First "luxury" vehicle
 

Hey all,

Well, my wife and I picked out a BMW x5si 4.8 fully loaded with everything except the rear DVDs ($3,200 seems a bit obnoxious to me for that option).

We're going in to sign the papers this evening, and we're buying it for just a tad under what Edmunds lists as the TMV for our area.

So, as a guy who's never owned a luxury vehicle before and who's idea of a good time is rock crawling in my 2005 Dodge Power Wagon and writing web applications, what things should I be concerned / interested in with the new purchase.

It's the wife's vehicle, and while I'm a mod freak with my truck, it's probably going to be hands off on her X5 unless it's minor mods.

I'll admit to being behind the power curve on her X5 as she more or less decided on it, so I've got a lot of reading and learning to do about it.

Looking forward to being part of the group.

Thanks.

Welcome to the world. You're going to love your new X5. The 4.8i goes and goes and goes. There is nothing wrong with keeping it stock. It's beautiful just the way it is.

You may want to invest in a radar detector :D

No doubt.. Especially the way my wife drives! <grin> Being that I drive a monster sized truck, I've gotten really used to taking it easy on the go fast pedal. She on the other hand, has never owned a vehicle with a motor bigger than a four banger. Should be interesting for a little while! LOL!

So, why do you want a 4.8? Has she driven a 3.0? No complaint on the 4.8, but the 3.0 is perfectly adequate (a matter of opinion of course), gets slightly better mileage, and will hold its resale value better.

Just a thought.

Go find a twistie and don't be afraid of the go fast pedal. You can thank me later, after the pain in your cheeks goes away from the grin that you will have plastered on your face.

We did a few test drives between the 3.0 and 4.8. We debated the issue and me coming from a 5.7L V8, I liked the oomph of the 4.8.

Right now we use my truck for towing our 3,000 lbs popup, but I could foresee a few times it might be nice to tow with the X5 for the comfort level. The 4.8 will be a better fit for that duty.

You've piqued my interest though on why a 3.0 would hold value better than the 4.8. Why would that be?

No debate on you coming from a 5.7 litre V8, and wanting a V8. I get it.

My 3.0 towed 5000 lbs fine, and the new models have more power and a 6000 lb rating. It is fit for purpose.

The 3.0 will hold its value better because of the public perception of SUV fuel economy. History shows the results. Sixes are better than eights. In the real world, this is only slightly true; in the mind of the public, a six cylinder SUV is more palatable than an eight cylinder SUV. If oil goes back to $60 per barrel, no issue. If it doesn't, your risk.

Ahhh. Makes sense. There's not going to be any surprises with the fuel cost. My PW (Power Wagon) gets 14.5 city and 18 highway which is pretty close to the numbers on the X5. The nice thing (at least according to the sales lady) is that because we're at altitude (5-6K feet) we don't need premium gas. Now, for my truck this is definitely true as it's recommended using 89 octane and I typically fill up with 87 octane with no knock and my oil analysis shows great wear.

Was going to ask that question, but gotta search the forum first. If I don't find it, I'll post a new thread.

I wouldn't believe the recs of the sales lady. BMW has always recommended premium for their newer vehicles. I would trust a Service Advisor before I would a sales lady.

Just my $.02

Normally, I'd agree with you 100%, and I still plan on checking with them. The only reason she had any real credibility on that statement is she owns an X5 4.8 as well and runs 89 in it. She said she ran 87 for a few tanks with no problems but decided to play it "safe" with 89.

I think that the suitability of your locally-available 89 AKI has more to do with the actual AKI of that fuel, than with your altitude. It may be fine, it may produce less power and mileage than locally-available 91 (which is the factory recommendation).

My local 89 was fine, no power reduction or fuel consumption increase compared to 91 AKI. Fuels vary widely across North America, and I don't know what fuels in your locale are like. Your dealer may be right, but I would check mileage with both fuels before assuming that.

:xoutpost:
You're gonna love that thing. I hope your wife likes driving the power wagon! :bustingup

Provided I stay away from Sams Club and reservation stations with her X5 I think it's pretty consistent. My PW runs fine on 85 octane at 5-6K feet, but you usually on find that on the reservations. It's usually 86 or 87 elsewhere.

Altitude definitely does play a factor in dropping down to a lower octane rating. From reading (a few years ago), oftentimes, a 2,000 increase in elevation was enough to drop an octane rating with no appreciable loss in power or premature detonation due to the lower cylinder pressure.

LOL! Yeah, I haven't told her that part yet. If you hear no more from me after tomorrow, it's because she ran me over. <grin>

I agree in principle that altitude does reduce the need for a higher AKI fuel. I just think that fuel variation is greater than altitude impact.

If in fact you have sufficient altitude to reduce pre-ignition significantly, you likely have sufficient power degradation from the altitude to notice that impact as well, IMO. The appreciable loss in power is significant, but is due to the altitude more than the fuel in that case. If you always drive at that altitude, it likely isn't apparent.

3.0 = grocery getter. 4.8 is, well, i think you have already figured that out. wooowhoo! welcome.

> Everything you wanted to know about gasoline, including altitude effect on octane requirements:

http://www.chevron.com/products/ourf...w_complete.pdf



"For newer engines the change is almost zero because the ECM leans the air-fuel
mixture and advances the spark timing as altitude increases."

(Page 8)

Agreed JCL. There is a definite difference between the reservation / Costco gas and something like Texaco.

First - Congrats on making it here. Lots of real BMW evangalits found here and many who can offer help and advice on just about anything and everything that could come up.... so, welcome.

Nice purchase.

In terms of the resale value of the 3.0 v 4.8, clearly the 3.0 will hold its value more IN THIS MARKET. First of all, you have a declining economy, so people want to spend less - which makes getting into an lower cost BMW more attractive, second, as a result of this economy, the gas prices have skyrocketed and getting 12-13mpg in the X5 and putting in $4.50+ gas twice a week (depending on how you drive/commutte) can scare the hell out of people. I just sold an Audi S6 - a v10 - it was selling bags of sand in Miami.

One cool mod, electronic, not performance is the DVD. Check out the other thread in the formum called, "DVD in motion.." i talked about what I did to my DVD player in the car - very cool.

Anyway, congrats and welcome!

I'll check it out thanks.