After many months of sorting through the various options, I ordered an 06 530i today. I started last summer thinking I would buy a new 3 series to replace my A4, but I made the "mistake" of driving a 5 series for comparison and realized that I preferred the larger size and overall ride and handling qualities of the 5 series. I also started out planning to do ED, but came to realize that ED is really only a good way to go (at least for me) if you can link it to a vacation that you would actually enjoy (otherwise you are using your ED savings to pay for your trip). After debating for months how much fun a trip to Europe for ED would be with our 3 year old son, we decided in the end to wait until he is a bit older (and fully toilet trained). I know some would suggest doing the trip without him, but that was not an option we were open to considering.

Once the ED was out we decided to check out more carefully competing cars since we would not be gaining the ED discount on the 5 series. So, I've spent a lot of time comparing the 5 to the M35, RL, E350, A6, GS300, etc. I soon learned that they are all excellent cars and all VERY different. None, not even the 5, is "perfect" in all respects. I actually concluded that my "perfect" car would perform and handle like the 5, have styling like the A6, and have technology (e.g., navigation) like the RL. Since that car does not exist, I decided to go with the 5 since in the end the most important thing to me was how the car performed and handled and the 5 was the only one that really made me smile while on test drives.

So, the ordered car is:

530i
Black metallic
Grey leather
Premium package
Automatic
Premium sound
Navigation
Comfort Access
Comfort Seats
Rear shades
PDC
Satellite radio
Cold weather package

Since I plan to lease (2 or 3 years) so we can do ED in a few years when our son is older, I felt more liberated in loading up the car with all the options I wanted. If I were buying I probably would have more limited the options since each $1000 in options would have a larger impact on the monthly payment for a car loan than it does for a lease.

So, I'm excited that the decision making process is over and now it is time to start the wait. But the wait does give me more time to seek out buyers for my A4 or to take it to CarMax to sell since in my experience they pretty much always give a better price than you can get by trading to a dealer.

John