the ml drives a lot i mean a lot softer, smoother and quieter than the x5. and the steering wheel on the ml is light, soft not heavy like the x5. command center is easier to use than i-drive. ml beat x5 hands down. x5 looks more aggressive and thats about it. ml350 beats x5 3.0 on price tag + options, ml550 beats x5 4.8 on price tag + options. but well, bmw enthusiats wouldn't care, they still love their bimmer no matter what.

Ride is really subjective. I love the ride on MY2008. It's definitely firm (what I expect with a 20" rims and low profile tires), but much more comfortable compared to my 3-Series with low pro tires.

As far as build quality, I'm at about 5000 miles now and got my first rattle! Prior it was flawless, but now I hear something in the right drivers door. They do take care of this at service visits, no?

Most dealers will make an attempt to fix a rattle, as generally it is covered in the 4yr/50k defect in craftsmanship part of the warranty. If you can positively identify where the rattle is...this will be a HUGE help. Most technicians hate trying to find rattles, and it is my experience that most times they will just say: "Cannot duplicate problem". It also helps to not take the car to the dealership on Monday or Friday for rattles, both days are very busy. Wed or Thur morning is your best bet, and I find it helps to be very, very friendly (I normally bring bagels or doughnuts too). They are so used to people complaining and being rude, that a little gesture of kindness goes a LONG way in the Service Dept. My 2 cents!!

I had a annoying rattle coming from the lower half of the rear hatch. Fixed it with Dynamat (search this forum for details). I now have a loud rattle coming from under the front passenger seat. The trim around the seat rails keeps coming apart and causes the noise. Will have the dealer look at it at the next service interval. Ride is fine , but I'm going to switch to non run flats to make it even better.

What's the difference between the sport package ride and the non sport package ride? Which is better...I have read conflicting reviews.

I have the standard suspension and I do find the ride to be rough, this coming from a person who had an 2006 ML500, so I can speak from experience here. While it is rough, you do get that crisp BMW handling that just blows away other cars. It's one of those compromises you make.

Now my ML was a rattle trap, and I don't feel that the materials inside the ML are any better than those on the BMW. In fact, Mercedes of late has been decontenting features and other niceties for a while now, so they don't have the rock solid feel that they once had.

The COMAND is garbage. The newer one is better overall, but without a COMAND controller like they have in the C and S, they actually made it somewhat worse, even though they have added many more features to it. Random crashes in the COMAND? It happens. although it is better than it was on my 2004 E500. I'm getting used to iDrive, and see some benefits, but it is too damn slow to respond., and it really needs a bigger screen.

I won't even bring up the differences in the backup camera :D

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle...tivedrive.html

click on the word adaptive drive... it goes into detail. I've never tracked or raced my X5 so I can only speak for everyday road/highway driving... the sport button makes no difference to me. Same minimal body roll, same road stiffness. Probably no perceptible difference unless you corner it hard. This is not to say it doesn't perform - I take the same 270-degree on-ramp in my other SUV and I'm feeling the Gs even at moderate speed and have to slow it down - what a difference the X makes.

I do want to know if simply having the sport button turned off is equivalent to owning an X5 without sport pkg altogether. In other words, everything described in that link becomes unavailable if I have the button off?

I've had a few rattles:

1. Passenger seat - plastic trim loose. Fixed it back on and it is now fine
2. Rear seat - that was my daughter's car seat rubbing against the head restraint - raised head restraint and that fixed it
3. I have an annoying rattle that appears to come from the bezel around the nav screen - haven't been able to fix that, it is periodic and so I will get them to have a look at the next service

No other rattles though.

As for the ride - I think it is fine, nice and sporty. I've driven a few Mercs over the years and I much prefer the tightness of BMW suspension over the wishy-washy softness of the Merc.

Exact same thing that is happening on my car. I'll have to fool around with it and see if I can fix it easily.

Thanks for all of the responses:
Regarding the Mercedes GL dash- it has a leather type material covering the plastic dash and it has decorative stitching. This goes a long way to make it more pleasing to look at and much less cheap looking than the ML dash.

If I were to get a new X5 I think i would take the run flats off

I live in ILLINois. We have some of the roughest roads and BIGGEST pot holes in the world. :(

In this part of the world you need a soft ride when driiving on winter roads.

In the summer, it's a bit different. That time of the year I am driving my 2008 Boxter S. :rofl: