So after 1000km and a trip to the bush I have finally managed to test out the E70 in the mud.

After a 500km road trip I have certainly come to a couple of conclusions about the car that I was uncertain about after only a week of ownership:

• I am now a big believer in the head up display. Having initially thought it was a gimic it is a fantastic safety feature for highway driving (particuarly in rainy conditions).
• Comfort access is very useful to my wife, particuarly when she has her hands full with the kids.
• The reversing camera is still a piece of crap in anything less than perfect light.
• The car handles like a dream on the highway.
• The 3.0 diesel is a fantastic engine. I got 9.4 l/100km (25mpg for the recent trip which included about 20km of off road and the rest on the highway).
• The X5 does ok off road. If anything lets it down it is the tyres but that is the price you pay for the road handling.

Here are some pics showing the X5 in the Aussie bush. It may not look like it from the pics but it has been raining cats and dogs over in the Central Tablelands over the Blue Mountains. The ground is slippery mud that you can hardly walk on let alone drive on.


The old and the new.



This mud might not look too bad but it was bloody slippery and really waterlogged.







It was important to switch off the DTC to get proper traction in the slippery stuff.




The gully just behind the car was almost a stream of slosh. Had to get up quite a bit of pace to get through it. I could feel the abs locking up the wheels that had lost traction.




And then this happened. Stuck. The treads were so full of muck the wheels just spinned on the spot. But I was not alone, the Rangie was stuck too. A couple of well placed stones under the wheels and we were out after 30 minutes of sweat with a spade.




Enjoy