I have a 2010 M3 manual (25K miles) euro delivery. Bought wife a 2012 X5 35d (1800 miles) on Jan 3. Our X5 is similarly equipped as the one you are considering...MSRP at $66K. Paid $56K with just 7 miles on odometer. Also got BMWCCA rebate of $1000 for a price of $55K. Bought another set of BMW OEM wheels with Michelin all-seasons that were already installed on wheels for winter. I will get dedicated snows once the OEMs need replacing. I get to drive my M3 in the snow as I purchased another set of M3 19" wheels with snow tires…..an absolute blast…another (fun) story.
She drives the X5 60 miles a day, 3x a week on highway. We are also going on some longer drives a year...ski trip (800 miles, etc) and other drives of 200-500 miles, so wanted the economy of diesel.
My wife went out of town this past weekend and took the Honda to the airport, which gave me 4 days to drive the X5. Very positive impressions of the X5. The X5 35d has nice power delivery (slight turbo lag...maybe spoiled by M3). The driving dynamics is typical BMW....everything is in the right place, comfortable, excellent power delivery, brakes, and handling is very good. We have the BMW Apps option, which I became addicted to when driving this past weekend. Having full access to MOG (and Pandora) and album art access from iDrive is a cool feature. Don't really use the Facebook, Twitter, or calendar features. I may use the calendar feature if it was my daily driver. Acceleration is good, but not head snapping (spoiled by M3).
Good fuel economy so far. On highway, we get 27 MPG fuel economy around 80 MPH. With 70/30 hwy/city, we are getting around 25 MPG. With 50% hwy (or less), fuel economy is around 22-23 MPG. The X5 shines on the highway. Smooth at 100.
I drove a 2010 X5 35d (40K miles) before buying the 2012. The 2010 X5 was broken in. I felt it had more power. I imagine the 2012 will only get better with miles. The end of year Mission-to-Drive sales event drove me to a new one as the discount was too good to pass up.
My wife came from a Honda mom-van, which we kept as our dog, bike, and airport car. When she arrived at the airport (Honda), she sent me a text that said…"Love my BMW. Can't stand the Honda anymore." Kinda sums up her feelings.
Overall, the X5 is a perfect car for us. It gives us the space we need for around town and trips, the excellent AWD system for ski trips (and snow days we get in the midwest), BMW driving experience, and good fuel economy (500+ mile range). Plus, I am a tech lover, so the BMW apps feature is the icing on the cake.
Coming from an M3, I think I would want the X5M if it was my daily driver. Love what the M Division does to their cars. It would still not be an M3. Same can be said of an M5….much heavier than M3, which is not the same experience. The X5 35d is the perfect car for my wife.
We're getting it Friday. Yes, my wife is going to love it.. especially the fuel economy since I seem to fill up my E90 M3 often. this will also be our road trip ride for our Lake Tahoe trips. This has a ESS chip that the guy says gives it over 600lbs of torque and I can definitely feel it, but have to plan on taking it out to feel the difference. he's also throwing in a thule storage since he doesnt need that anymore.
