back in line! Also it has poor feeling. Overall though the beemers are for me a no brainer! still the best sporting saloons money can buy in each class. I love the fact I can adjust the seat and wheel to give a great position.

I wouldn't buy a d3 tho, i did consider one but the 4 cylinder diesel is not in the same league as the sixes. Tho I am about to trade in my 330d

[smee]

looks like buick, not good, seems to be for american market

[GregR]

Looks like the Volvo S80 from the front to me.