Much To My Surprise...I'm An X5 Owner (Long)
 

I've never liked SUVs, SAVs, or any other tall vehicles...and before we adopted a two-year-old this year, I'd never have thought I'd be driving one. However, it soon became apparent that all facets of our lives have changed, and our '04 325 wagon became awfully cramped. Various factors have conspired to make seven seats a real asset - and I've never met a minivan I liked to drive - so..

Here I am! We're leasing an '08 X5 3.0 si, and here's how it came:

Monaco Blue Metallic
Tobacco Nevada Leather
3rd row seat
Premium Package
Sport
Cold Weather
Premium Audio
Sirius
Park Distance Control
Active Steering

After an introductory drive today, I have to say the Active Steering is the biggest revelation. I wouldn't recommend it for anything but a two and a half ton vehicle - it's not needed on a car, but it sure makes a difference in the X5. Steering is feather light in parking and low-speed situations, but not twitchy. I haven't taken it on the highway yet, but it firms up nicely at regular speeds. It's really great! The Sport Package also greatly reduces body roll. This vehicle absolutely doesn't feel heavy on the road.

We test drove an MB 350 wagon, and it just felt flabby, plus the third row seats were just impossibly small. The X5 has that "tight" feeling I've come to love from BMW.

This is our third Bimmer in four years. Our '04 325 xi wagon never gave us a day of trouble and we'll miss it. We also own an '03 M3 convertible which we intend to keep forever...really, it's that great.

Many thanks to Adrian at BMW of South Atlanta...many of you, I'm sure, know him from Bimmerfest. He's first-class. Tobacco leather is absolutely beautiful. I'll be posting more impressions soon - we only have 13 miles on her now.

Nice to be a part of this forum. My present photos exceed your bandwidth limits, so I'll take more soon and post them.

-Ray

great post :thumbup: welcome to the X5world

:welcome:

Cool,glad you like it.I'm looking too.Gotta ask though,with invoice pricing and .9% financing,why lease?

:xoutpost: :band: :welcome:

I too have Active Steering on my '08 X5 3.0. I just got it last week and I took it for a weekend 2 days vacation already. The Active Steering works great on high way too. It feels just like regular BMW cars. My wife likes it when it is on low speed. I had to adjust myself getting use to it; this is the first Active Steering we have (this is our 4th Bimmer). My dealer told me that he only sold 1 X5 with Active Steering other than me.

I also have 3rd row seat. When I first got my X5, kids want to get on 3rd row seat. However, after long distance, kids does not like 3rd row seat any more. As I expected, 3rd row seat is only good for short disance driving; try not to use it for long distance, it is easy to get car sick.

Welcome and enjoy.

Couple reasons. Owning one BMW out of warranty (our M3) is enough for me, and in 36 months when the lease is up, I'm sure a more fuel-efficient alternative will be offered.

Thanks for the welcome, everybody!

Willkommen

:xoutpost:

What part of MD?

:xoutpost:

Use a program such as irfanview to resize your pics to 640x480 and you'll have no problem uploading them to the site.