You get what you pay for


The price difference between my two vehicles is $24,000, which obviously is significant…but today I discovered that you get what you pay for. We went on a road trip today and traveled about 250 miles in the new MDX, hardly enough to fully evaluate the difference between these two vehicles, but enough for some observations. Since the MDX is brand new, I drove very conservatively so that should be considered.

We averaged 23mpg on the trip which is very nice, significantly better than my X5 and this before its broke in…but this is where the advantages start to disappear.

The MDX ride is far harsher than the X5, a very noticeable difference. The road noise is also noticeably louder. There are a lot of little details in my X5 that make it a luxury vehicle, little things I never really noticed until I drove the MDX. Some examples:

1. The turn signal- it has a pleasant sound and has a soft touch, plus the abilty to have it flash three times and turn off automatically. The MDX has a very annoying sound and the lever feels cheap. Its either on or off.
2. Buttons and levers- they are all much more refined and just feel better on the X5. The MDX buttons feel cheap and have slack.
3. Dashboard- The X5’s faux leather dash looks like it is leather. The MDX faux leather looks like cheap plastic.
4. Seats- The MDX seats look great, but the X5 Comfort Seats are so much more comfortable, there really is no comparison. The MDX seats also don’t have nearly as many adjustments.
5. The MDX steering wheel is butt-ugly and not comfortable- The X5 Sport wheel is much nicer and looks better too.
6. The MDX only has three power outlets- one in the dash, one in cargo area + a 120v outlet in the center console. The 120v outlet is a nice addition, but it would have been nice to have a 12v in the center console to keep you phone. I find the X5 has much better placement of the power outlets.
7. Ipod- MDX has no Ipod interface, further the only way to plug in an Ipod is thru the rear Entertainment ‘s stereo phono plugs in the second row.
8. The RSE system is nice, but no better than the X5’s despite all the complaints about the X5’s stock system. The MDX is roof mounted and the kids started complaining about neck pain several hours into the trip. Overall its equal to the X5, maybe slightly better due to the integration with the front center console.
9. Sunroof- The X5 Pano Roof is far superior.
10. These features on my X5 are not available on the MDX- and are part of the reason for the price difference:
a. Comfort Access- didn’t realize how much I like it until I drove the MDX w/o it. Plus the BMW key is so much smaller than the MDX key.
b. HUD- WOW, I really like my HUD, especially with the Nav info, this feature was really missed on this trip.
c. Ventilated Seats and Active Seats
d. Front/Rear PDC
e. Ambient exterior lighting
f. Rain sensing wipers

11. Body Design- X5 clearly the superior design
12. Ergonomics- The X5 is the winner
13. iDrive- Ok, the idrive is amazing. The placement of the idrive knob is perfect, it is in a spot that is natural. Every time I had to reach for the MDX knob it was awkward, not to mention the dozen of buttons on the dash. Earlier I stated that the Technology in the MDX was superior, I have to say that after driving the car for a day I think that I was wrong. The BMW idrive is far easier to use and it minimizes taking your eyes off the road. I found in the MDX that I had to ask my wife to operate the nav for me. Of course I wasn’t familiar with the MDX yet, so this isn’t totally fair but I did notice a few things:
a. The Nav screen on the MDX is lower res, the X5 looks much better
b. The MDX screen is not very bright, the X5 is much brighter and easier to read
c. The MDX uses XM Traffic- which has a monthly fee + its is available in fewer cities.
d. The voice commands aren’t as usefull as I first thought.
e. The backup camera, even though the camera is much better resolution and better in low light, I think I like the X5 camera better. The MDX is a very wide angle and it’s very hard to judge distance, plus the BMW adds the overlay lines, which makes it a breeze to parallel-park…not so easy in the MDX.
f. The MDX does not have a PDC feature.

14. The MDX has a power lift gate, which is very nice. Power open and close.
15. The MDX does not have run flats
16. The MDX uses XM not Sirius
17. The MDX has better entertainment separation- The rear passengers can listen to XM FM, AM, DVD, independently + the front can selectively listen to all the speakers or just the front speakers.
18. The MDX will play DVD-A audio discs

The MDX is a fine vehicle, and I’m not saying it has flaws. It’s just not fair to compare the two as equals, because they are not. You get what you pay for….and btw, I am very pleased with our new MDX.

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2013 X5 35i M Sport