Thanks for all the replies. The brakes are excellent, on par with the X5. Does not make nearly as much brake dust.

I forgot to mention that the 8-speed transmission is very smooth and does not shift around a lot trying to find the right gear while cruising. Perhaps shifts a bit more than the X5 when going up a hill. I think the strong diesel motor keeps it from shifting a bunch, similar to the X5.

VW does not have as much throttle lag as the X5 when starting from a dead stop.

The VW does not have auto-hold button, which I really miss since I used it a lot on my X5.

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2009 X5 35d