What car magazine 3.0D review

[powers1]

Just had a look at what this UK magazine has to say about the facelift X5 3.0D!They say that some of the faults are now recognized by BMW but so far they havent done anything about it!Do you Dieselheads have similar experiences??....................


http://www.whatcar.co.uk/RoadTest_Re...pe=Generic&FC=

[adrian.b]

The review says this "It doesn't know when to change gear properly. Its worst feature is when you approach a roundabout or junction and almost stop, then gently pull away. The car doesn't know whether to choose second or first - and then chooses first and screams off at an alarming rate after an unacceptable pause.
BMW says that 'Germany is aware of the fault, but there is currently no fix'. Also, the bluetooth phone kit is a waste of time - it constantly echos, cuts off, un-pairs itself etc."

My 3.0d 2003 X5 doesnt have problems with gear change but as this review is for the new 3.0d I dont suppose this applies to me.

Also I have BT and have two paired phones, I havent yet had a problem like they described, in fact other than echo issues, I dont have any problems with it.

[X5Sport]

Nope, I don't have any of those problems either, nor with the Bluetooth system.

I have 2005 X5 3.0D and absolutely adore it.

If BMW ever told me these were a known problem, they'd be fixing them PDQ.

It has however long been known that the official feul economy figures never stack up. Auto Express rang something a couple of weeks ago that highlighted the joke that official testing really is,

I get between 28 and 32pmg and never expected any more than that. It is a 4x4 after all, and I've driven much very much thirstier beasts from the competition.

[dksavage]

I have noticed the 2nd => 1st gear change issue a number of times. It wont happen if you slow right down then GENTLY take off as the gearbox will stay in 2nd and its nice and smooth. It will happen if you need to get away a bit quicker and hit the accellerator quite hard - after a disconcerting pause (as the 20 tonne truck approaches from the side |-) it takes off, leaving your head behind!
I think this is simply a combination of a) the gearbox only drops back to 1st if you come to a complete stop or if you really put your foot into it while travelling slowly. As with the manual mode, gear changes take quite a while to happen once the gear box is 'told' to change although changes themselves a very quick and smooth.
b) turbo lag is quite noticeable from foot off to heavy foot on. This is the only time I really notice the turbo lag.

So by the time the gearbox has changed from 2nd to first (say 1 to 2 seconds from foot on the pedal) the turbo is kicking in nicely. Both of the above combine to make it a neck wrenching experience. I have had the tyres screetch a bit from just this.

Minor price to pay for a fantastic drive otherwise!

DS

[X5 Sport]

If you leave the car in manual mode you can see what the gears are doing car stops in 2nd and starts in 2nd too

I have not really had any of the problems above although the car was much better after i had the new gearbox software installed only problem I seem to have it holdson to the gear to long but the doe'nt happen often

[dksavage]

Yes - in manual mode it stays in 2nd after you stop. This works quite well, and if not an uphill start, towing or offroad, it would be fine all the time. The auto mode does not work this way unfortunately and will always change to first after a stop, or kick down to first as mentioned above.
On a related note:
I am also not a big fan of the automatic kick down when braking on downhills. A slight touch of the brakes and it will often change down one, then if it is steep and you havent slowed down much, it will change down onother gear. The revs will obviously be pretty high after this. I figure that brakes are much cheaper than transmissions so I would rather let the brakes do the work on their own, especially given that they are so good.
Just my thoughts.

[PaoloX5]

Diesel here,

I think that turbo lag is quite normal compared to non-diesel models.

My X5 + Diesel Power + Economy => Makes me happy!

2004 X5 3.0d
Axxis Brake Pads on the way!