some questions before ordering new E70
 

Hello everyone,
my name is Tom, a BMW enthousiast from Brussels, Belgium. My current ride is a silvergrau 525d E61 (which has let me down on several - electronic - occasions...:() but as I'm fairly addicted to how a BMW rides, I've decided to upgrade to the E70 3.0d.
As I'm going through the not so unpleasant job of choosing options and packs for the new X5 at this stage, I have 2 questions:
1. is the back-up camera really useless, or is it OK during the day and 'less then OK' at night? (be aware that we do not have a lot of bright sunny days here, so any problems with the camera on a bright day is less important to me)
2. what about the automatic retractable rear view mirrors? As I've read on this forum, they only retract halfway or so, so I think this is not very usefull when trying to squeez through a narrow street or entrance or whatever...
thanks for the input.
Tom.

Hey Tom,

You're going to love the E70. To answer your questions, the backup camera is sufficient during the day. At night and especially on a rainy night it's not exactly up to par. I still think it's worth it.

The side view mirrors do not fold in flush with the windows, and it seems that the passenger side folds in more for some reason than the driver's side. I pull them in anytime I need to park on the street and did use them once to squeeze through a really tight spot.

Good luck and welcome :wavey:
:

great, my brother has a backup camera on his Q7 and I found this to be very usefull, so I decided to add this on my E70, but after reading some negative feedback on this camera, I started to hesitate...
We're going on a full day test drive this saturday with a fully loaded X5:D, I can't wait...

Don't get too excited about the camera. From what I've heard the Infiniti camera is far superior to the one in the X. Many here will say the camera in the X is useless. I'd choose it again over not having one.

Enjoy the test :zoom: One word of caution though, if you're in the market for a 3.0 DO NOT drive a 4.8 :rofl:

no worries, with our current gas prices and gouvernement taxes on cc's (about 4000US$ just for the registration:wow:...) the V8 is out of the question... the 211Bhp 3.0d will do just fine. Allthough nothing beats the sound of a V8...:cool:

The retractable mirrors is definitely needed for cities with narrow streets. The X5 mirrors seem to stick out more than most other vehicles and can really be damaged by passing cars.

The camera works great in the day time and looks like abstract art done by a child at night. Still, given the limited visibility from the back, I would recommend having it. the technology package also comes with the sensors in the US so even at night, the combination of the bad camera and sensors should be more than adequate.

Good luck.