Road Trip Review

X5_2_OBX · #1 08-04-2007, 10:53 PM

Our 4.8i just made its first trip to the beach! I was fortunate enough to drive it for about 1000 of the 1500 mile trip. In one word, the car was PHENOMENAL!

I really can't say enough about this car!

The Pros:

1. The handling was simply amazing. We were in a caravan with an E46 M3 driven by my race-car driving grandfather and I had absolutely NO problems staying with him through the mountains of West Virginia up and down some steep climbs and around some tight turns. And some of this was in torrential downpours! Simply a champ! One of the main reasons why we went for a 4.8 over a 3.0 was for these trips and while I can't vouch for a 3.0 in those mountains, I can say that the 4.8 was a BEAST!

2. The ride was SO smooth and quiet! I really felt as though I was gliding on the road. I had noticed that the car was exceptionally quiet but the quietness was really magnified after I drove a van for the remaining 500 miles of the trip (big change, huh?).

3. I don't know how I survived without comfort access in the past! With all of the stops, driver changes, etc. it was SO nice to not have to deal with digging around the car or purse for a key or clicker. My mother (who is the daily driver of the X5) kept the key in her purse the whole trip and since she was always in the car, I never had to deal with a key.

4. We got 20 miles to the gallon which is a BIG improvement for us coming from a Suburban. Mind you, this calculation included some heavy stop and go traffic on several occassions, torrential downpours that sometimes left us crawling and several hours of driving through the mountains.

5. Say what you want about this navigation system but it was truly brilliant the whole way. We've made this trip many many times so we have a general route planned but there were some ins and outs that we didn't know and we were so thankful to have all of the details right in front of us... and they were incredibly accurate, too! There had been a SERIOUS car accident on one of the highways the day before we were driving on it and it closed the highway for 2 days. It noted that and re-routed us. The real-time traffic was also a godsend!

6. While i-Drive does take some getting used to, the BMW folks truly nailed it on this one. The design is completely intuitive and so easy to navigate through. It made the drive so much more pleasant to have all the controls at your fingertips and in ONE place.

7. The sport seats were actually quite comfortable and I was grateful for the way they hug you as we flew around the turns in the mountains!

The cons:

1. Something about the curvature of the floor on the driver's side made my knee turn in a strange position to press the gas pedal and after a few hours, my knee was bothered.

2. I wish there were more options to adjust the headrests with the sport seats. It wasn't a problem but it would have been nice to have that flexibility.

3. We should have gotten HUD. It would have been so convenient while using the navigation system. Granted, we don't travel much any more except a few trips a year but it still would have been nice to have!

I will say that we did not see ONE other E70 on the entire trip! It's quite possible that we missed them but I was surprised given the huge increase in popularity that I have been noticing here at home.

In all, it was truly awesome to drive and I am completely itching to take it out on a road trip again!

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trueX5er · #2 08-04-2007, 10:56 PM

awesome review!!! Thanks!

X5FX · #3 08-05-2007, 12:08 AM

Thanks for the very nice review.

xnsf · #4 08-05-2007, 12:13 AM

awesome!

planning your next one yet?

MD11F · #5 08-05-2007, 12:13 AM

Awesome review... I take the X5 on our first road trip tomorrow.. we only go 150 miles to Prescott however, but it's a nice drive with mountain roads and such. Sadly, I've still got my 4.8i in the shop with the DVD player issue (now supposedly resolved but being tested), so i've got the loaner 3.0 to take.. the plus side is better fuel milage however, and at least it came with the sports package even if it doesn't have the dynamic steering which I've decided is a must have for the X5 after driving one without it.

rh71 · #6 08-05-2007, 10:28 PM

would like to hear more info on the real-time traffic info. How does it actually get the info and how often does it get updated ?

MD11F · #7 08-05-2007, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rh71

would like to hear more info on the real-time traffic info. How does it actually get the info and how often does it get updated ?

some kind of public service that is free of charge and done by the local authorities I think. It came in handy to day for road construction and accidents on our return from Prescott to Phoenix. It's not the easiest to read info however, and it doesn't seem to be fully integrated with the NAV where it can give you alternate routing due to traffic, from what I can see.

X5_2_OBX · #8 08-05-2007, 10:44 PM

I'm hoping someone else here will have the details on the source and update periods.

I will say that we were traveling through Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill during rush hour on a Friday evening and we turned to the RTTI to find out about delays or accidents. The RTTI told us EXACTLY where the accident/back-up was located (used exits as reference points), told us which lanes were closed in the accident and gave an estimated time for the delay. The information was SO up to date that at one point it told us that we should re-route due to an accident on the highway about 15 miles ahead of us. When we re-calculated the route a few minutes later, there was no warning symbol on the map and it took us back to the original route. When we passed through the area where the wreck had been located, they were cleaning up debris. It was so accurate that it knew that there had been a wreck AND that it had been cleared up and traffic was flowing smoothly.

X5FX · #9 08-05-2007, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MD11F

some kind of public service that is free of charge and done by the local authorities I think. It came in handy to day for road construction and accidents on our return from Prescott to Phoenix.

actually a private company the broadcasts the signal on FM channels...the service is subscription only and BMW pays for the subscription for us for 4 years.

The info comes from public data, but shortly will be enhanced by sensors placed in trucks and other public vehicles that track speed. It should also include more local info.

MD11F · #10 08-05-2007, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by X5FX

actually a private company the broadcasts the signal on FM channels...the service is subscription only and BMW pays for the subscription for us for 4 years.

The info comes from public data, but shortly will be enhanced by sensors placed in trucks and other public vehicles that track speed. It should also include more local info.

yeah, I stand corrected... I recall being told it's a Private company using "public" data. I didn't think it was for only 4 years though. But then I guess the cost of the service shouldn't be too bad after the 4 are up.

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