Finally figured out which engine....now narrowing down the options and colors

[F150 Duke]

Hello Ladies and Gents!

What did we or are we going to look at…
The saga of replacing my truck is nearing a close. Ironically it now includes the purchase of an SUV for my parents who are also interested in making a similar purchase. This should add significantly to my negotiation power. We’ve driven the X5 (all three engines), Jeep GC, Infiniti QX56, and M350/550. Tomorrow we’ll be trying the Cayenne and the Range Rover Sport. Though we’re not anticipating a change in direction due to price on the Cayenne and fuel efficiency on the Range Rover Sport. I think we’re heading in the direction of the X5.

Engines, engines, engines and more engines…
On Friday of last week we test drove the 50i, 35i, and 35d back to back…trying to figure out which engine would be suit our needs. We tow a boat once a week in the late spring to early fall in MN (late May to Early Oct) about once a week. Initially I was sold on the idea of going with the diesel for towing, then to the 50i and then back to the diesel. Driving all three back to back was an excellent way to figure this all out. Realistically if you add up all the driving time in a year and figure out what portion is towing, we’re only towing with the X5 for ¼ of the driving year. This makes it really hard to live with the 50i gas mileage which isn’t much better than my current truck. That bring the 35d to bat. But while it isn’t really “louder” at acceleration than the 35i, the noise is more metallic sounding which makes it feel more noticeable/different. At speed it’s silent and at idle it is louder than the 35i, but at idle I’m usually sitting inside the vehicle. All three options are much quieter than my current 5.4 V8. The 35i felt every bit as fast, if not faster, than the 35d. I also don’t have to mess with diesel which would be a plus and the freezing temps in MN in our winters means I don’t have to worry about it being a little noisier until it gets up to full temp. Realistically the diesel is not that big of an inconvenience, but it’s a tiny plus for me. The 35i has less torque and HP than my current F150 which means I probably won’t be able to tow the boat as fast. Not that big of a deal really, I’ll just stick to the right lane which is where I should be anyway and give myself more time to get up to speed on the highway. It is lighter than my truck though so it shouldn’t be a huge impact. Guess we’ll find out in May. The 35i was the all-around favorite for acceleration, quietness, light handling, MPG and cost of fuel ($3.60 prem vs $3.89 diesel here in MN) I might also run regular once in a while when I’m not towing which will further my fuel savings.

Options, color, options, and then more colors…
Colors- Initially we were sold on Sparkling Bronze. We saw it in the showroom floor under florescent lights and it looked different, sparkly and really cool. It was a done deal. Then we saw it in the parking garage and on a cloudy day. It just looked dull and flat with zero metallic flake to it. I was really surprised and a bit disappointed. My wife really likes the deep sea blue now and honestly it’s growing on me. It looks nice on a sunny day and then holds its own when its cloudy out. The last option we’re considering on color is the Platinum gray. It’s the safe pick but I haven’t seen it in person. It’s a normal, not “out there” color. All of these colors would be paired with an Oyster interior.

Definite Options- We’re definitely going with Cold weather pkg, Convenience pkg, Prem Sound pkg, 3rd row seat (to get the leveling suspension for towing), and tow hitch.

On the bubble Options- The Tech pkg, multi contour seats, Nappa Dash and Console, Active Cruise control and then whether we go for Premium or Sport. The wife is in love with the HUD so that will probably add the Tech pkg. The multi contour seats and Active Cruise Control would be a huge bonus on the 2,000 mile road trip we plan on taking if we do the PCD. Nappa Dash is completely unnecessary but I love it after sitting in one that had it. It is really hard to say no to and I’m afraid I’d regret not getting it in a $60k plus SUV.

Last but not least is the Sport vs Prem debate. If I lived in the south I’d do the Sport and never look back at the $1,700 upcharge to get the rims I love, black headliner that is cool and then a nice looking steering wheel. But being that I live in MN, that means the $1,700 upcharge is really $4,000 because I’ll need to buy winter rims and tires. But when the winter rims and tires are on, the rears will look odd being the fender lips stick out on the sport pkg and the tires will nestle pretty far in. I don’t want to mess with spacers and run any risks of suspension or hub damage. The rims on the prem are sufficiently nice to look at, it’s just I always liked the 20” rims and wide tires look in the back. That being said I have my Shelby to drive in the summer so I won’t be driving the X5 to work more than 3 times a week during the summer months. But if I don’t get the sport pkg, I’ll also loose the black headliner than looks sharp with the oyster seats. That makes me think the high end feel of the Nappa dash would look out of place with the gray headliner. Anyone else that lives in the north and has encounter this dilemma? Could this be why I’ve only seen 1 X5 in the twin cities with the cool 20” rims?

[JCL]

Pretty detailed analysis.

Options are a personal thing, so you really need to decide what you want yourself.

My only comment would be to your statement that with 20" wheels you would need to buy winter tires at additional cost, while with 19" you wouldn't. Disagree. The vehicle is transformed in winter with appropriate tires. I think you should plan on buying proper winter tires in your location, whatever wheels you drive on the rest of the year.

[F150 Duke]

What compounds my indecisiveness on the Sport pkg with 20” rims is the difficulty of finding a good looking and decent performing winter tire/rim setup given the sport rear wheel lips. I’ve done a ton of reading on this…
http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=470450&highlight=winter+rim
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e70-forum/77286-1-2-have-arrived-vermilion-red-tobacco.html#post783104
http://www.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=465221&highlight=TSW+nurburgring

1. I don’t want to rebuy the same rim in a replica.
2. I can live with the TSW in black or the 300M replica bored out to work for the X5.
3. Using a 10” or 11” wide rim in the back seems foolish in MN winters. The roads are cleared quickly here, but still seems unnecessary to risk it for the vanity of not having the rim tuck back under the fender flares too far.
4. Switching out the rear fender flares feels like too much work every year and something is bound to break.
5. Spacers are out of the question. It’s not a stock thing and I don’t want to risk it.
6. I can live with a small tuck in of the rim and tire on back. If I could find a setup that wasn’t too wide, offered decent winter traction and looked nice based on its offset and rim width. I just don’t know enough to find that setup. The links above looked good on how far the rim/tire combo was set back in the wheel lip. But I’m trying to figure out if they still have wide rear rims which lead to the better look.

[motordavid]

We humans get caught up in/overloaded by 'too many options', imo...

I've been reading your posts and your questions and analyses are remarkable, in terms of content & depth.

I agree with JCL: if I, or my wife were driving an X, any X, in MN winters, I would have the best/smaller wheel and dedicated snow tires I could get. I would not care what it 'looked like' for 3-4 months of slogging through winter. I ran punqueazz 17s with dedicated snows for 4 seasons and could not have cared less how they looked; I had to have them to negotiate our mtn roads.

That new ride is expensive by any one's definition; a set of some kind of wheels and snows for winter should be part of the equation/decision, imo.

As for all the choices of 'stuff', it is your car and none of us will really care what color or what _____ you like.
GL, mD

[F150 Duke]

Originally Posted by motordavid

We humans get caught up in/overloaded by 'too many options', imo...

I've been reading your posts and your questions and analyses are remarkable, in terms of content & depth.

I agree with JCL: if I, or my wife were driving an X, any X, in MN winters, I would have the best/smaller wheel and dedicated snow tires I could get. I would not care what it 'looked like' for 3-4 months of slogging through winter. I ran punqueazz 17s with dedicated snows for 4 seasons and could not have cared less how they looked; I had to have them to negotiate our mtn roads.

That new ride is expensive by any one's definition; a set of some kind of wheels and snows for winter should be part of the equation/decision, imo.

As for all the choices of 'stuff', it is your car and none of us will really care what color or what _____ you like.
GL, mD

All good points and thanks for the compliments! Analysis and quite often over analysis is one of my character traits...I believe it's fondly referred to as analysis paralysis. Which is funny because at work I'm excellent at making quick decisions based on the available data and getting my team moving towards delivery results. I just seem to always dig way too deep when it comes to spending my money.

The final price is one of the things that adds to my hang-up on the rims. It's going to be my most expensive vehicle purchase to date, though its within my alloted vehicle budget. That being said, I don't want to drop $65k and then regret not getting the 20" rims. Safety in the winter is important to me, which is why I am ruling out using wide rims in the back or spacers regardless of having snow tires. I would go with a 19 or 20" rim with a snow tire though for the winter if I purchased the sport pkg. I'm also into the details of how things look, so I don't want to spend $4k more for a total of $69k and have the overhang look way out of place for 5 months (Nov-March).

[kdkool]

Please don't run regular on a car designed to run on premium.

You buy a $50k+ car to slack on $0.30/ per gallon????
It's roughly 10% more for premium.


Less Performance
Possibility of ruining warranty...
Yes the engine will retard it's timing if it detects any knocks... But I wouldn't risk that stuff being logged into the computer and used against you when a warranty claim comes up...



Think about it...

[ard]

No diesel?



he's dead to me....







I kid...


$$$ for rims but no Adaptive Drive? Have you driven one?

Hmmm



A

[F150 Duke]

Have not driven one with adaptive drive. I need to draw the line somewhere though on spending money. I don't want to drive with it because then I'll want it. Ignorance truely is bliss. I sort of wish I didn't drive the X5 in the first place because then I would be enamored by the Jeep GC and the features at such a low price. I wouldn't know what truely balanced handling and the first call feel of the BMW was. Now I'm educated and it's costing me more money.

Side note, it was a bit emotional today (joking but not really) getting my 22" rims back on the truck. This was the first vehicle I purchased new for me and paid off by myself. There are countless hours of custom stitching, sound proofing, detailing, etc... This thing is incredibly versatile and for 6 years old, looks fantastic. Part of me cannot believe I'm willing sell/trade it.

[motordavid]

And, as the good sales guy does near the denouement of the 'deal', how 'bout the
new X3: lots of stuff, should pull your boat a few times a year, less dough.
GL, mD