Well, you have to admit, these issues seem to strike a nerve. I really appreciate everyone’s comments. They are all well taken. I never did mention replacing the X with MB or any other car. To be honest I’m not sure what I’m leaning towards…yet…., except it ain’t gonna be an SUV of any kind. I guess I’ll be doing a lot of test driving and listening to your inputs.

As for it being the wrong time to leave BMW, I think it’s the other way around…BMW already chose to leave me a long time ago. Whether or not any other marque is less worthy than BMW is irrelevant to me at this point, Ive had my full share. All I've ever owned since 21 are BMW’s, which gives me the absolute right to be as harsh with BMW as I please, thank you. Harsh is todays veridict of $3500 for failed transfer case @ 85k hwy miles!!!!

I can accept a certain level of engineering maladies as par for the course and do understand what acceptable failure is, but it seems every iteration of BMW exposes a new weakness in design instead of improving upon it.

Mack/skibum could not have said it better… “Any brand has issues. It is how those issues are corrected that matters. “

Those are not my words/. Those are the words of people that i know who own MLs. i know one familt that owned 6 MLs. he told me everyone was a piece of you know what. Now thats what he said and he owned them so i had to beleive him. As for me i just dont like Mls and thats just my opinion.

Well best of luck with whatever you end up driving with...

It is the wrong time to leave though :)

I'd have a hard time believing that Honda sells one million minivans a year... Regardless the point is that newer Japanese cars are starting to show problems. The RL has also had its fare share of glitches as well. The older Accord/Civic/*insert bland honda here* are reliable, but as honda refreshes its line, more hiccups are going to occur

Hi all

I have just returned from an interstate trip for a few weeks on business where I was chauffered around by my colleague in a MB E500 and a Porsche Cayenne.

While away, the little lady and I test drove an X3 3.0D a 530D and a 545 (M Sport)

Having been through the problems with my gearbox etc and discovering that despite all the work I still have preignition/detonation under load, I was thinking 5 series.....The 545 was a lousy ride with the run flats and the 530D was just, nice, but still no storage space for items like a phone or some loose change/pen etc

I am now thinking away from BMW altogether. I was a passenger in the E500 and it hauls a$$!! It has so many features that BMW do not consider necessary.

For example, the nav screen and usage is so simple, and dialling a phone number is far easier with a well laid out interface. I agree with others in that BMW nav/phone menus require extended attention away from the road. The Porsche nav was great!

How is it that a Porsche can have individual (L+R) climate control to the rear plus vents in the door pillar when the best we get is a vent at the back of the centre console? and the MB too!

I would never have driven either of these cars to compare but the attention to detail shown means I will be seriously investigating both brands in the future.

Oh, and my vote on the new X5 is a definate :thumbdown

Chris Bangle may be a nice family man but he can't design for s#$%

All high tech cars have problems and reliability issues from time to time, and my older X5 is no problem at all. The direction BMW is heading though is not for me.

Single piece dash boards went out twenty years ago and the new X5 reminds me of the Lexus RX330/Toyota Rav4. Not really a luxury euro style.

That is true, or at least used to be. Some time ago I read an article about Honda's first US plant. Honda initially had very serious quality issues here, and so transferred workers from Japanese plants to perform inspections. As a result, something like 1 out of 3 cars were pulled off the assembly line and sent back for corrections the first year. (I bought an Accord during that period, and the when the sales guy saw the VIN indicated Japan origin he said "Wow, you got a good one.") I guess US plants eventually got their act together. But like you said, the prevailing US attitude is to build it, ship it, and deal with come-backs later.

Really??? I've always thought MB made the worst Nav systems in the business. Back when we used to have them in the family (previous generation) this was most certainly the case...

Honestly, I think more buttons are distracting (you have to look and pick the right button). With BMW's method, as long as I find the clicker I can memorize the steps of where to click without looking at the nav...

Different strokes for different folks I guess...

In response to XX3 above, I have to agree, as I had a very funny (in retrospect!) thing happen to me back in 2001(?). I was visiting some family friends in Austin, TX on a business trip and they leant me their S430 for the day. Now, I had never driven anywhere in Austin before so after reaching my destination, I realized I had to rely on the satnav to get me home again. Being a very tech savvy then-21 year old, I found myself a little alarmed when I had to pull over to the side of the road just to figure the thing out; but I nearly PANICKED when i realiezd i simply COULDN'T FIGURE OUT how to use the damn thing ... at all!! If memory serves, I finally had to bust out the manual and only then, little by little, was I able to get the thing to help find my way home.

That said, I recently tested out a new E350 with navigation and that was, I'm pleased to report, really quite nice indeed. *STILL* however, I must say, the system in the previous-generation Acura 3.2 TL (lol!) is by far and away the best and EASIEST to use, especially thanks to its touch-screen interface.

And finally, it's not that my 2001 X5 nav system is BAD -- e.g., with the exception of a few silly mistakes she makes now and then like getting off and back onto the freeway for who knows what reason, or re-routing me round the entire country lol before realizing such a detour is unnecessary! -- it's just that it TOTALLY lacks any finesse whatsoever, either graphically, ergonomically, or otherwise.

Notwithstanding the silliness of my X, I would still only part with her for only a select few vehicles including obvioulsly a Cayenne Turbo, a CLS 55, or possibly a new M5 ... *IFF* its performance is sufficiently >> than the CLS 55 as a means of offsetting its terrible looks and annoying electronics.

Anyone seen Top Gear's review of the new M5? You must watch it, it's really quite funny ... but sad, too lol.

I havn't... Please include a link... *hint hint* :)

haha ok well: www.racingflix.com is a great place to get *ALL* top gear vids as soon as they come out :) while you can download the vids for free, you'd do well to upgrade to the premium account of $5 or $6 every 3 months (i think that's the cost?!) .... it gives you access to the *HUGELY necessary* highspeed download servers.

Meanwhile, i'm looking to find it on google video, stand by ........ :)

......... ok so i coludn't find it on g.vid (yes, i just called it g.vid lol) but here's the link to the file on racingflix: http://www.racingflix.com/getvideo.asp?v=1189

warning: be patient with the video. The first 6 mins will depress and/or even bore you. But then ... you will be witness to one of the finest, most intoxicating, most grin-inducing, goose bump-popping, mechanically orgasmic automotive reviews you have likely ever seen ... don't say i didn't warn you ;)

For all of google's search technology, you'd think that their search would work a lot better when searching for movies ! Its horrible & can't find anything !

arghghghgh !

*End of thread hi-jacking*

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