Xoutpost.com - X5d pics and impressions after Performance Center Delivery 9/8/09

OK, I've managed to put together some early pics from PCD on 9/8 as well as a few on the nearby Cherohala Parkway/Tail of the Dragon and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Although BCP was foggy at times, this gave a nice shot of the Angel Eyes for my new Avatar...:p:. Prepare for a very long account, but I broke it down by section: Performance Center Delivery (PCD), nearby driving info, and impressions of the X5 diesel. I lurked here and on the X5 subforum on Bimmerfest for weeks before ordering my X5d in order to identfy the leading concerns and issues with this vehicle before ordering one. Below is my attempt to give another opinion to assist those considering an X5, and share some cool pics. Early impressions of the drive and car (compared to my previous 2004 BMW 330i ZHP)...

**Skip down a paragraph for car and driving details***
PCD is, in a word, awesome. This was my second trip to Spartanburg after taking the 2 day driver course in April driving 1 and 3 series. There are other PCD posts here and on Bimmerfest, but for those who don't know: 24 hour VIP package including pickup at the airport in a BMW, nice hotel lodging at the Marriott Greenville with great dinner and breakfast included, and transportation to the PCD. My group included a couple picking up an X6, a guy reuniting with his 335 after European Delivery, and me and my wife with our X5d. The day is broken into 3 segments in random order: First, 2 hours with a driving instructor - you and one guest get a "sampler" driving course with exercises in one of their vehicles as close to identical as possible to the one you bought, including ABS emergency braking, slalom and track runs, and drifting/skid recovery both with and without DSC engaged on the skidpad. You also get treated to the "hot lap," where you ride with Donnie Isley who shows you how ferocious M cars can be by driving an M5 like a bat out of hell - check out the BMWUSA website under Performance Center Delivery for a teaser video. Second segment: 2 hours with your new car where they show you exactly how every bell and whistle works on your car - this is the time to ask questions because they know everything. Third, you take an X5 on an off road course on the way to a factory tour where you watch X5's and X6's being produced. A note on the off road course: this is likely a carefully constructed environment and I will probably never take my X5 through 2 feet of water or up on 2 wheels like a mountain goat over rocky terrain, but it was nice to know the car can do it if needed (and to do this in THEIR car...:wow:) and demonstrate some of BMW's newest features. The factory tour was fascinating - for those you wondering , they are still making the '09's- as of 9/8/09 they have not shut down yet to retool for MY2010. They've been rolling out X5M's and X6M's for a few weeks now and it was fun to see those. I happened to be there to take delivery on the exact day of the 15 year anniversary of the Spartanburg facility so there were mucky mucks around that day. Anyway, the whole day was very fun and educational: it's a nice VIP package and a really great way to get to know your car, and BMW as a whole, better. They let PCD owners park on the sidewalk on display in front of the Zentrum museum and factory - check the pics below...
The wife and left the campus and immediately headed over the BMW CCA headquarters, also in Greer SC, to drop off our rebate check request...:thumbup:

OK - driving and the car itself...
First, driving - Tail of the Dragon/Cherohala Parkway is great way to get a feel for your new car. You can't go faster than about 55 (at least not in an X5) and speed limit is 35 anyway, but on a weekday morning this area was sparse and a blast to drive, so you can really enjoy the handling without worrying about rev's too high during break-in... The "Tail" is over 300 curves in 11 miles - motorDavid on this forum lives nearby and can undoubtely provide much better details....He recommended the Cherohala which is a 120 mile loop including the Tail of the Dragon - I felt the early and late parts of the loop, as well as the adjacent "Hellbender" were the most scenic and fun. We did the Blue Ridge Parkway today, which was patchy with fog but I still got a few pics shown below.

Now, the car...not as nimble as my 330 ZHP but we all know that. Still very impressive - both elegant and refined with lots of poise but still drives like a BMW. Let's talk options. YES YES YES you should get Adaptive Drive IMO. I experimented heavily with Sport suspension/throttle engaged as well as separately with Drive and DS modes on and off. Throttle-wise the "Sport" button setting is a bit more aggressive but I didn't push it that hard during break-in, but with respect to the suspension, on all those tight turns I could absolutely discern a difference in body roll with Sport Suspension on and off. I also like the sport package looks with the Anthracite headliner, Shadowline, etc etc but these are uncoupled from Adaptive Drive on MY2010 - yes, they hose you with a price increase, but that suspension makes a BIG difference in handing almost like a BMW sedan. Again, I highly recommend Adaptive Drive if you really like to push the corners. I couldn't spool up the X5d (to 5000 RPM where it auto-shifts...:()too much during these early miles but I enjoyed a massive rush of torque from the diesel from 1700 RPM which I curtailed at 3500 RPM per my delivery advisor's recs for another day or two up until I'm up around Boston...Also on the PLUS side, through all aggressive and hilly driving I got 24.1 MPG!!!!:D BTW, I find the diesel clatter to be noticeable outside at idle or momentarily with acceleration, and inside at idle only but it's not intrusive at all which agrees with what other X5d owners have said...

What else may be helpful...Tech package: this will undoubtedly start a war but I think the iDrive is easy to use right now. My advisor took the time to pair my phone and upload my address book, hook up my iPod to the USB/iPod jack and upload my playlists, and showed my some shortcuts to using iDrive that make me think with a little practice it'll be easy to use. I HAVE NOT HOWEVER TRIED 4th GEN. Parking camera: I agree it gets pretty grainy at low light levels but I still found it useful over the past 3 days of navigating rest stop, restaurant, and hotel parking lots. Yes, it takes about 2 seconds to boot up and maybe 5 seconds to shut off after starting forward motion but I still found the system immensely entertaining and useful. Those steering targeting lines are really cool - the software reprogram with my factory trailer hitch with an 8 inch, 4 ich, and "bullseye" for trailer ball engagement will be very useful for hooking up the boat trailer by myself. Aesthetics...running boards look great and are a low cost accessory at $100 but are unnecessary from a functional standpoint (I still like the way they look, tho. Also - I mentioned to PCD about a few people noting the rubber blister points retracting though the board - they said they hadn't heard of an issue with this...). I echo others about the 20 way Comfort Seats - expensive but Oh So Nice. Incredibly customizable and very comfortable with over 500 miles of cruising today. The cooled seats on my Lincoln MKZ take 1-2 minutes to take effect and feel vaguely like sitting in a puddle of cold water - the BMW perforated leather Active Ventilated seats work immediately and significantly enhanced my comfort. Also, I frankly thought the "butt massager" was an extraneous feature, but I tried it since what the hell it comes with the ZAV package, and it actually helps to reduce numbness and fatigue. I was pleasantly surprised - I'll use it on long trips. Oh, and at the risk of starting another war, I don't mind the RFT's - After reading several posters vowing to never use run flat tires again I was apprehensive on this new car. Granted, I came from a BMW sedan with the Performance Package (tuned suspension) and 35 sidewall tires so I'm used to a bit of stiff ride, but I don't mind these RFT's at all (and no complaints from my wife either). I don't find them to be noisy (I got the Michelin LT's not the Bridgestone Duelers) and the ride is quite smooth.

Well I think that's about it for now, guys and gals- I hope this was informative for some and a nice share for others. I'll post more further into our 2800 mile driving bonanza. Until then-:thumbup: