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

[LCSCPZB]

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!

[autoque]

:xoutpost: :welcome:

About the adaptive drive. I also read a review written by a journalist saying that he prefers the base suspension over the adaptive drive as it gives more honest road feel. But some people swear by it. To each his own, I guess.

Though I gotta ask, did you find the sport suspension comfortable enough for you? I also had test-driven an X5 equipped with the sport suspension and I could feel every little bump and road imperfection. Found it to be harsh for my taste.

[The Big Easy]

Congratulations! Good to have you on-board.
Good bunch of people here.

Cheers,

[jimsaq]

Thanks for the post LCSCPZB
I can't see your attachments mate - very keen to see your pics of the leather dash option - my dopey salesman didn't know about it so I missed out on it by about 1 week. I was checking the bmw website practically daily for new options while I was waiting for my order - I'd heard of the auto tailgate on this forum so managed to slip that in, but the leather dash didn't appear on the site until just after I'd been told my vehicle had been built

Your options list sounds a lot like mine, except I didn't get rear dvd player or heated steering - or the leather dash as mentioned. I did go with ruby black individual paint and adaptive drive + adaptive steering though, and I'm one of the ones who raves about them My vehicle has been in at the service centre twice (once to get 21" style 239 wheels fitted and once to get power steering pump replaced) and both times they gave me an X5 without adaptive drive/steering... all I can say is ouch... feels awful, I mean really awful by comparison. One of them had only 1200k's on the clock and the other 5500k's - so it's not like they were old and weary. They had 17 or 18" tyres on them so you'd think they'd feel more cushy than mine with 21" run flats, but no, mine feels far nicer in spite of the low profile run flats. And I nearly ran up the kerb on the other side of the road as I drove away because I had to turn the steering wheel so much further without adaptive steering But now after reading your post, I'm interested to drive an X5 without adaptive drive, but with sports suspension to see the difference. I didn't think about it at the time but now I'm guessing that the loaner vehicles I was given probably wouldn't have had sport suspension. Seriously though, it feels like mine is on rails around corners at high speed, it's so far from what you'd expect in a vehicle this shape and weight.

Totally agree with your comments about some of the options not being standard - problem is, by giving them my money I am telling them it's ok to have it that way

Like you I am loving this vehicle. The computer/electric glitches can be a bit annoying but for the most part it's nothing but fun driving around in this car. I took delivery in early April and drive it every day to/from work and even now I still look for any excuse to have to drive it somewhere. The fuel consumption is brilliant, I'm only using around 9.5-10L/100k's commuting to/from the city each day including lots of generous right boot (it's fun to hear that beautiful tuned roar) and it's such a zippy car considering it's weight.

The dealings I've had with (Brisbane) BMW since I took delivery have been excellent, really feel like they're looking after me and making it as easy as possible. As mentioned it was in once to get 21's fitted and then one more time because a warning came up on the computer about the steering, although there were no discernible symptoms. They replaced the power steering pump. Both times I was given a practically new X5 loaner.

I've put 9000k's on it so far, and here's to many more.

[Major04]

LCSCPZB - 1st) :xoutpost:community 2nd) your write-up was spot on. 3rd) the peeps here are one of the best of helping you out or just bust on you. Like every great family or community it has it's "drama"

Good luck and let us know how your ride is going. Post some pictures when you can.

[golfer4life]

Congrats on the new ride.

[rh71]

Brave for having 2 kids and no third row. I chose no 3rd row as well even though I knew twins were coming. Now my wife is squeezed in between 2 car seats back there, but hey the other option would've been she's squeezed in the 3rd row with 2 kids in the middle row and she can't really tend to them. Not many options right?

I wonder how people usually do it with 2 kids that require carseats.

[trueX5er]

Great post and welcome! Car sounds great, lets see some pics! We can help you upload them if you need help.

[JGQ]

Welcome to the X5 world and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Viewing X5 pics is never redundant or boring! Share them

[Hans_ACS]

Strange how some people think about the adaptive drive : I wouldn't want one without it Car handles completely different without it ! Weird that you did not notice a difference ..