My wife's lease on her 06 Envoy SLT was up, and we purchased an 06 X5, 3.0, with 35K miles 2 weeks ago, black on black. I drove it this weekend for 300 miles on a trip, here are my impressions in no particulair order.


-Engine growl although cool is louder than I would like I can't beleive no one complains about this, envoy had a quieter cabin, you chould hardly hear the engine or the road. I drove another X5 same growl so it's not the car. Envoy cabin was quieter at low or highway speeds.

-Tires are on the X5 are louder than the Michelins on the Envoy, on certain ashault it can get annoying. By the way these tires on the X5 are OEM and are brand new, Michelns X4 plus's

-Engine, although 3.0 225hp vs. envoy with 4.2L 275hp. The BMW feels more responsive, and very smooth.

-Braking on the X5, is leaps beyond the Envoy, almost got wiplash a few times :-)

-Handling, is likewise leaps beyond the Envoy, it hugs the road and takes turns with no effort.

-The X5 begs to be driven fast and aggressive, it’s a driver’s car. 80MPH is nothing for this car, it wants to be drivin faster.

-The seats hug you, but are a tad hard, compared to the Envoy. It reminds me of my 96 VW Jetta VR6 seats, after a while it can get uncomfortable, and the back of your legs will sweat. The Envoy is just more comfortable, you don't feel potholes as much.

-Stereo is just OK, although I don’t have the DSP audio package, it begs for a subwoofer which I may install. Envoy stereo sounded better, had XM built in, and you could load 6 CD's in the dash.

-Nav screen is very nice, although during heavy sunlight gets too much glare, new screens have a lid on them. Touch screen would be nice.

-Why they put a cassette loader behind the nav screen and not a CD loader is beyond me. CD changer will be coming soon and loaded in the trunk

-High quality leather vs the Envoy cheap leather, and very sophisticated interior.

-The X5 is solid, no rattles or does anything feel lose, the Enovy didn't feel as solid.

-For an SUV it lacks trunk space, they should have made the trunk larger.

-Looks, the X5 is just a gorgeous car.

-The glass sunroof on the X5 going all the way back the kids really like.

-HVAC controls are nicely laid out and A/C is cold on the X..

-I would prefer just a one piece hatch, rather than 2 on the X.

-The built in window blinds is a nice touch for our 15month old.

-Better visability on the X5 than the envoy, the envoy windshield was scrunched down too much.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but this is just a brain dump.


Issue I need the dealer to fix...
-Window on Drivers side has a grinding sound when the window rolls up or down sometimes
-seat belt on drivers side doesn't roll back all the way.
-When I turn on the car and the A/C comes on it makes a squeaking sound, I turn off A/C sound goes away, and if I leave it on the sound goes away in a couple minutes.