The Australian X5 Thread

[watrob]

Originally Posted by Bozz

You are going to invite us all to the handing over party at Motorline aren't you.

The guys at Motorline certainly know how to look after their customers, providing loan vehicles since January sounds like your on a winner.

Bozz.

Hi Bozz,

Well I can honestly say that after driving so many different X5's in the last 3 months that you can tell the difference between a X5 with standard suspension & 18" wheels, a X5 with Sports suspension & 19" wheels and a X5 with Adaptive Drive, Active Steering & 20" wheels, the later I find is the best driving X5.

When my White M-Sport X5 arrives at Motorline BMW it will be there for a good week, we are taking the brake calipher's off and getting them painted yellow along with the hub rotors (my ///M brake decals finally arrived today), also the rear black mudflaps are getting painted white as well to match the white bumpers

And finally any white area's under the guard's are being painted matte black, and all grills will be matte black as well and the final touch will be 20% (black) tint.

I also have ready the 8500k foglight & angel eye bulbs as well and yes you guessed it, my special slimline Black on White number plates came today also!

I think I have everything I need unless you can think of something?

[Oz540]

Hi Watrob,

You new wheels sound like they'll be pretty trick when done!! As it built now have you have any luck finding out what (if any) changes the 236 has over the 235...?

I have postponed mine because I really want the new iDrive and my dealer said BMW Aus are adament that the 236 is no change (no new controller and certainly no new iDrive).

Very disappointing I think but they say it should be in the Oct 2010 model but no guarantees. I've handed back my 540 so I might get used to one car over that time (not).

Cheers
Bruce

[watrob]

Originally Posted by Oz540

Hi Watrob,

You new wheels sound like they'll be pretty trick when done!! As it built now have you have any luck finding out what (if any) changes the 236 has over the 235...?

I have postponed mine because I really want the new iDrive and my dealer said BMW Aus are adament that the 236 is no change (no new controller and certainly no new iDrive).

Very disappointing I think but they say it should be in the Oct 2010 model but no guarantees. I've handed back my 540 so I might get used to one car over that time (not).

Cheers
Bruce

The new model in Oct 09 production will be the MY2010 model, thats now BMW do there model changes. The new iDrive will be in that X5 and will arrive in Australia around mid Nov 09.

I don't like getting cars in Nov or Dec as they are plated as 2009 cars, so I always wait to get a Jan 2010 production date.

Now, my next X5 will be in 2010 as the X5 Hybrid is coming and that will be the X5 to have. Twin turbo 4 cyl diesel plus electric motor in gearbox, solar panel on roof producing 1 kilowatt of power and under 7ltr per 100klms.

You have to remember that nearly every X5 coming to Australia is a diesel, the used car lots are full of them and in a couple of years in my opinion the resale of a Hybrid will be alot better if nor a quicker resale than the normal diesel.

So if you are going to wait until Nov 09 to get a X5 with the new iDrive you are better off getting a Jan 2010 plated X5 and if your going to wait until Jan 2010 you may as well wait another couple of months and get the Hybrid. Also these Hybrid X5 won't get discounted like the current X5's.

You can get a easy 10% off X5's from just about any dealer at the moment, hence I am buying one now and the Hybrid this time next year! I do around 600klm per week so they I need to trade out about every 12-15 months.

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by watrob

You have to remember that nearly every X5 coming to Australia is a diesel, the used car lots are full of them and in a couple of years in my opinion the resale of a Hybrid will be alot better if nor a quicker resale than the normal diesel.

So if you are going to wait until Nov 09 to get a X5 with the new iDrive you are better off getting a Jan 2010 plated X5 and if your going to wait until Jan 2010 you may as well wait another couple of months and get the Hybrid. Also these Hybrid X5 won't get discounted like the current X5's.

FYI: Current X5 sales mix in Australia is 75% diesel, 25% petrol.
Also, are you sure that the diesel hybrid will be on sale around this time next year?

[watrob]

Originally Posted by Fraser

FYI: Current X5 sales mix in Australia is 75% diesel, 25% petrol.
Also, are you sure that the diesel hybrid will be on sale around this time next year?

My dealer was in Germany at the beginning of the year and he told me that it was muted that the X5 Hybrid would be here by around the end of the year, the X5 hybrid would be well under the 7ltr per 100klm.

The X6 Hybrid is to be released by the end of 2009 and as the X6 is not a big seller in Australia I not sure the X6 Hybrid will make it here but the X5 will follow shortly after!

My new X5 M-Sport is a replacement vehicle so its not costing me anything as I insure retail and buy wholesale but if it was me in this current market with big discounts on offer I would buy a 35d X5 basic model off the floor demo (15% or more off retail price) and hold it for 12 months. Sell it privately and buy the Hybrid this time next year! Once the current stocks of X5's run out the discounts will disappear!

This time next year fuel will be back up to it's high price and everyone will want diesel cars of some sort, unemployment will be close to 10%, new cars we have to be orderred as dealers will only carry limited stock so the price of secondhand cars will lift back up!

I run up about 35k-40k klms in a year so I only get around 12-16 months out of my X5's as they are my DD, so my new X5 arrives mid May 09, I will order a Hybrid for Mar/April 2010 production next year and in the mean time take advantage of the cheap diesel! ($1.06 per Ltr in Qld, 2 weeks ago I paid $1.01).

My $0.02

[Fraser]

The diesel hybrid certainly sounds attractive: 6.5 litres/100km and 0-100km/h in 8.9 seconds, so I can understand your interest in it.

Given that BMW first showed it (in concept form) in early '08 a release date of early 2010 is very feasible, so you could be right...

[Bozz]

Copy from the Courier Mail today.

Australian fans have been waiting for the BMW X6 M and BMW X5 M.
But the biggest step change at BMW's go-faster M division for decades is going to be a hit-and-miss event for us.
The maestros at M have been unleashed on BMW's SUVs for the first time and the result is a pair of X5 and X6 belters with a twin-turbo V8 engine cranking out a wicked 408 kiloWatts _ with the brakes, suspension and body bits to match.
But only one of the super-quick SUVs, the X6 M, is coming down under. The X5 has been rejected, at least for now, as BMW Australia aims to steal more sales from rivals including the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-Benz's AMG-tweaked ML.
"We have made this decision primarily to cater to our more-enthusiastic M customers. They will prefer the X6 body style," says the spokesman for BMW Group Australia, Toni Andreevski.
"It makes more sense to target the vehicle where the buyers are. Over 30 per cent of our X6 buyers are already going for the V8 model, but the X5 figure is a little under eight per cent. They want performance ahead of practicality.
"So, at present we have no plans for the X5 M. We're not targeting X5 customers, these people are a different breed."
The M-car move is the most radical change since the one-time racecar division grew its business away from the rorty little M3 into the 5 Series family. Since then there have been M cars across the BMW range, but nothing in the SUV lineup.
The 4.4-litre V8 is the heart of the M upgrade of the X6, with BMW touting a design which puts the turbocharger and catalytic converters between the banks of cylinders for quicker response.
The result is 680 Newton-metres of torque, a 0-100km/h time of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h, although this can be bumped to 275 with the optional M Driver's Package.
The XMs pick up the latest developments on BMW's EfficientDynamics system, from Brake Energy Regeneration to on-demand control of the electrical fuel pump and a detachable aircon compressor.
The X6 M gets a six-speed sports automatic gearbox with shift paddles behind the steering wheel, which is linked to a specific Servotronic steering system.
Standard equipment runs from bi-xenon maps with daytime driving lights to 20-inch alloy wheels, a heads-up display, M sports seats and wheel, and a pumped-up body package.
No-one at BMW is talking about the price, although it will be somewhere between $167,000 and $234,000 - most likely in the $200,000 range - when the first cars land in November.
"It will be more expensive than an ML63 and cheaper than a Cayenne Turbo. That's all we have at this stage," says Andreevski.
He is also refusing to talk about sales numbers, although close to 500 X6s have been sold since it hit showrooms in August last year.
"If you compare it with the Porsche Cayenne, it has outsold it since it went on sale," Andreevski says.

[watrob]

Originally Posted by Bozz

Copy from the Courier Mail today.

Australian fans have been waiting for the BMW X6 M and BMW X5 M.
But the biggest step change at BMW's go-faster M division for decades is going to be a hit-and-miss event for us.
The maestros at M have been unleashed on BMW's SUVs for the first time and the result is a pair of X5 and X6 belters with a twin-turbo V8 engine cranking out a wicked 408 kiloWatts _ with the brakes, suspension and body bits to match.
But only one of the super-quick SUVs, the X6 M, is coming down under. The X5 has been rejected, at least for now, as BMW Australia aims to steal more sales from rivals including the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes-Benz's AMG-tweaked ML.
"We have made this decision primarily to cater to our more-enthusiastic M customers. They will prefer the X6 body style," says the spokesman for BMW Group Australia, Toni Andreevski.
"It makes more sense to target the vehicle where the buyers are. Over 30 per cent of our X6 buyers are already going for the V8 model, but the X5 figure is a little under eight per cent. They want performance ahead of practicality.
"So, at present we have no plans for the X5 M. We're not targeting X5 customers, these people are a different breed."
The M-car move is the most radical change since the one-time racecar division grew its business away from the rorty little M3 into the 5 Series family. Since then there have been M cars across the BMW range, but nothing in the SUV lineup.
The 4.4-litre V8 is the heart of the M upgrade of the X6, with BMW touting a design which puts the turbocharger and catalytic converters between the banks of cylinders for quicker response.
The result is 680 Newton-metres of torque, a 0-100km/h time of 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h, although this can be bumped to 275 with the optional M Driver's Package.
The XMs pick up the latest developments on BMW's EfficientDynamics system, from Brake Energy Regeneration to on-demand control of the electrical fuel pump and a detachable aircon compressor.
The X6 M gets a six-speed sports automatic gearbox with shift paddles behind the steering wheel, which is linked to a specific Servotronic steering system.
Standard equipment runs from bi-xenon maps with daytime driving lights to 20-inch alloy wheels, a heads-up display, M sports seats and wheel, and a pumped-up body package.
No-one at BMW is talking about the price, although it will be somewhere between $167,000 and $234,000 - most likely in the $200,000 range - when the first cars land in November.
"It will be more expensive than an ML63 and cheaper than a Cayenne Turbo. That's all we have at this stage," says Andreevski.
He is also refusing to talk about sales numbers, although close to 500 X6s have been sold since it hit showrooms in August last year.
"If you compare it with the Porsche Cayenne, it has outsold it since it went on sale," Andreevski says.

Typical Australian BMW thinking, out there a**e, X6 sales are failing in Australia so the bring in the X6M so if you want a M SUV you have to buy the X6. BMW always treat us like s**t here, They dictate what they want you to buy, well give them 6 months the X5 M will be here because the X6 won't sell many!.

It's always the way, a few panzies in Melbourne telling all of us whats best! Like we cannot get smart phone intergration, a $150 option because the dimwits in Melbourne don't know how to use a iPhone properly!

I think more of the execs in Melbourne need to loose there jobs and start supplying what the custom wants instead of telling us all the time.

Anyway this new X5 of mine better not drive left like the first one did that I handed back, because if it does I will drive it up the BMW CEO's a**e, and they know I can do it to!

[watrob]

Hey Jamesboag,

I will have my Fulcrum designed new front bushes for my new E70 in about 10 days, they been working on them for the last 8 weeks.

They have a offset of around 6mm, with the lefthand front wheel being set back around 4mm-5mm compared to the righthand front (the X5 is designed for lefthand drive, to be driven on the righthand side of the road). This now brings the front left wheel about 4mm forward more than the right.

This should fix the castor problem, will take some photos when I get them!

[jimsaq]

"It makes more sense to target the vehicle where the buyers are. Over 30 per cent of our X6 buyers are already going for the V8 model, but the X5 figure is a little under eight per cent. They want performance ahead of practicality."

this is because the 4.8 V8 in the X5 is nowhere near enough of a performance increase to warrant the fuel guzzling, compared to the 3.0sd

whereas in the X6, the 4.4 twin turbo V8 _is_ enough performance increase to warrant it. if the X5 had the same V8 as the X6 they would sell a lot more V8 X5's here

frustrating