7th day review
 

some observations:

1) default side and riew view mirror dim is pretty dark. i havent explored adjusting yet, and how to do that.

2) i wish the white reverse lights were much brighter, as the riew view camera at night is very dark. the audible alerts are helpful, at night. during the day its great. i dont need it to parallel park but it is nice to have.

3) if you get running boards, you have to actually use them. i am 6'2" and if i try to step out of the x5, the back of my pants rub against the running boards when exiting. the end of the running boards seem pretty far from the edge of the seat. same goes for getting in.

4) HUD in my opinion is great. i highly recommed, esp when using nav for directions. it feels like i speed less also even when not using nav. i never have to take my eyes off the road.

5) in the NAV, i cant find a way to view the entire route turn by turn (to see if its taking me on certain roads). it should be able to be viewed in the split screen but the smaller screen can only view turn by turn that is one turn at a time. the traffic service on the day i drove my e70 home saved me from a 45 minute traffic backup by re-routing (it told me there was a delay 30 miles ahead and asked if i wanted to re-route). its great, i highly recommend.

6) i agree with everyone on the 3rd row. it's pretty much a waste. i only got it for resale value purposes, i didnt want to limit future buyers who had kids. only time will tell if i wasted the $ or not.

7) when using the bluetooth hands free phone, i cannot turn up the volume of a caller as far as i want. when driving fast i needed more volume and couldnt get it. any suggestions? (caller said they heard me fine)

8) in sport mode i definitely noticed a rougher ride but it drives like its on RAILS. not the best mode for city driving, potholes feel like a sledgehammer is hitting the wheels. non-sport mode the ride feels about the same as my 03 x5. MAYBE a little bit softer.

9) i like the i-drive and am fairly used to it but i do think u have to take your eyes off the road too much to switch from nav to sat radio, etc. not great in traffic but i may get used to it.

10) the rear cargo cover gets caught on the 3rd row seatbelts when pulling out/putting back. not a huge deal but mildly annoying.

11) i havent yet gotten to voice commands, which i know would help use of i drive.

just received my floormats which were backordered for tobacco interior.

Dumb question; but here it goes...

When you buy the sport package do you get a button that can change the behavior of the suspension or is it always firm?

It does change. it varies the damper settings. In sport, it's firmer.

11) The voice commands are great, it makes idrive a 100% better and should solve #9. Commands are easy to get familiar with, refer to page 23 and 134, 199, 245 of the owner's manual. Enjoy!

Pics would be nice!

What engine did you get? How's about the power, handling etc...
The running boards take a bit to get used to. I still hit my leg constantly.

Congrats!

thanks. got the 4.8. in sport transmission it flies, very quick off the line if not a little jumpy into 2nd gear. in auto its smoother and i am still getting used to how hard i have to punch it to get power when i need it. handling is great, and in sport mode the ride is a bit rougher but handling is incredible. i took an on-ramp going fairly fast and it felt like i was on rails. i noticed much less sway than on my 03 x5. ive needed very little adjustment to adaptive steering...to me its just a slight adjustment that i only notice "helping" going around hairpin or sharp right angle turns. ive found that when you really want to drive it - pushing it into turns, etc, sport mode is great and in my opinion the x5 responds extremely well. if u want to just cruise, in auto and its a fairly smooth ride and feels very solid. it does feel a little bit wider inside, too.

pics already posted under: http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e70-forum/...acco-pics.html