just bought an MDX

[X5love]

Originally Posted by NOVAX5

2 X5s? not a good idea. just like you have a perfect wife, do you one another perfect wife? of course they are both perfect, but putting them together in the same house, thats odd. but if you have 1 perfect wife and 1 perfect girl friend. thats awesome. in that case, they are both perfect, but one is a wife and the other is your girlfriend. just like 1 is your X5 one is MDX.

[JBM]

This is kind of a tangent to earlier discussion. But where did you find weights for the X5 3.0 and 4.8? On the BMW USA site, the unladen weight is listed as 5335 lbs. There doesn't seem to be any info on whether this is the 3.0 or 4.8 and how the weight would change with certain options.

Thanks for the help . . .

[ccjung]

Page 244 of the E70 instruction manual. if i had known the 3.0 with 3rd row was this heavy, i would have gone this way.

chris

[rh71]

approx how much does the X5 net cost with tax write-offs ?

And I thought they closed that "loop-hole" ... or perhaps it was another one.

[ccjung]

the cost of the X5 is the cost of the X5. What the deduction does is lower your tax basis so that your corporate/income taxes are taxed at a lower tax basis. Where it does come in handy tho, is if you own a business and take out a loan for say 5 years. You will only pay your payments, but you can take the deduction in the year you place the vehicle in service (essentially creating 25000 cash flow for your company).

Lets not sidetrack X5FXs thread, but in a nutshell, its not a loophole, but more about how business property can be "expensed" in the first year of ownership as opposed to 5 year depreciation. This is called the "section 179" deduction and must not exceed 108,000 for all equipment purchased for the business.

The old limit was the total of the expensing limit, 108000. The new limit is 25000. The vehicles must be over 6000gvwr (and used primarily for business) to apply for this expensing deduction under Section 179.

I am no tax expert (just a tax saavy business owner), and ultimately you need to talk to your tax accountants to see if this works for you.

Lets let this get back on track, and if you want, someone create a thread about Tax writeoffs either here or in the lounge, and i would be happy to participate.

Chris

[emcman]

Do you like the black plastic bamboo finish? I could not get use to that. Then again I tested a MDX sport tech to a X5 4.8 and there was no real comparison.

Does the big chrome grill bother you? When I was on their forum guys were starting to paint them black and it looked better IMO.

[X5FX]

You get what you pay for


The price difference between my two vehicles is $24,000, which obviously is significant…but today I discovered that you get what you pay for. We went on a road trip today and traveled about 250 miles in the new MDX, hardly enough to fully evaluate the difference between these two vehicles, but enough for some observations. Since the MDX is brand new, I drove very conservatively so that should be considered.

We averaged 23mpg on the trip which is very nice, significantly better than my X5 and this before its broke in…but this is where the advantages start to disappear.

The MDX ride is far harsher than the X5, a very noticeable difference. The road noise is also noticeably louder. There are a lot of little details in my X5 that make it a luxury vehicle, little things I never really noticed until I drove the MDX. Some examples:

1. The turn signal- it has a pleasant sound and has a soft touch, plus the abilty to have it flash three times and turn off automatically. The MDX has a very annoying sound and the lever feels cheap. Its either on or off.
2. Buttons and levers- they are all much more refined and just feel better on the X5. The MDX buttons feel cheap and have slack.
3. Dashboard- The X5’s faux leather dash looks like it is leather. The MDX faux leather looks like cheap plastic.
4. Seats- The MDX seats look great, but the X5 Comfort Seats are so much more comfortable, there really is no comparison. The MDX seats also don’t have nearly as many adjustments.
5. The MDX steering wheel is butt-ugly and not comfortable- The X5 Sport wheel is much nicer and looks better too.
6. The MDX only has three power outlets- one in the dash, one in cargo area + a 120v outlet in the center console. The 120v outlet is a nice addition, but it would have been nice to have a 12v in the center console to keep you phone. I find the X5 has much better placement of the power outlets.
7. Ipod- MDX has no Ipod interface, further the only way to plug in an Ipod is thru the rear Entertainment ‘s stereo phono plugs in the second row.
8. The RSE system is nice, but no better than the X5’s despite all the complaints about the X5’s stock system. The MDX is roof mounted and the kids started complaining about neck pain several hours into the trip. Overall its equal to the X5, maybe slightly better due to the integration with the front center console.
9. Sunroof- The X5 Pano Roof is far superior.
10. These features on my X5 are not available on the MDX- and are part of the reason for the price difference:
a. Comfort Access- didn’t realize how much I like it until I drove the MDX w/o it. Plus the BMW key is so much smaller than the MDX key.
b. HUD- WOW, I really like my HUD, especially with the Nav info, this feature was really missed on this trip.
c. Ventilated Seats and Active Seats
d. Front/Rear PDC
e. Ambient exterior lighting
f. Rain sensing wipers

11. Body Design- X5 clearly the superior design
12. Ergonomics- The X5 is the winner
13. iDrive- Ok, the idrive is amazing. The placement of the idrive knob is perfect, it is in a spot that is natural. Every time I had to reach for the MDX knob it was awkward, not to mention the dozen of buttons on the dash. Earlier I stated that the Technology in the MDX was superior, I have to say that after driving the car for a day I think that I was wrong. The BMW idrive is far easier to use and it minimizes taking your eyes off the road. I found in the MDX that I had to ask my wife to operate the nav for me. Of course I wasn’t familiar with the MDX yet, so this isn’t totally fair but I did notice a few things:
a. The Nav screen on the MDX is lower res, the X5 looks much better
b. The MDX screen is not very bright, the X5 is much brighter and easier to read
c. The MDX uses XM Traffic- which has a monthly fee + its is available in fewer cities.
d. The voice commands aren’t as usefull as I first thought.
e. The backup camera, even though the camera is much better resolution and better in low light, I think I like the X5 camera better. The MDX is a very wide angle and it’s very hard to judge distance, plus the BMW adds the overlay lines, which makes it a breeze to parallel-park…not so easy in the MDX.
f. The MDX does not have a PDC feature.

14. The MDX has a power lift gate, which is very nice. Power open and close.
15. The MDX does not have run flats
16. The MDX uses XM not Sirius
17. The MDX has better entertainment separation- The rear passengers can listen to XM FM, AM, DVD, independently + the front can selectively listen to all the speakers or just the front speakers.
18. The MDX will play DVD-A audio discs

The MDX is a fine vehicle, and I’m not saying it has flaws. It’s just not fair to compare the two as equals, because they are not. You get what you pay for….and btw, I am very pleased with our new MDX.

[emcman]

14. The MDX has a power lift gate, which is very nice. Power open and close.

I wish BWM would get that option going on the X5. As far as the MDX goes when we looked at it we wanted that option but like many empty nesters or DINCs we did not want the rear entertainment package and that is the only way you could get it so it was $2000 for an auto rear hatch.

People do remark how tight and well the X5 rides. You can not get a rattle out of it no matter what bumps you go over but it still feels nice to ride in.

Also the MDX with the options I looked at, and and some were dealer install like 20" wheels, was $55,000.

[MD11F]

Originally Posted by X5FX

The sheer amount of buttons is overwhelming on the MDX, and honestly it really does not have any more functionality.

This is one thing that I can't see past on most higher end Japanese cars.. it's almost like they value a car based on how many buttons with little text names they can cram into a dashboard. It's very unsightly in my view and makes for a very plasticy interior.

I agree (based on my test drive of the MDX) that the X5 is in a whole separate league.

[ccjung]

At first, I hated iDrive.

I was used to the multitude of buttons that my 05 TL had, loved the navigation system because of the touchscreen, and never used the voice command, except to show someone a "trick". most of the time tho, my girlfriend was putting in the navigation for me anyways (its amazing how quick she is with POIs).

At first, I was disappointed with iDrive. Now I'm in love with it. Its jog dial method of input isnt very elegant, but it keeps your hand on the wheel, and your eyes (for the most part) on the road. hearing that the MDX lacks the touchscreen feature, and resorts to voice command (not a favorite of mine, im tactile) and their bizzare lookng jog dial, I see where BMW went when they decided to go with iDrive versus other interfaces.

It is much less capable (no touchscreen, limited POI, etc), but more simple to use, and real life use of navi (unless your the type that just likes to know distances to places) is limited to few occasions.

Like X5FX said, iDrive is in the natural position for your hand. I have definately come to like it alot more than initially. The killer combo would be touchscreen (for inputting text, etc) and idrive.

The best comparison (save it for another thread) is that of Windows mobile vs. iphone. I have been a winmo user for 5 years, and love it. However, since going to the iphone, i really havent looked back. When designing interfaces, the design teams really have to look at how the product will be used by everyday people. it really looks like BMW is headed the right direction with iDrive. Voice recognition will have amazing impact in the future, but as of right now, i still feel its very limited, both in capability and the users confidence in its accuracy.

My 0.02

Chris