700-mile trip report

[alexmish]

Just came back from a 5-day trip to upstate NY (Lake Placid, Whiteface mountain skiing + NYEve celebration with friends and family).

Some observations:

Total Trip - 700 miles
Avg Speed - 55 mph (73-80mph cruise control on hwy + local driving and idling)
Avg Fuel Consumption - 16.0 mpg (incl local driving and idling for 20 mins)
I-87 is not a flat road - lots of "ups" and "downs" the hill.
The car was fully loaded - literally - I could not see thru the rear-view mirror, plus Thule ski rack.
2 adults + 2 kids

Pros: It was a pure enjoyment ! Heated steering wheel is a must-have. The rear tailgate's lower gate is very convinient to sit on while changing into ski boots. The HDC saved us many times as we've rented a house on a top of a hill with very long, steep and icy driveway. And X-drive helped to climb that driveway, too ... Passing and acceleration - amazing. Even with the fully loaded X, it was sooooooooo easy to pass other cars or trucks. The power was always "there". Comfort access was actually a bit useful since I could just clip the keyfob on a clip in my ski pant's pocket, zip it up and never forget of loosing it in a parking lot or on the slopes). The space gray hides dirt very well !

Cons: power tailgate is a waste of money. It is just too sensitive to any minor obstacle. The running boards is another matter - it is impossible to get in/out without dirtying your pants, but they are needed if you are planning to use the roof rack.

That is about it.

[trueX5er]

great review Alex, sounds like you had fun! Any pictures?
btw how did you get such good fuel econ?

[rh71]

did you find the power tailgate actually useful other than it being too sensitive?

[alexmish]

Sorry, no pictures yet. I have one on my mobile phone with the car fully loaded, but I am having troubles getting it to my PC.

The trick with the fuel economy - moderate speed and use of the cruise control. As I said, I did 73-80mph on the highway, but I went slower - let's say ~65mph, I'd have gotten even better results. Highway-only fuel economy was around 17mpg, which is not bad considering heavy load, bad aerodynamics (ski rack fully loaded) and high speed (and some bad winds on the way back). After all the car is rated 14/19mpg, so I guess I did quite OK considering the above + the car has only 1400 miles on it.

[alexmish]

Originally Posted by rh71

did you find the power tailgate actually useful other than it being too sensitive?

It is useful when using keyfob to open it. That is about it. Given that I also have the comfort access option, I tend to keep the keys in the pocket, so what is the point for having the power tailgate !!!??? Besides, the fact that one must press the button on the gate to get it closed, is a very annoying "feature". Also, it is almost impossible to force-close the gate without using the "power close" feature.

[trueX5er]

Originally Posted by alexmish

Sorry, no pictures yet. I have one on my mobile phone with the car fully loaded, but I am having troubles getting it to my PC.

The trick with the fuel economy - moderate speed and use of the cruise control. As I said, I did 73-80mph on the highway, but I went slower - let's say ~65mph, I'd have gotten even better results. Highway-only fuel economy was around 17mpg, which is not bad considering heavy load, bad aerodynamics (ski rack fully loaded) and high speed (and some bad winds on the way back). After all the car is rated 14/19mpg, so I guess I did quite OK considering the above + the car has only 1400 miles on it.

That's strange, because with my 3.0si, which is driven at moderation, and splits time @ ~65mph highway and ~35mph town, with no stop and go traffic, and a light load and no roof stuff, I can barely get above 17mpg. The X3 gets about that with 99% stop and go town.

[alexmish]

Originally Posted by trueX5er

That's strange, because with my 3.0si, which is driven at moderation, and splits time @ ~65mph highway and ~35mph town, with no stop and go traffic, and a light load and no roof stuff, I can barely get above 17mpg. The X3 gets about that with 99% stop and go town.

Dont know what to tell you. I've just pulled the window sticker, it says 14/19 with the average of 16mpg. What does yours say ?

Also, regarding the fuel tank's reserve capacity. If your car's "distance to empty" reads 60 miles, that means it will most likely die on the 61st mile ! When I went to fill up on the way back, mine had "60 miles to empty, avg 15mpg" (which means 4 gals are needed), and I've managed to put in another 19 gals, for the total of 23 gals... Arent' the specs say "22.5 gal" tank (incl the reserve)? So where is the reserve volume ?

[trueX5er]

Originally Posted by alexmish

Dont know what to tell you. I've just pulled the window sticker, it says 14/19 with the average of 16mpg. What does yours say ?

Also, regarding the fuel tank's reserve capacity. If your car's "distance to empty" reads 60 miles, that means it will most likely die on the 61st mile ! When I went to fill up on the way back, mine had "60 miles to empty, avg 15mpg" (which means 4 gals are needed), and I've managed to put in another 19 gals, for the total of 23 gals... Arent' the specs say "22.5 gal" tank (incl the reserve)? So where is the reserve volume ?

Interesting. ABC did a special or something (20/20?) where they filled up a Dodge Caravan and drove it till it died. It went like 40mi after the trip computer said "0" and long after the gauge read "E". Something having to do with Americans liking a reserve, but European and Asian customers liking it more exact, and also the large margin error of the digital readout. I wouldn't be surprised that the reserve is less than a gallon. So you are correct about the 22.5gal tank, and that's probably the full capacity, it was just the readout. It is 15/21 for the 3.0si.

[swesson]

I just got back from a 2400 mile trip myself.

I averaged about 17MPG, but mine was mostly highway driving and using cruise control. My main observations are:

1. The X5 is very comfortable to drive long distances, particularly with the comfort seats. Play around with the settings until you get it just the way you want it...it will make a BIG difference in your comfort.

2. I am reminded that I didn't buy this car for the gas mileage!

3. 3rd row seat is only comfortable for the under 8 year-old set. And then it really isolates them from the rest of the car since the 2nd row sits high and the 3rd row sits low. 3rd row is okay in a pinch, but not ideal for long distance travel, even for small children.

4. Passing power is unbelievable!! (I have the 4.8)

5. Cruise control works nice! Cool feature of being able to increment or decrement the speed by bumping the cruise control stalk.

6. I bought a Rola hitch-mounted cargo box and it worked great...much less drag than the roof-mounted boxes (and easier to access, too!)

7. Xdrive worked very well in the snow and in the ice. The X was very steady, even in the worst of conditions.

8. I really liked being able to separate the movie the kids were watching and listening to via headphones from the Satellite radio! My other cars couldn't do this! I also liked that I could listen to the sat radio for several hundred miles without changing stations like you would on a regular radio.

9. I now understand why there is a divider in the center console! When my wife fell asleep with her arm on the other half, I could still access the console without waking her up! Nice touch!

10. I liked how I could keep the front cabin clutter free, yet still have access to various items in the deep storage bins in the door.

11. Speaking of those storage bins, each travel day, I loaded 2 to 3 water bottles in each door's bin. Those were life savers when the kids got thirsty and we could just say "pull a bottle out of the door pocket".

12. The 2nd row window shades worked very well, keeping a lot of glare out of the car (and making it easier to view movies, etc.

13. I loaded up two video ipods worth of movies, TV shows, etc and connected them to the rear entertainment system. This way, the kids had instant access to all the videos they wanted and we didn't have the extra bulk of a bunch of DVD's to haul around. I plugged them into the AUX port via cables. worked great. I used the same cables to plug into relatives and hotel TV sets, too.

[alexmish]

Re the storage bins on the doors - we also used them for the water bottles. Very handy ! My previous ride had 17 cup holders, but those could not hold water bottles, so X5's solution is way more practical !