off-roading in our X5
 

Do you guys do a lot of off-roading in your cars? I am just talking about taking our X5s onto gravel roads with some mud puddles and a few ruts nothing too serious. I know these cars are great highway cruisers and do okay in the snow, but it just feels wrong to send these cars into the mud :) I am planning on doing a lot more outdoorsy stuff with my family this summer like camping and going fishing but i am not sure my X5 would be able to handle all the abuse of the gravel roads and such. Having sport summer tires does not help either...Should i look for an alternative when it comes to off-roading, or do you think our x5s are capable of running through the mud every other week without compromising reliability (or what's left of it LOL)

Our X5's will do just as good ( and better in some cases ) as any other independent suspension vehicle. just be sure to have the right shoes on! ( i put on the winter tires when going up north to the 2 tracks )

and turn off dsc for going in reverse ;)

"gravel roads with some mud puddles and a few ruts"

We do that every time we go out as we live 1.5 miles up such a road! Yokohama Geolander HS tires work great winter and summer.

How far do you go up North? Do you visit the yuppers?

last year I drove all through the porcupine mountains and visited a friend that's about 20 miles "off the beaten path"

it was a fantastic drive and the scenery was UN-believeable!!! it was the only time I have ever been on the road for a 1/2 hour straight and didn't see another car...

I have two siblings that live in the U.P. Can't stand to leave, get panic attacks---too many people, too many cars, too much, too much, sensory overload--warning, warning.

When the pavement ends....I turn around! :bustingup

i had a post over a year ago with youtube video of somebody fording a whitewater mountain creek in an E53 (i think it was 4.6 or 4.8)... the car did well on the video, hard to tell what problems it had afterwards... there are many videos out there showing the E53 in the Jeep/CJ-7 territory...

Lots of electric bits down low on our X5's. If someone wants to go off-roading in a Euro lux-SAV, then I would choose the LR Sport. Serious capability off road for serious coin.

+1. The Rovers low range, lockable rear diff and terrain response systems give them legitimate credentials for when the pavement does end. The Sport is an incredibly well rounded vehicle IMO....The hardest obstacle to get over would be taking it off-road in the first place!:rofl:

Very well suited for light off road. Long steep hill climbs can be tough due to no low gearing. Check out the BMW performance center off road course where they showcase stock off road x5 ability. Mine has taken severe beatings and structurally is still great......emphasis on still..ha

Sarek, i knew youd chime in haha! Honestly the people that say the X5 is only meant for paved roads doesnt know what he/she is saying. Obviously if you got some high performance street tires or all seasons, yeah your gonna have a bad time, put some terra grapplers like i have or some good year wrangler adventure w/ kevlar and your gonna have a good time

Sarek, i knew youd chime in haha! Honestly the people that say the X5 is only meant for paved roads doesnt know what he/she is saying. Obviously if you got some high performance street tires or all seasons, yeah your gonna have a bad time, put some terra grapplers like i have or some good year wrangler adventure w/ kevlar and your gonna have a good time

I am of the same belief, i just can't even think about putting my car into mud and dust of unpaved roads... i need to start making more money so i can afford to buy a third vehicle strictly for camping/offroading :rofl:

I think X5 can handle the offroading quite well, i just hate seeing even a speckle of dust on my car so taking it off road would be very tough for me, as for tires, I don't think GY Wranglers come in my tire sizes... plus it would not handle very well on the dry pavement... so i would need to have third set of rims tires for off roading... but that's just wrong... :(

I have 255/60/R18 nitto terra grappler for a little height and off road performance, you can get the 255/65/R18 (if you got the 18in rims) otherwise im sure you can find a fit from Toyo, Nitto, Goodyear, BF Goodrich etc. Im odd when it comes to it being clean, if its dirt and mud etc then I leave it for a bit, kinda like a badge of honor (only avid off road junkies understand haha) but if its salt, road grime or any of that stupid junk I clean her off there and then.

I saw "off road" and just couldn't resist

hahah well were the only people (least from what i can tell) whove actually pushed the limits on our trucks. You though, have gone above and beyond sir!

at some places they just did not have a chance to build some roads and the car just gets dirty from normal driving... and some roads should not be called roads but rather should be called an obstacle course... or, they should be called OFF-ROAD... :bustingup

But bananas are very CHEAP!!!

:nanana:

Lol im diggin it Terminator, hey quick question you have any error issues with those LED tail lights? Thinkin to get a set but heard they cause alot of issues

Those LED tail lights were installed on the 4.6 back in 2007... they did not set off the warning light in the dash but I have removed them and sold them off on the ebay back in 2007 as i did not like the appearance of them - they looked too much like Altezza lights, too aftermarket and too chinese for my personal taste... Before that I had used a blacked out Hella tail lights on my E34 and those were high quality, OE type tails that were far more superior in quality, and the better feel than the LEDs for the E53...

If I can find the OE style blacked out tails for the E53, I would replace mine again, but the chinese tails - not for me... matter of personal choice - i still use chinese cameras, chinese DVR and whatnot... lol...;)


As far as the errors - you can code out the reporting of the errors from the LCM, and if you have the facelifted E53 with Brake Force Distribution (BFD) signal, you can code that out as well, to avoid the flickering on start, flickering during driving, and error reporting...

This thread has me wondering if someone on the Land Rover forum might be turning their Defender 110 into a track weapon.

I'd be scared of snagging those little electrical dangly bits. I'm sticking to the road ;)

As others have mentioned, what I think off roading is may be entirely different than what it is or what others think it is.

I choose to avoid any situation that there is greater risk than driving on the freeway to cosmetically damage my vehicle. I would rather leave my shoes behind than get even mud on my carpet. If I don't have to I don't even drive when it rains. It has nothing to do with how well suited an X5 is to be 'off road.' It is just not how I enjoy my X5.

The X5 "off roading" Sarek is doing sounds like great fun but it is in an entirely different universe than what an X5 was designed to handle and he is making changes accordingly.

I choose to take my X5 to its limits enjoying engine performance and handling-- more within my interpretation of the ultimate driving machine. My guess is other high end, luxury SUVs are either in the same ballpark or they chose theirs as a status symbol.

Ukrcan, I think you can be totally confident your X5 will do what you want to do with no modifications, even tires.

As other have said, not a serious offroader, but gravel and some mud is ok i would think, deep mud is a different deal.
I did drive on a trail in MA couple of years back (gravel/some mud)on my 4.8is and did not have any issues, was able to climb some steep hills too.(suspension was set to high setting)

Thats a given, if you try takin a bmw x5 in deep mud without propper modifications, your gonna have a bad time. If you try rock crawling with an x5 your gonna have a bad time. But if its light mud, gravel roads, trails youll be alright my X5 does perfect in light off roading.

Thanks for the input everyone...I guess i will venture out to the trails this summer and see how the car does...

Handles hill climbs like a champ!

We hit a 60km rough dirt road with a 1000+kg camper trailer every year for our annual Christmas camping trip, never had any issues. Even make it up hills that 'proper' 4WDs take a run up for.

Awesome pics Anthony!!

Wish we had access to the 3.0d's here in the states :(

Anthony,

Nice pictures!

What type of tires do you have and how many Kms do you have on your X5?

Thanks guys.

The first photo doesn't really do that hill justice. There's a hump about halfway up for water to drain off to the side, so while other 4WDs take a run-up to get to the top of that one, I crawled up pretty slowly and stopped half way to check for clearance.

My tyres are just the cheap Atturo AZ800, nothing special, but seem to do the job pretty well. I am, however, contemplating getting a set if 17s and fitting some decent all terrain tyres. Not that I seem to need them

The torque of the diesel makes towing a breeze, sometimes it's like I'm not towing anything at all. I was originally looking at the 4.4 V8, but pretty happy with the decision I made. From memory, I've got about 147,000ks on it (91,000 miles?)

Take a look at my X in motion when off-roading.

Hi all! Take a look at my x5 in off-road. I want to point out that it managed those tough road perfectly! Just keep the speed low and have a guy pointed the road ahead of you.

wow, that's just crazy LOL

I know i won't be brave enough to try it :)

Impressive, never knew these cars can be this tough!:thumbup:

Hey Roger, long time no see you in the forum... Hope you are doing well... I was thinking about you when this subject about off-roading came up!! glad you posted the pics - they are really impressive!!! Not something I would do, I am too chicken!!!

Hi Terminator! Thanks for that! Don't be afraid of off-roading with your X5, in the fact, X5 is very well capable of off-roading. It can handle all most every terrain, just be careful and slow when off-roading. Only one thing is that the ride high is not enough in some extreme cases, even in off-road mode.

Nice photos! Ive not had to go through any mud in mine yet. Im curious about how it might do on the beach.

I can attest that it kicks ass in the snow and ice.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...psdaf4028a.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...ps32e708b2.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...psa7b49195.jpg

And a paper weight. :)
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e7...psda08e0e6.jpg

yeah it has snow and ice covered, that's for sure...had a lot of opportunity to test that this winter...
Cold temperatures, not so much, but that's a different story LOL