First post here... I've got an X5d on order and was interested in the topic.

One thing that no one has mentioned is altitude. It's been my experience that at high altitudes turbo lag is much more noticeable. Since all engines lose power as the air gets less dense, could it be that the effective power output at the non-turbo charged phase is much lower to the turbo-charged phase (above 1500 rpm), making the lag more noticeable at higher elevations. I wonder if this could be the reason that some people report terrible performance, while others hardly notice it.

A different thought - some BMW transmissions have really non-aggressive settings, making the car almost always want to star in second gear, unless really pushed. Question for you guys suffering from lag - if you manually shift to first and then start, is the lag just as noticeable?

I am hoping that the experience isn't as bad as it sounds... really looking forward to the new ride, and to its performance.

Cheers,

JB