That's correct. I just picked it up this evening, so cannot post any pictures. I was really sad to see my X5 go, it still looked (and sounded) great and it felt even worse leaving it on it's own at a MB dealership. Well I still have 3 other BMW's so I am in no way leaving the marque.

First impressions of the ML63 are positive and negative.

Firstly the negative;

- The X5 4.8is outhandles it. The X5 feels smaller and ultimately can be taken harder into a corner that has the ML feeling a little unsettled. The ML is also slight softer and feels heavier (although supposedly it isn't).

- I prefer the X5's steering which is nice and linear with perfect progressiveness. The ML's is a speed sensitive system that's very light at low speeds but then artificially heavy at higher speeds in the corners. When cornering hard it becomes heavy and doesn't want to follow the curve of the corner. That I don't like.

- Brakes are good, but the progressiveness of the pedal is not as good as the 4.8is. When I brake the first few inches of travel don't make much difference and I find myself braking harder and more abruptly. The 4.8is brakes are perfect.

OK, the positives;

- it's quick. It doesn't feel much quicker in the first few yards but once into the mid-range it would surge away from the 4.8is. It has 510bhp compared to the 360bhp of the 4.8is so that's no real surprise. I saw a test in a german magazine that had it running pretty close in terms of times with an M6, and I can believe it.

- the engine whilst not as loud on start-up as the 4.8is, is louder once it accelerates through the mid-range, it also changes tone and is more musical than the 4.8is as it pulls through the revs. This is definitely an engine that loves to be driven hard through tunnels. It's also much smoother than the 4.8is engine, so it feels more refined to drive. (which is almost a pity because I really liked the rebellious nature of the 4.8is). The ML63 is close, but a more cultured alternative.

- fuel economy is better than I expected. I'm getting around 16.5mpg compared to the 18mpg I used to get in my 4.8is, so it's not the gas guzzler that I feared. Certainly nowhere near as thirsty as the Cayenne Turbo.

I will need to drive it some more (in the daylight!) to form a better opinion. Thus far it's nice to have a change after 5 years of owning X5s, but I reckon BMW could build a better sports SUV and expect whatever BMW replace with 4.8is with to compete very ably with the ML63 despite having less power (I suspect).

I will take some pictures tomorrow and drive it some more, but it's a different kind of car to drive than the 4.8is, better in some ways but not in others.

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