AN AUSSIE'S VIEW ON OUR NEW X5 (LONG WITH A FEW PICS)

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G/Day X– people,

Last week my wife and I picked up our first ever BMW, it is an Australian version X5 3.0sd sport in sapphire metallic black with aero kit, 20 inch 214 rims and saddle leather with poplar wood grain trim. I did not put pics of the SAV as it looks like all the others however I have attached some pics of options that I thought would be useful on the forum read on.

Firstly I wanted to thank this forum - from which I have taken so much - and what better way to show my appreciation then making my own contribution to the community…Kennedy put it best when he said “ASK NOT”…..you know the rest.

To give a little background I’m 36, my wife is 30 we have a 2 year old son and are expecting a daughter (due in December 08) hence the reason for the X5. I currently drive a fully loaded turbo R56 Mini Cooper S with JCW kit (a great little drive) and My wife…well she used to not care what she drove however she now is a BMW girl….Go figure? My previous cars were modified big horse power Jap turbo’s (STI, GTR etc)…Yes I was a boy racer!

Before we purchased the X5, we looked at the ML AMG Merc, and Porsche GTS (in yellow), both great cars, by the way the Porsche handles fractionally better then the X5. However both compare to the Exon Valdez for green credentials. Technologically and package wise the X5 edged out the competition and the wife said it looks more subtle. Although I will give it to Porsche that they will do anything to personalise your car and they have better quality dash instrumentation.

Our X5 has every option on the Aussie options list Sport, comfort seats, individual leather dash, head-up display, 4 zone air, rear entertainment, climate windscreen, soft close doors, Xenon’s (including active lights and high beam assist), auto tailgate, logic 7, sunroof, self levelling suspension, anti-dazzle mirrors, front and rear heated seats including steering wheel, mechanical sunblinds, USB connection….. And the list goes on (Note to BMW half of that stuff should be standard) Anyway the only options I rejected and I explain were;

• Adaptive drive (part of the sport pack in the US)…….To be honest I did not notice much difference between the sport suspension and adaptive drive (I wasn’t pushing crazy hard just a little sporty) however I did notice a big difference between the standard suspension and Sport….My opinion is don’t buy the X5 without sport suspension. Another reason it made the reject list is that when BMW tested at the Nurburg ring they did it without adaptive drive to get better times. Further the system causes the car to have a less natural feel in my opinion….Another big reason was that the system costs over $6,500 AUD for not much benefit…..So I didn’t tick the box.

• Active steering – Reading the forum I decided to dump this, again to me it felt a little un-predictable (especially at low speeds) and anyway my wife and I like a heavier steering feel,

• 3rd row seating – We did not need this option and I wanted the underfloor boot space aswell as a spare wheel. We did get the self levelling suspension though.

• Comfort Access – I know there are a lot of fans of this option however from reading the incident where the lady had her child locked in the car for an hour, I thought that would happen to my wife so, I did not go with it. Also I like the idea of a key (don’t know why).

What I like most about the car. The handling for a car that weighs 2.2 ton it is 1st class and has excellent turn in and control, the twin turbo diesel engine which I agree is the best 3.0l diesel in the world (great performance / economy compromise & torque), handsome refined looks (better then Porsche), saddle leather interior and leather dash. I also like the I-drive (shock horror).

What My Wife likes most: Feeling of safety, Auto –tailgate, rear DVD, mechanical sunblinds, head-up display - especially the way it works with the Nav, the electronic handbrake and the massive sunroof.

Options we were not sure about but now really like:
Soft close doors (a little over the top but quite nice to have?) head-up display (we saw it on a test drive however it grew on us and we now love it, steering wheel heating (thought it would be completly usless in Aus, ticked the box anyway and surprise surprise we used it in winter...It's great), Mechanical sun blinds like them to. Leather dash, the leather is smooth & high quality, goes over all 4 doors and under the dash aswell..it's top notch.

Must have options –our opinion: Comfort Seats (they really are the best), Auto-tailgate (worth its weight in gold), sport suspension, 20 inch wheels and sunroof.

What could be better: the reverse camera, controls for the rear DVD, the T.V antenna it should pick-up better reception.

Our thoughts on BMW: We were treated O.K, however my real gripe is the options list which was a little long and honestly in this day and age 4 zone air and fancy headlights on a luxury car should be standard even if it’s not the V8. We agree with everyone else concerning the reverse camera – it is crap- and frankly I think it is a safety issue and BMW should allow us to upgrade at fair price or they should have a recall. I also think the welding around the rear boot is pretty bad like the journos say. Further if BMW want to call some options individual like paint they should give you more then 2 choices of colour, both of which are pretty ordinary.

Well that’s my view and I have attached a couple of pics of the leather dash and mechanical sunblinds if anyone is interested.


To my Aussie compatriots….See you on the road….to you all in the rest of the world –Peace and compassion!