5 series shopping help!

[toml]

Hi,
I am shopping for a 01-02 5series. I really can't make up my mind as to which model, probably 530. I have some questions I would love some help with.
1 How do you tell (from ad pictures ideally) whether a car has the premium radio. On my e46 it says HK on the tweeter, thats all I think. how in 5ser? Someone suggested that 10 speakers meant not premium but BMW I thought keeps the number the same so all the door panels are the same. And I have seen dealers say Bose stereo! Is it HK or Bose or ?
2 Also which nav does 01 have. I know that is the year for widescreen, but MK3 or MK4
3 And hard one, iunderstand the 540 sport has a higher(numerical) diff ratio and that is why it gets worse mileage. does the ratio change with sport pack in the other models, or in the 540 auto?
4 last , the auto changed from 4sp to 5sp in01. trip to step tronic I think. Who made them and is either one the notorious failure prone on that loses reverse or other failure?
thanks, any comments or links appreciated
tom

[Dudesky_E36]

1) The non-DSP stereo only has bass & treble controls when you press the AUDIO selector button. The (premium) DSP stereo adds a 7 band EQ and additional sound field modes, plus a band pass subwoofer mounted under the rear deck, visible from inside the trunk. I believe it is an HK system, with Nokia speakers.

2) Unless it was upgraded after the factory, the 2001 would have MKIII, since version MKIV was released around Nov. 2002. The thing about these older NAV systems is that while they look really cool, they just don't compare to modern day portable NAVs. These factory NAVs can raise the asking price of the car. But truth be told, unless you're going for looks, you're probably better off saving money and getting an inexpensive Tom Tom.

3) Can't speak to this, maybe someone else can.

4) I'm almost positive the Steptronic was built by GM. I've not heard anything about them failing as you described. Again, maybe someone else can chime in here. I know that mine runs and shifts as smooth as a baby's bottom in both auto and manual modes, and I have 105k on the odometer.

Hope this helps!

[Bimmer M.D.]

the '02 M5 had slightly better track times than the '01 M5; the '01 M5 had slightly slower track times than the '01 M3