My Impressions on our 35d

[MINIz guy]

Well, it has almost been 2 weeks with our new 35d. Comparing it to our 2003 3.0i which we still have, I have a few likes and dislikes. Again, I don't drive these cars so this is strictly from a passenger perspective. At this point, I think the E70 is a technological marvel and the E53 as a true "machine."

Likes:

• Vermilion Red pops out on the road
• Puddle lights are cool!
• Saddle Brown is a very nice color
• There is so much technology such as the navigation, comfort seats, and iDrive in general
• Much quieter than the 3.0i when highway cruising
• Much more comfortable when driving compared to the 65k suspension on the 3.0i. The Adaptive Drive firms up the suspension very well when needed.
• Enourmous amounts of power and torque compared to our 3.0i
• Auto-Hold is cool for traffic
• Radio preprogrammed buttons (1-6) and touch sensitive! Awesome!

Dislikes:

• Fogging headlights when it rains. Looks horrible and shouldn't be on a $65k vehicle
• Door handles feel flimsy compared to the ones on the 3.0i
• Door handles you grab when closing the doors look cheap. I can find the same on a generic rental car!
• Gear selector is clunky. Push forward for reverse, and park is a button on top...what?
• Too iDrive dependent. The temperature dial to change from cool 70 degree air to warm 70 degree air requires iDrive to change. Too much iDrive!

[z2g]

Could you clarify the fogging headlights issue?

About pushing up/forward to put the car in reverse, I think most automatic cars have it where you push or move the lever forward to put it in reverse. Neutral is just in a different spot than some automatic cars.

As far as starting the ignition issue, my other car has keyless entry. And, it also has the same procedure for starting the car. I think the general consensus is that push button ignitions is "classier" and signifies "high end".

[XXX555]

Most/all automatic cars require foot on the brake to start (key or button start) due to the "unintended acceleration" fiasco about 10 yrs ago...

Not having to put the key in the hole four or more times per day (every day for 4 or 5 years hopefully) is worth $1K for the comfort access...

[jayjay_dee]

Originally Posted by XXX555

Not having to put the key in the hole four or more times per day (every day for 4 or 5 years hopefully) is worth $1K for the comfort access...

worth every penny that i paid for it....

[bigx5er]

What bums me out about comfort access is the $1K charge. It is a standard feature on many Nissan vehicles now.

[XXX555]

Originally Posted by bigx5er

What bums me out about comfort access is the $1K charge. It is a standard feature on many Nissan vehicles now.

Same feeling. My wives RX has an auto highbeam on/off feature that we did not even know we had the first few weeks. I never read about it in the mags or lexus literature but it is a prominent 2010 extra cost option for the X5.

[anatolych]

Push button start is there because it allows them to have the same dashboard on cars with and without comfort entry feature. I am indifferent between turning the key vs pressing the button. I did not pAy for Comfort entry it as I don't mind plugging the key in. I'd rather pay for features which are more useful. For example I love the new navigation. It's very sharp, fast to recalculate, has useful traffic data (At least on the way from spartansburg to ny it was very presize and uptodate, unlike my old system in the Acura). and it tells you expected delays and suggests time saving detours on the fly.
Rear camera is useful and really cool with the side views. By the way. cnet car tech did a video review of X5M where they show all of that if anyone is interested.

[Fraser]

Pity you haven't driven the 35d because if you had you'd realise the big difference between it and the 3.0i is the huge increase in torque.

[MINIz guy]

There are vents in the headlights to allow for cooling. When it is humid out and rainy, the moisture in the air will get through the vents and fog up the headlights. They say that after turning on the Xenon lights, the heat generated should remove all condensation. When we noticed the fogging, the condensation didn't disappear after a 25 minute drive with the lights on.

I don't recall needing to hold the brake to turn on the car on our E53. Sending the E53 into reverse is also a push back from P to R. Only from D do we push forward. I guess these 2 complaints are only out of habit, a habit I've had and I don't even drive!

Finally, I can't believe I forgot about the torque! I had another draft typed up with this detail in the "like" section, but my computer froze and I lost it. I have indeed felt the torque, as passing speeds rise much quicker. Overall, we drive much quicker because of the increased power and quiet drivetrain. I'll add that to my list!

[Armand]

Originally Posted by MINz guy

Well, it has almost been 2 weeks with our new 35d. Comparing it to our 2003 3.0i which we still have, I have a few likes and dislikes. Again, I don't drive these cars so this is strictly from a passenger perspective. At this point, I think the E70 is a technological marvel and the E53 as a true "machine."

Likes:

• Vermilion Red pops out on the road
• Puddle lights are cool!
• Saddle Brown is a very nice color
• There is so much technology such as the navigation, comfort seats, and iDrive in general
• Much quieter than the 3.0i when highway cruising
• Much more comfortable when driving compared to the 65k suspension on the 3.0i. The Adaptive Drive firms up the suspension very well when needed.
• Enourmous amounts of power and torque compared to our 3.0i

Dislikes:

• Fogging headlights when it rains. Looks horrible and shouldn't be on a $65k vehicle
• Door handles feel flimsy compared to the ones on the 3.0i
• Door handles you grab when closing the doors look cheap. I can find the same on a generic rental car!
• Ignition is very confusing. You must step on the brake to press the start button. Why can't I just turn the key like before?
• Gear selector is clunky. Push forward for reverse, and park is a button on top...what?
• Too iDrive dependent. The temperature dial to change from cool 70 degree air to warm 70 degree air requires iDrive to change. Manually selecting the radio requires iDrive. Too much iDrive!

Too bad this car has so many flaws. Time to have a serious conversation with the parents. This car is obviously not good enough for them. They should give it to you and get the new Hybrid next year and drive the old x5 in the mean time