Spec X5 Overland Build

[thstone]

Originally Posted by kspark

Nice work with the fenders, makes a big difference.

I put 2k miles on my X5 over the last week. 8 mountain passes and a few hundred miles off-road as well as snow and ice let me properly test out the tire setup.

Quite happy with the Wildpeaks. They performed well in the snow and made a HUGE improvement on trails compared to 19s and stock Bridgestones.

I did find the limit of the X5 while off roading though.

A few miles of rough stuff and my car developed a surging idle and I smelled something odd... maybe brakes or torque converter? No idea what else it could be. I had DSC off. After I let her rest for a few hours, the surging idle was gone and it drove perfectly again. But the BMW made it clear to me it prefers to be on pavement or gravel.

It won't go everywhere a Tacoma can, but it's a great trail ride.

Glad that you liked the WildPeak's. I think that there are a lot of very good AT tires on the market so its hard to make a bad choice.

Tell us more about your experience of finding the limit of the X5 while off roading. That's got to be a good story!

[kspark]

Originally Posted by thstone

Glad that you liked the WildPeak's. I think that there are a lot of very good AT tires on the market so its hard to make a bad choice.

Tell us more about your experience of finding the limit of the X5 while off roading. That's got to be a good story!

Well, truth be told it was more MY limit than the car!

I was off-roading across a ranch. The X5 easily tackled rutted trails and had good ground clearance to get over medium rocks. It was particularly good on gravel and snow.

I found the "limit" was when I needed articulation. With no diff lockers the BMW had to work a lot harder in a few places where I've easily cruised through in a Tacoma. That's when I smelled the odd smell coming from it, and decided to turn back. I didn't want to risk any situation where the underbody might get damaged, since I had no skid plates and was out of cell service.

I would never go rock-crawling with this car, but I'm not into wheeling. I trust it on any level surface. As a ski / adventure vehicle that will be on-road 80% of the time, it's perfect for me and the driving experience is much better than a Toyota truck.