I Joined The 50i Crowd
 

I had been looking at an X5 50i to replace my BMW 550i at end of lease. I had been leaning towards a Vermillion Red and the Sport Activity pkg and 20s. However I wanted to check out an Alpine White M Sport with the Biege Nappa and Active Steering. Given the fact that I'll be doing a lot of traveling and likely hauling of stuff over the next several months, I went for it instead of waiting for a special order.

The only downside is the 19's. I prefer the looks of the M Sport 20s and the 19's won't even make for a good winter combo. At least the 19's give a great ride and handling combo. Plus that's easy to fix with new wheels and tires. The X5 does have every option I wanted plus a few extra that I'll seldom use (rear DVD and A/C).

So far I really like it. The Active Steering really helps at parking lot speeds. The best feature is the exhaust note. The worst feature may be the MPG when I'm enjoying the exhaust note.

Pics are forthcoming, I've got to resize them, etc.

Here are the pics.

Very nice! You will need some all weather floor mats. Those mats will get dirty fast...

Craig

As an incentive to buy it off the lot, I got a nice discount, the carpeted floor mats, and the all weather ones. Especially going to WV in the winter, I'll throw the all weather ones in.

White looks sharp! Nice.

Very nice! I just commented over on ZPost :thumbup:

"exhaust note." Haha, it looks good :thumbup:

I sort of feel the exhaust note was more menacing on my 4.8:( But you can hear the engine itself even with the windows up and it sounds bad in its own regard:D Nice looking x!

Hi...I just picked mine up yesterday...custom order from SC...maybe I'll see ya around in the Queen City...

I would love to hear more of your thoughts on active steering. Did you drive one without it before purchasing?

Good pics BTW.

At parking lot speeds there is a HUGE difference with Active Steering. I drove an M Sport with 20s and standard steering. It felt quite heavy to maneuver for parking with lots of steering wheel turns. With Active Steering (albeit mine has 19s), parking lots are a breeze. On the road it feels fine. It's hard to say what the difference in road feel is. But so far I'm really glad I have it.

I agree, I think the 20"s are much sharper than the 19"s. I can't wait to get mine. I just ordered mine last Thursday.

Very Nice! :thumbup:

- DaRip