They gave us the keys and said come back in 20. Also drove an F10 M5 (w/ comp pkg @ 575hp) and B7 Alpina. Back to the F15 - the exterior front is pretty nice in person - stands out a great deal but mostly because it was an M-sport, something I'd reckon is req'd to make it look nice compared to stock. The rear is still meh. Interior is gorgeous. Screen was monstrous - bigger than an ipad in landscape it seemed. Steering wheel also nice - the material feel was a much better leather. Paddle shifters were too hard-clicky for me, and they are useless when doing twisties as you can't reach them all the time. I neglected to try the drawing with idrive touchpad - didn't think to go into those screens at the time. The drive - I don't have a 48i or 50i E70 to compare with, but the first thing I noticed was how light the vehicle felt because the power was more than enough even though there was some lag from a stop. Steering was definitely different (maybe because of the electric change) and it wasn't a good different. I liked it at first but as I got to making half a dozen turns it felt too light - this is why most people say it feels disconnected from the road - don't want BMW to stray from that. I loved the M5 steering and sure enough it's not electric. Vehicle also bounced and wavered more than my adaptive drive does doing the same bends at speed (as I left in mine). Not quite sure if it had the dynamic handling/damper control. If it did, it was unremarkable.

Attached Images

     

__________________
'08 X5 3.0si - Alpine White / Saddle Brown interior
Specs: Sport Pkg, Premium Pkg, Tech Pkg, Comfort Access, Aero Kit, Style 433 staggered 20s on Conti DWS
Mods: Carbon 35 tint, LED angel eyes, GP Thunder 7500k fogs, H&R 20mm/25mm spacers, clear reflectors, gunsmoke-tinted taillights
Coded: Digital speedo, windows/sunroof/tailgate close via keyfob

X5 pics at Flickr