just bought the 06 530xi and go rid of an s4 and not impressed by the acceleration but love the car otherwise. have a question though...is the m5 body kit normal on the 530xi becuase i bought one with the body kit and tinted windows and spoiler and it looks so different frm any other xi's ive seen. is it one of the options when new?

do you mean the M Technik kit? it is an option. If you don't like the way it looks, I will gladly swap my stock bumpers for yours LOL I think from BMW its something like 2 or 3 grand for the body kit and you can get it after you get the car (meaning that you do not have to order it when you're buying/leasing the new car, but rather you can add it any time later on). There's some guy on ebay that has them for something like 1700, I think, claiming that they are authentic genuine BMW, but who knows these days, right? anyway, congrats, man! Personally, I'd kill for that kit right now - makes the car look so much better...

oh yeah, if you have a kit that looks identical to the M5 - not the M Technik kit, then it might be some cheap immitation. But I say, if the paint stays on and it doesn't deform from heat and stuff - more power to ya!

and finally, I feel your pain - I got a 530xi after an A6 2.7T (which is basically an old S4 engine) and I feel like the car is underpowered. Though I did notice that speed in my car is much less perceptible than in the Audi. In the Audi, when I went 50mph, I could feel it much more than 70-80mph in the 530. I guess, this is due to the balance of the chassis on the Bimmer, plus the extra weight makes it feel like you're not going as fast as you actually are. And, me personally, it took me a couple of days to get used to the fact that where 60mph used to be on the speedo in my Audi, bimmer has the 80mph mark, so at first I sort of instinctively went to where the needle would be at 60 without noticing the speed and then would double-take the speedo and realize that I'm actually going 20mph faster than I intended to... I don't know, maybe I'm the only one with this type of issue though...

at any rate, congrats on the car - sounds like its a nice looking sexy mama, so post pics if you have a chance! =) happy driving!

just bought the 06 530xi and go rid of an s4 and not impressed by the acceleration but love the car otherwise. have a question though...is the m5 body kit normal on the 530xi becuase i bought one with the body kit and tinted windows and spoiler and it looks so different frm any other xi's ive seen. is it one of the options when new?

Pics would be nice.