Took the plunge today.. Bye E53, Hello E70
 

After receiving a notice from BMW FS in the mail that the lease on my 2005 E53 3.0 X5 is up in 90 days; I spent the weekend driving every car I could think of. And as has been the case for the previous 14 years I found myself right back at BMW. So, I took the plunge and ordered myself the E70 4.8.

Here's what I ordered. I can make changes for about 48 hours so let me know if anyone sees anything missing or has suggestions etc.

4.8
Jet Black
Saddle Brown
Dark Bamboo (was debating between Brushed Alum and Dark Bamboo)
Sport Pack
Prem Pack
Prem Sound
Tech Pack
Cold Weather Pack
Rear Climate Pack
HUD
Running Boards
Ipod/USB
Comfort Access

Came in at $70,975.00

Should take delivery in early March.

Going to miss my E53. It has been a great car for me.

Congrats! Once the new one is sitting in your garage, you won't be thinking very much of your 'old' E53 :-)

Congrats, I didnt know U.S. could get Brushed Alum??

Man the E70 got expensive compared to the E53.

Wow, an almost loaded 4.8i is a big jump from a 3.0i E53. But the specs look great, looking forward to it!

Saddle Brown with any trouble? Also same comment about the brushed aluminum. It's funny I don't think I've seen anyone take the 'graphite' yet.

Congratulations! You are going to love it. Did you find the 3.0 underpowered? Is that why you jumped up to the 4.8?

Finally someone orders jet black---it is the better looking of the 2 blacks by far--great depth and clarity. Congrats--did you get the 20s as well ?

Good morning, my first post,
Did the same thing, from a 2005 X5 4,4 to a 2007 4,8 with sport package
the ride is still harsch and sometimes uncomfortable due to our bad road condition here in the winter, engine pulls strong and smooth but hard on gas, even worst then the 2005, sport seat comfort needs some getting used to, overall a very fine vehicle. after trying all sorts from MDX, 4runner, Lexus RX, GX, pick ups, but overall for the ride style, I staid with BMW, a special deal in november helped a lot, with big saving $$$$$
after the hitch was installed, I was disapointed with the lousy and cheap look, the flimsy plastic bumper shows all its weakness. the security of all systems in light-heavy snow, even icy road is phenomenal, I saw some pick ups take-off for the side bank while I continued surely....
pricy but , what can I say its a BM, my 6th one. like many said before, ounce you tried a big smooth V8 its hard to settle for anything else...

Thanks all for the comments! I'm looking forward to taking delivery of the new X5.

No problem ordering Saddle Brown. It was in the dealer's (Crevier) ordering system, as was brushed alum. I didn't see a selection for graphite but it may have been there. Interestingly enough though, Saddle Brown and Brush Alum are not available options on the BMW NA consumer web site when using the "Build Your Own" app.

The E70 is definitely considerably more expensive than the E53. When I picked mine up in March 2005, a well equipped 4.4 was ~$63k. Seems to be a trend with BMW though. The E39 M5 was about $73k, and the new one is like $98k. Pretty steep. I briefly considered getting the Audi Q7 V8 Premium as it is $60k with every avail option, but it kind of looks like a minivan.

Anyway. To answer the power question on the 3.0. My personal experience with the E53 is that it has been more than adequate in daily suburban driving. Off the line it is pretty quick actually. The only area where I have noticed the car being underpowered is when passing at highway speed or when you climb long sweep grades at highway speed. In both of those cases you will need to manually shift and really get on the gas. But outside of that it has been fine for me.

When deciding on the E70 purchase I had the dealer configure a 3.0 and a 4.8 with identical options. The 3.0 was about $63,500, 4.8 $70,975. After a little back and forth I basically got the 4.8 within $50 p/month of what the 3.0 payment would have been with the only a $200 difference in drive offs (min drive offs).

When I picked up my 3.0 in 2005 I also had an E39 M5. I no longer have the M5 and the X5 will be my daily driver so I would prefer to have the V8. Additionally, several times a year I go on road trips from So Cal to places like Moab Utah, Fruita Colorado etc. to Mountain Bike, and on those trips I have found my current X5 to be underpowered and somewhat laborious to drive. I think the V8 will fair better for those treks.

I didn't get the 20s. While I love the way the 20s look, my current X5 is the first BMW I have had where I didn't need to hassle with buying a new set of tires every 12-14k miles. It's pretty refreshing! So I stayed with the standard 19s (with all season tires) that come with the 4.8 sport pack.