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  #1  
Old 06-22-2007, 03:49 AM
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E70 - Week one impressions

Here's my addition to the ever growing list of "week one reviews" appearing on the forum.

I will post some pictures soon.

I have the 3.0Diesel with the Exec Pack (nav, back up camera etc).

Positives

Blue tooth pairing is sensational. It works with my Blackberry and with the Nokia phone that came with the car. My entire BB address book doesn’t seem to sink with the E70 but that is no big deal as there are several thousand entries. The Nokia works like a dream and pairs instantly when my wife gets into the car.

Handling – amazing. Drives better than my 2001 E46 3.20i. More power. Just as much cornering ability (without active suspension). I am amazed at how BMW have made a very heavy and tall car feel like a sports car to drive.

Fuel economy – superb. I am getting 12.5l / 100km around the city (as good as my 3.20i). On the highway after the car has been run in I expect this to be down around 8l/100km.

Sun roof – a must have in my opinion. Makes the car so light and airy. Works well. The kids love it.

iDrive short cuts – without this I suspect my wife would never use the phone or turn on the radio.

Look – the best looking 4wd on the road at the moment (although I still like the look of the Range Rover Sport)

Build quality – no squeaks, rattles, bits falling off (yet). The dealer did to a crappy job installing the tinting leaving a couple of bubbles but this can be easily fixed.

Lights – fantastic carry and clarity. I like the adaptive headlights but can’t really see their effect in the city. I suspect on country roads they will be very useful.

Reversing camera in the day - in well lit conditions it is fantastic. The way bmw have managed to superimpose the turning circle guides and park distance control guides is very cleaver and very useful.

Shortcut keys on the steering wheel – all cars have them these days but I like them anyway.

Servicing – first service is at 30,000 km – incredible! No wonder they give away the first 3 years of servicing free.

Sound system – base model sounds fantastic in my opinion. Annoying that BMW are asking us to pay more for the IPOD adapter but the Aux input seems to work fine.

Jury is out

Transmission – initially I found that the car was a little sluggish off the mark. This could be me getting used to the tubo lag. More lately I have found that if I drive the car a little harder it really responds well and drives much more smoothly.

Head up display – Yes I like it because it is a gadget but is it really worth the money. Probably not. My wife finds it annoying.


Comfort access – I’m warming to this. But again not sure if it is worth the money. Certainly it is easy to just jump in the car press start and go. But having to press the start button twice when I stop is something I’m bound to forget and wind up with a flat battery because I have left the radio on. Maybe there is a setting to get around this but I haven’t found it yet.

Navigation – not bad but not as good as some of the $300 systems you can buy at the local electronic stores (Tomtom etc).

Voice activation – I suspect that this will be completely useless but I didn’t pay more for it so who cares.

Colour - I think that Black looks best. I bought silver because I could cope with washing another black car every single week. Still - it doesn't look as good as black.


Negatives

Reversing camera at night – completely useless

PDC and reversing camera on same screen – It would be nice to have the PDC display and the reversing camera able to be seen on the same screen. The reversing camera screen does have a kind of superimposed line which changes colour as the you get closer to an obstacle but it would still be nice to have the PDC in one of the two screens.

It’s annoying that TV can’t be shown full screen. It can only be in the main window. Seems like this would be an easy thing for BMW to have fixed through software.

Summary

This is an expensive car so you expect a lot from it. But it does deliver in the most important areas of driveability, comfort and luxury. I can’t wait for my first long trip which will cost me less in petrol than my 3.20i, be more comfortable and safer due to all the passive safety mechanisms (Bluetooth, head-up display, adaptive lights etc).

Regrets

I have a niggling doubt that I made the right decision not to get the 3rd row of seats. I know they are small but they would have been nice to have had (at least I have a full size spare in the spot where the seats would have gone).

Might have wasted some money on head up display and comfort access but only time will tell.
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  #2  
Old 06-22-2007, 04:46 AM
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Thanks for the review... Just a question what seats have you got and did you get the Sports pack ?
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Old 06-22-2007, 05:25 AM
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I ordered the comfort seats but they were not available so ended up with standard seats plus lumbar support. I was disappointed about this but I'm pretty happy with the standard seats. But as I only received a $625 reduction in price I would have been much happier with the comfort seats.

Didn't get the sports pack. Personally I didn't see the value there.
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Old 06-22-2007, 06:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adje2007

Servicing – first service is at 30,000 km – incredible! No wonder they give away the first 3 years of servicing free.
This is the first I have heard of free 3 years servicing?? Nothing was mentioned when I picked up my 4.8i.
Has anybody else heard about this?
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Old 06-22-2007, 08:37 AM
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You get it if you buy your car on the "Corporate Program". Ie, you need to convince BMW that you work for a company that will buy more than 5 luxury cars a year then your company gets certified.

There is no checking by BMW so if you work for any company of a reasonable size then it should be pretty easy to convince them.
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Old 06-22-2007, 09:54 AM
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regarding the button and exiting the car;

a- push the button and hold it a bit longer and it shuts everything down w/o having to push twice (I got into the habit of this and now its second nature)

b- if you only push the button once lightly, the radio stays on....BUT it shuts off after time or when you lock the doors....nice if you still want to hear the stereo while you are exiting and gathering your stuff.

Also make sure you use the "other" IDrive shortcuts...hold the center idrive knob in one direction for several seconds and it behaves differently.
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Old 06-22-2007, 04:26 PM
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In South Africa we get a 100000km or 5year whichever come first free service and maintianance plan. I thought this was standard all over the world with BMW.
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Old 06-22-2007, 06:54 PM
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Thanks for this detailed post. It is very helpful and interesting to read such insights into the X5 and its features and options.
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Old 06-22-2007, 08:53 PM
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Great detailed post thanks
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Old 06-22-2007, 11:21 PM
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Excellent post adje.
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