Washington Times on E70 Fuel Economy (25.9/22.6!)

[skarletknite]

BMW's X5 promises much

By Henny Hemmes
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 11, 2006

THE HAGUE -- BMW has released the first pictures and details of the new X5. The second generation will again be built in South Carolina.
It will be available with two engines, a 3.0-liter six-cylinder producing 260 horsepower and 232 foot-pounds of torque and a 4.8-liter V-8 with 350 horsepower and 350 foot-pounds of torque.
They will be teamed with an all-new six-speed standard automatic transmission. In Europe the 2007 BMW X5 will also be offered with a 3.0-liter diesel engine developing 231 horsepower and 384 foot-pounds of torque.
In addition to more power, the engines have lower emissions and better fuel consumption: the in-line six has an average of 25.9 miles per gallon and the V-8 averages 22.6 mpg
The new X5 will be 7.5 inches longer than the outgoing model and is BMW's first model with available three-row seating. It will also be offered with head-up display, run-flat tires, an active steering system and adaptive suspension with electronic damper control.
The all-wheel-drive system will be upgraded to BMW's intelligent XDrive that transfers power between front and rear wheels depending on their grip.
Also the Dynamic Stability Control+ will be standard on the new X5.
It comes with brake pre-tensioning that shortens the stopping distances during an emergency, brake drying that improves braking in wet circumstances, hill start assist that allows easy pull away on steep hills and brake-fade compensation that applies additional braking without extra effort in case sensors detect that the brake pads start to lose their "bite" from heat buildup.
Prices and more details will be available closer to the market launch date early next year.

[xx3]

Now is this BMW's averages, or the newspapers averages?

And if the latter, do they indicate how they drove the X5?

[skarletknite]

not sure. actual article:

http://washingtontimes.com/autoweeke...4533-9346r.htm

[JCL]

I've been waiting to see fuel consumption figures on the E70, but it looks like I will be waiting a little longer for fuel consumption figures to take to the bank.

Since this is all we have for now, I checked it against a similar model:

The 530xiT has the same engine, 6 speed automatic, similar weight (likely a little less), likely a little less wind resistance. It is rated 20 city/27 hwy (US gallons).

This figure of 25.9 mpg seems a little high to me.

The 3 mpg spread between the 3.0 and the 4.8 is consistent with other current BMW models using the same engines.

I am looking forward to actual numbers. Thanks for the article and link.

[xx3]

Originally Posted by JCL

The 3 mpg spread between the 3.0 and the 4.8 is consistent with other current BMW models using the same engines.

On facevalue it looks like the same engine. But is it?

BMW.com says its more efficient and gets better gas mileage then the old 'V8'. Whether they are talking about the E53 V8 or the 4.8 V8 used in the 7, 6 & 5, I do not know...

According to BMW.com there is a slight drop in power between the outgoing 4.8's and the 4.8 that exists in the E70.

All this, and then there is the new engine cover... So is it a new engine or not?

I guess we'll have to wait and see...

[skarletknite]

agreed, will have to see more backup for those numbers, but it sure would be nice if they are accurate! (i'm sure they are highway only numbers) i've gotten an overall average of 18.2 mpg on my '03 3.0 since i've owned it. i guess a bit more city driving than normal, i live in nyc.