Get away from Covid roadtrips
 

Keeping in the spirit of Overboost's road trip postings on the E53 forum as distractions from Covid "lock downs", I thought I'd start one on the F15 avenue since I'm tooling around in one of those now.


After 4 weeks of ownership, I can honestly say I'm stunned at the technology jump in the powertrain. The consistent 20% improvement in fuel mileage over my 2002 E53 just blows me away, and the xDrive works flawlessly. It's taken a bit to get used to the lighter steering on the highway, but the feel is still there if you don't use a killer grip on the wheel. They'll be more analysis to follow as time goes on.


So the first escape trip out of DFW was to Broken Bow, Oklahoma. Why stay in Texas for Valentine Day at 20 degrees when you can go to Oklahoma and get to 6 degrees below zero and have 8 inches of snow on the ground! My CEO on the left approved of the R&R . The X5 started and ran fine and never spun a tire getting out of the snow. (Now I know why you guys like those heated steering wheels).



And don't ever think Okies aren't tough. It was 26 degrees and this guy is in a T-shirt, shorts and bare feet to buy a battery for his pickup at the Walmart. An you can tell it's Walmart because the toilet seats are so easy to reach from the battery rack.

Very cool srmmmm. Nice to hear the F15 handles the powdery stuff so well... lol, you know, for 15 years from now when we see it again in San Antonio. Love Broken Bow. I'll have to post some pics of the E70 up there last time we went with my cousin who lives in McKinney.

Oh, and there are lots of ways to tell that shot was taken at Wally World beside the proximity of auto bats to toilet seats. :bustingup

Thanks for sharing srmmmm. I drove the F15 and the family this past weekend from Dallas to OKC. I have a question related to driving assistance for anyone. When the car auto-brakes while in cruise control does it lit up the brake lights. I noticed too many cars getting too close.

Wish I could answer. I only noticed people following too closely before I shortened the braking distance setting. When we picked it up it was in the earliest (longest from car in front of you) setting and vehicles would routinely creep up on us. I guess because they thought we were too far from the car in front of us. :dunno: Haven't noticed it much since shortening it.

Here is a shot of the E70 35d at Broken Bow. We had a blast "glamping" with 4 families in a "lux cabin." Beautiful area.

Attachment 79784

Good point. Will adjust and check again. Thanks

Nice picture! Could be sales brochure material.

Next little trip was a one day turn-around from DFW to San Antonio. Northbound traffic on I35 was running just below super-sonic speeds on the way back so cruise control was set at 85mph.


Fuel economy on this thing is absolutely incredible :D


And the seat comfort is definitely at a 1000 mile range.

Next trip found us towing the waverunner to Orange Beach, AL in May. The F15 has a better slipstream for towing than the E53 did. Not as much fluttering on the boat cover and fuel mileage was an incredible 20.5 mpg averaging 71.6 mph. Ran the boats over to Pirates Cove, the home of Jimmy Buffet's Cheeseburger in Paradise. And even though I still had to spend a day on the laptop for work, the CEO didn't mind as long as she could drink martinis at the beach.

In June it was time for another trip to Broken Bow as the February snow had melted. :rofl: Realized I discovered the "under engineered" item on the F15 when I noticed the OEM 2" receiver is rated for 350/3500 pound tongue/trailer weight. Not too bright with the 6000 pound rated OEM hitch :confused: . So on the E53 it's the front drive shaft that's too short and on the F15 it's the receiver that's too light. But with perfect weather and a great cabin to stay in, all's well.