The i6 has enough power to be practical for modest day to day driving. It moves decently well if you take into account it's weight....but not something to consider even remotely quick. The RRSC that sleeps right beside my X with its 510hp on the other hand....well that's a different story. ;)

This is all in relation to what an individual considers to be powerful. For me, I preferred the superior torque the V8's offer purely for pulling the long grades up to the mountains. The 6 cylinder motors made the transmission saw back and forth between gears trying to maintain the speed I desired. For around town, the 8's are nothing but overkill and use too much fuel. IF and I say IF, I decide to stay with BMW, I will consider nothing else than the 6 cylinder turbo diesel.

We've had our 2010 X5d since July and I love it. It is the 1st car that I've owned that I know I will keep for many years. It has loads of power and practicality. Of course I've never driven an X5 with the 3.0

I had an E70 3.5D as a loaner and it had massive grunt off the line (well into V8 territory) but fell flat at higher speed. It was great around town and got really good fuel economy (better than the gas I6).

Ours (wife's really) is the 3.0. I really noticed how closely the gears are spaced and the high-stall converter once I drove it more. For comparison I run an E60 535xi which is a night/day difference in performance. Wonder how hard it would be to find a wreck with the N54 twin turbo and plunk it in the X...

Its not "underpowere" but it is slow. Ive driven both. But in the twisty corners im surr itll do fine.

Odd... it seems fast enough to me, though I'm sure the 4.4 and other variants are more fun. ;)

Both, as posted above...most 3.0 drivers will/have noted it is fine.

My point was it is not in the V8 categories, depending on one's def of fun.

But, if I want fast, I jump in my Vette, or on one of my scoots.

x2, my Triumph Thunderbird has 1700cc and 120 lb-ft at the rear wheel, as you know mD and anyone else who rides, even a Corvette can "feel slow" as compared to an m'cycle.

Hell my first bike was an '05 SV650, with "only" 74 lb feet at the rear wheel, but I'll be damned if it wasn't faster than most cars on the road.

Bottom line, if you have a V8, enjoy the power you have. If you have an I6 and feel you need more power, go on craigslist and put up 3k for any of the GSXCBRR6Ninja's that are a dime a dozen and you'll have all the power you need.

I do get a kick out of all the threads about "power" and "going fast", etc in this forum, as if we're talking about a thoroughbred racing vehicle. Sure, a V8 SAV is nice, powerful, and torquey, but power to weight ratio still is in line with many V6, or Turbo 4-cyl sedans. The 355 hp in the 4.8iS is actually fairly standard by today's measurements, hell, X5SND's RRSC has 510hp!

The X5 is a heavy, 3 ton SAV here which most confuse for a grocery getter. If you're still living your life a quarter mile at a time (RIP Paul Walker) in your SAV, maybe you should go get a Honda 2000 and rip Johnny Tran a new one at race wars.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

LOL @ a quarter mile at time!