Get the premium sound. It is one of those things you will seriously regret, and despite what people say, aftermarket upgrades on BMWs are not cheap, and will never sound as good as a properly designed and balanced system, unless you are prepared to pay big bucks (much more than the factory premium sound cost). We had a 5-E60 with the Logic7 system, when we replaced it with a new E60 we wanted a car quickly and the only ones available did not have Logic7. I spent a lot of time and money trying to upgrade the stereo (new amp, new subs under the seats, new speakers in doors and parcel shelf). It cost twice as much as Logic 7, sounds half as good, and you still don't get all the EQ/DSP options in the iDrive.

On the E70, the Logic7 stereo was the _first_ option we ticked!! The sound is superb, especially through DAB and MP3's on a USB stick.

Again, in the UK, the standard stereo is just 6 speakers so the jump from standard to Logic7 is much bigger than in the US where you have the HiFi setup as standard - so you might want to base your decision purely on answers from people who are comparing Hifi vs Logic7.

So... everyone here is just throwing money out the window! Pffft!!:rolleyes:

Well of course I agree.... £2000 for a satnav system which performs 10 times worse than a £250 TomTom... but I still bought it ;) I know this is going off on a tangent but come on BMW, stick a 100Gb £60 hard-drive in your i-drive, preload global maps, allow points of interest, have it updateable through bluetooth linking to a laptop or something... !

If you order the Premium system is the AMP fitted in the boot/trunk, or is it hidden somewhere else?

This may be the truest statement ever uttered on this forum.

It's "hidden" in the same place as the regular amp.. in the side of the trunk.

You have to listen to both and decide. For me it was not an option...Premium Sound. The standard system was not close, there is a big difference in quality!

Quite frankly I would NOT put an aftermarket system in my X5...the Premium System sounds great.

I only listened to the stock system and thought it was pretty good. I didnt want to listen to the premium system so I wouldnt know what I was missing. Ignorance is bliss. :thumbup: Take this with a grain of salt however. My other car is an 03 m3 with the premium HK system. if youve ever heard the m's stereo system, then you know that a pair of ipod headphones would be a step up.

Im just going to take the $1800 that i would have spent and go Aerokit.

Well I can assure you that a pair of ipod headphones are not even close to the X5 Premium system.

I totally understand but just don't want to admit that i made a mistake not getting the premium system:thumbup: . If i had to do it again, i would buy the premium. No regrets or "what ifs" later on.