Personal test drive of a E70
 

Weather conditions: +2C, wet, motorway, driving in the city

E70 3.0d vs E53 4.4i (03)

Notices from the E70:
Interior:
Size of a steering wheel seems to be smaller in E70, but it is thicker. Contols are wery similar to E53. Sitting in front is very similar to E53.
+ E70 is definitely bigger than E53
+ a lot of room in the backseat
+ huge boot and no sparewheel => extra room!
+ aux in for iPod in the armrest
+ Electronical handbrake
- Boardcomputer navigation wheel is clumsy
- Stereo sound sucks

Exterior
+ E70 has a much cooler look than E53
+ Vipers are not visible when not in use.
- Difficult to see the edges of the car (especially front)

Driving:
+ Goes like a train in the turns. Car is like painted to the road. Beautiful.
+ Very efficient brakes
+ Car reacts immediatly to throttle
+ Smooth driving in slow speeds
- Bouncy transmission when more throttle is used => inconvient
- Diesel engine is noisy
- Ultra light steering. => difficult to drive - little control to road - easily oversteered
- Wind noise

pvoltti,

Interesting about the steering, was it fitted with active steering?
It is cold in Helsinki!

Yep. It was fitted with active steering. When turning there was not a proper touch to the road.

Actually I live 400 mls north of Helsinki - and this is a typical spring weather up here.

Would be consistent with what I have heard about Active Steering. My dealer told me they haven't sold 1 new car specced with it since it was launched back on the 5 series...The only car they have ever sold with it was a ex launch car 6 series...I left it out of my spec but was tempted by it for low speed manoeuvers but hated the idea of a direction changing feel depending on the speed...
Hope the spring gets warmer soon for you
C

Active Steering was the one option I was really uncertain about when I was placing my order. I've read every comment I could find abouut it, in car reviews and on message boards, and it seems like some people love it and some people hate it. The X5 I tested didn't have it, and the steering felt fine to me. I asked my CA if the dealership had, or would soon get, an X5 with AS so I could try it out. I was told they didn't have a single vehicle of any series on the lot with AS, and so far no customer had ordered it on an E70. I called several other dealers in the area and got the same story.

I left it off my order.

Diesel engine is noisy????? (for a diesel engine?)

Are you sure?
Any other opinions?

can you please be a little more specific on the wind noise. thank you.

Glad to hear the Vipers were not in use. They can be dangerous.

I've driven a couple of BMWs with the active steering, and recall it having a heavy feel at low speeds. Sounds like it's tuned differently in the X5.

is not noisy for a diesel engine. Is very rafined in comparison with "normal" diesel engine, the torque is very linear and powerfull. The 3.0d (235hp) is just ok, for sporty performance we need a bigger diesel engine like 3.0sd (286hp) or maybe a new 4,5 liter diesel engine.

I did get the Active steering option on my e70 and I must say I am glad I did. It is nothing short of amazing. Once you get used to it I would not be without it. I had to bring my car in for service and they gave me a x3 without it as a loaner and after driving my e70 for a few weeks the x3 without itfelt dull and unresponsive. Since I got it most of the cars in my local dealership have it now and it's getting a lot of good talk.

Just did a back-to-back test of an E70 4.8 with and without active steering at a BMW-sponsored test drive last weekend. They set up a great little course at a local race track (high speed slalom, low speed slalom, avoidance maneuver, emergency braking, etc.). Everybody commented on how much more responsive the E70 with active steering was (including myself). I'm convinced that I would check off this box if ordering a new E70.

I've read the same thing everywhere too, that active steering should definitely be avoided. Having said that to me it seems like a technology that, once you are used to it, could be really beneficial. However the key is to get used to it, which BMW unfortunately does not give you a chance to do very easily.

mgruber

Actually that is not what I was saying. I am saying that it SHOULD be ordered. To put it more simply, this is a must HAVE option. The more you use it the better it feels. I will say that if you had the ability to test it for the first time as others have, you would be sold to get it.

Sorry about that, I mistakenly quoted the wrong person.

In any case, I understand what you are saying, but I think Active Steering is sort of like IDrive, the more you use it the better it is and the easier it is to sell to someone. Some technologies just work right out of the box and people don't need to "get used to them" to want them...such as automatic windows vs. hand crank windows. If BMW could offer some kind of short term test (yeah I know how this sounds) of cars that have these pretty significant and rather "altering" technologies, then I think they would sell them better. Like I said virtually 99% of the magazines (print and online) reviews/tests/impressions/etc. of the BMW active steereing system were negative and recommended leaving it off the car. Now I doubt BMW would really develop such a bad system that no one would want it (no idrive comments please) so my only conclusion is that these very short term tests are in fact too short. If reviewers had maybe a month (random guess) to spend with the car then maybe they would love it as much as they love air conditioning.

I think active steering is far less questionable than iDrive.

It makes a great deal of intuitive sense. I personally like ultra-quick steering, but such steering is a bad idea at high speeds, and BMW designs cars for the autobahn.

Solution: steering that is quick at low speeds and slow at high speeds. No doubt the execution will become increasingly sophisticated and refined over time.

Put it another way. If you drove a new car for the first time and it had active steering, you wouldn't notice anything special. I have a 5 series with active steering and a 3 series without and moving between the two, there's no obvious difference. When i ordered my x5, i didn't even consider it. Waste of money in my opinion. Spend the cash on the wheels or stereo or something else.

One man's opinion only.

We skipped it when ordering our 335, primarily because I was concerned it would detract from the "BMW feel" I've grown to love. My question to those who support AS is do you push your cars at times or primarily drive conseratively?

Having never driven with AS I can 'm only make an assumption that it might be geared towards more conservative drivers to whom the benefit of lighter steering at low speeds outweighs any loss of feel during more aggressive driving (if true)...

This is of course based on no factual info, just throwing it out there.

I haven't sampled active steering in the X5. In the 5-Series I recall it feeling heavier at low speeds, not lighter. But also less communicative, somewhat wooden.

I love the active steering!! My E70 is in the shop and I have a 3 series loaner. Once I drove off I immediately noticed it did not turn on a dime or as easily as I had become accustomed to

I miss my active steering!