2007 X5 Ride and Drive at PC in SC

[LeMansX5]

More pics here(click on pics in link for hi-res).
From Ride & Drive held at Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

[Fastbuck]

Man...there's a lot of lovin' goin' on there! At least there were no tree huggers.

[irvrobinson]

I had a great time there. Too bad I didn't have time to take more pictures, but I hope you enjoy that ones I have uploaded. I also posted a little article about the event, you can read it on my blog: www.edBMW.com/blog

Thanks

Irv

[SignHere]

I liked the idea of the shifter once I got familiar with it. When I first got in it was clumsy, but I like the electric 'Park' button and the Electromagnetic Parking Brake.
When I said it drives MUCH better that is in comparison to the current X5. It simply benefits from 4.5 inches longer wheelbase and the new suspension components. The 4th generation run flats are a non-issue, this vehicle runs great in both sport and non-sport package vehicles.

I am an active active steering hater and I gotta tell you...I may be a convert in the E70. It is well done and not the least bit heavy handed. After a dozen slaloms you really come to (Dare I say?) 'like' it.

[SignHere]

Cool technologies were iDrive programmable buttons to do just about everything!

Want to have a radio preset on the dash? Program your station and hold the button in for 5 seconds.

Want to have your wife's cell phone programmed to progamable button #2? Just select her number on the iDrive screen and press and hold button #2 for 5 seconds.

Want to program a specific loaction you go to frequently so all you have to do is hit a programmable button and have your guidance system start automatically? You can do this just by selecting the destination on Nav and pressing button #3 for 5 seconds.

Forget what these buttons do? just lightly run your finger along the row and at the bottom of any iDrive screen you will see what they do. Hover over one and it gets larger and easier to see!!!

Plus you still get the 2 programmable buttons on the steering wheel! They moved the heated steering wheel button in between these two programmable buttons as well.

How about direct access climate control buttons? No more fumbling with iDrive to get the cold air off your face, just a press of the dedicated button for either driver or passenger and its done.

Little things like the clamshell golve box locks with the vehicle automatically! And it's deep enough to actually hold the owners manual! (Woo-Hoo!!!)

Using the optional convenience plan for BMW Assist allows you to push a button and say "How do I get to BFE, and what's the phone number?!?" and this info can be 'pushed' to your Nav screen!!!

Head-Up Display is more advanced and selections of what info can be seen is larger and can be positioned to better viewing.

It has cornering lamps that sense steering wheel input and light a second bulb to provide a BRIGHT cornering lamp even if sitting still!

Remote Door Unlock as with all BMWs with BMW Assist after 9-06. BUT, this is one cool feature!

Sorry, just was explaining all this to a customer when I thought of you guys! ;-)

[LeMansX5]

Thanks for the input, Signhere.

[SignHere]

Oh! And they finally added an easy way to input digits while on a handsfree bluetooth phone call. Previously if you were calling to check a bank balance or anything else that needed numerical keypad entry you had to go to the handset. Now you can do it on the iDrive screen.

[StumpyPete]

Originally Posted by SignHere

Oh! And they finally added an easy way to input digits while on a handsfree bluetooth phone call. Previously if you were calling to check a bank balance or anything else that needed numerical keypad entry you had to go to the handset. Now you can do it on the iDrive screen.

That facility exists on the current E53 with MID (i.e. no Nav). I use it all the time to input user Ids and passwords for work voicemail.

[SignHere]

Originally Posted by StumpyPete

That facility exists on the current E53 with MID (i.e. no Nav). I use it all the time to input user Ids and passwords for work voicemail.

Correct, but this is the first time this feature has been available to iDrive users.

[rodybmw]

Originally Posted by SignHere

Correct, but this is the first time this feature has been available to iDrive users.

So how does this work on the E70's iDrive that is different from the E60's? On my E60 you can scroll through numbers with the iDrive knob and push the knob to dial a number (so you can in fact use iDrive to dial numbers or PIN's without having to use the phone's keypad). Is it different on the E70?