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      12-30-2010, 09:11 AM   #1
RickP
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11 X5d 1,000 miles later

Let me start by saying that I appreciate reading these forums and have learned a great deal. I purchased my X5 before doing much reading on the forums and in hindsight it would have been a good idea to have done some reading first. My previous BMWs have been an E36M3 and E83 X3 3.0 sport.

Now on the review... I've broken it by mostly options and features so here goes:

Base sound
If you were born on an island and only ate coconuts, you would think that coconuts are the tastiest, best food out there. That's how I feel about having the base sound package as I never had the opportunity to hear either sound packages. I don't find the base sound to be terrible. I do wish there were more adjustments on the frequencies instead of treble or bass only. I'm ready to buy the Bavarian Sound Works Stage I if it happens in the next three years :-)

Diesel
This is my first diesel car and all I can say is Wow! Diesel + SAV is a great combination. I get good gas mileage, gobs of torque, and towing capability. I realize that the price of diesel vs. premium petrol may offset any savings but I don't really care. I like the fuel efficiency and the throw-you-in-the-back torque. I do wish there was a mated 8 speed automatic but maybe next time.

I have a theory why BMW is discounting diesel models - it's because they are more fuel efficient and will increase BMW USA overall fuel efficiency as a car maker. Promoting higher gas mileage as a car maker is good for marketing and probably to the politicians, IMO.

iDrive
The third iteration of software or electronics always seems to be the sweet spot and the iDrive falls under this category. Although I've never owned iDrive 1.0 or 2.0, I did read a lot of reviews and the complaints were always the same. I really like the iDrive system and prefer it over a touch screen format. Touch screens have the obvious issue of dirty fingerprints on the screen. I also feel it is a greater distraction from your eyes on the road b/c you must ensure your finger touches the right screen choice.

Navigation
No auto-switching for night/day mode especially with all this technology in our BMWs is shameful at best. Fortunately, the night mode (black) theme works great in daytime. I haven't figured out how to program night/day switching but have programmed different range settings (800ft, 1mi, 2.5mi, etc). I really enjoy the widescreen view of the navigation and although it doesn't compare with a Garmin, I don't think the X5 looks right w/o navigation and a small idrive display.

LED Angel eyes, WTF?

There's really no excuse why we LCI owners do not have the LED AEs. I saw a 11 335i with OEM AEs so the whole thing about DOT regulations is BS if you ask me. I'm thinking some part supplier has excess inventory of regular AEs or the BMW penny pinchers are saving the pennies. What pisses me off the most is that in all the marketing pictures and blog reviews of the X5s they had in Miami had the LED AEs. Someone said they saw LED AEs in their build list or something. Maybe we can class action this under false pretenses?

Non-Sport package

I seriously considered the Sport + 214s but decided against it (big regret, trying to save the pennies). I think the 214s make the X5 look the best but I am happy with 18s with non-run flats for now.

Rear Entertainment
We have a two month and two year old and my oldest loves watching DVDs and it keeps her quiet plus our sanity. The screen quality is good and I'm sorta glad it's on the center because my oldest likes to kick the back of the seats. If there were LCD screens on the seats (maybe not headrest) they would be broken by now. My interest was piqued with the two iPad thing but I want true system integration with BMW and not jailbreak/3rd party.

One thing I dislike about the RE is you cannot control the movies from the front. This means I have to either use the remote or my wife controls the thing in the back. I wish iDrive could control things from the front.

Rear Climate

The rear tint is not that dark (seems lighter than my last X3 factory tint) so I had an additional layer of tint put on the rear pics here. I have two little children so the rear climate knobs will probably become more of a toy than functionality. Fortunately, I can lock the settings via iDrive. In hindsight, I probably could have skipped rear climate and used the savings for the sport package.

Comfort access
Why is it $500 on other models and $1,000 on the X? When a Nissan Altima comes with keyless start, it should be time BMW simply has this as standard especially for a $50k plus car. Seriously, I don't think any of us would cry if BMW raised the MSRP by $500 and had CA as standard.

Pros

* Excellent fuel efficiency for a 5K pound SUV
* iDrive 3.0 is great
* Excellent handling even w/o sport package

Cons

* Some options should already be standard
* 3rd row seats are worthless for adults.
* Where are the LED AEs?

What I would like to see in a future X5

* Comfort Access should be standard.
* Real 3rd row (do an X7 if it makes the vehicle too large) with spare tire option availabe
* Roof rails and spare tire should be a no cost delete.
* Offer 4.0 diesel similar how there are two different petrol models.
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Last edited by RickP; 12-31-2010 at 07:50 AM..
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      12-30-2010, 03:58 PM   #2
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thanks for the write-up; I love my 35d and am sold on BMW diesels
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      12-31-2010, 02:40 PM   #3
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Nice Review!

I hear you on the nav auto-switching day&night mode. Even our 2001 Acura MDX had it at the time. What a shame ..

I found that the Comfort Access works for all 4 doors, hence costing $1,000 on the X and 5 & 7 series. The 1 & 3 series only works on the front two doors.
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      01-07-2011, 05:05 PM   #4
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RickP

A great write up.

The drive

I thought I would chip in with our observations to date. We have just completed 6200 Km in 2 months and are still chuffed to bits with ours. No real issues, we get between 29 - 41 mpg depending on roads and speeds, a lot of the time it is long distance cruising, however autobahns do tempt you to push the speeds, so far 142 mph before traffic slowed us. Road holding is amazing for a car this size, even in the snow (18" winter tyres help a lot!) it is excellent on twisty roads. The one down side is the turning circle. Ride comfort is good and not jarring, we ran 19” before we put on the winter set. The engine is a star, the combination of economy, torque and emissions is exemplary, and the kick in the ass is smooth and progressive, still pulling strongly past 130 mph. It is no M-car, but it is no slouch for such a heavy car with a 3 litre diesel, especially when overtaking. I recently saw a BMW magazine article where the author criticised the 40d for not feeling as fast as it claimed it was. I suggest he gets out a stop watch and also takes into account the ride position and quietness of the X5 which makes you think you are travelling slower than you are!

Going downhill using the manual mode of the 8 speed box is a delight, find the right gear, take your foot of the accelerator, and it holds it speed even during the steepest descents. Gear changes in the auto mode are smooth, quiet and pitched just right. For a proper kickdown you need to bury your foot in the carpet then it rewards you with a rise in revs as it drops a gear or two and the surge of torque gets you in the back.

iDrive

The latest iDrive is a great leap forward to the previous single button affair and the programmable “radio” buttons are great. The screen is clear, bright and the colours are a good choice. I have most of the programmable buttons set up for the navigation functions, i.e. traffic mode, night mode, split screen turn, split screen entertainment and split screen off. The BMW online route planner is great for planning trips and downloading the routes to the car either online or by USB. Pity the USB import only does one route at a time. We have found the google and weather functions really useful on long trips. We also think the BMW call centre is great, although we have not used as much as we did in our previous car. One function I would have liked is auto zoom as implemented in iGo8 (BMW’s version here is a poor joke). iGo8 has a wide view of the route when no turns are due, but as you get closer to a junction it zooms in to give more details of the road layout and exits. The iDrive split screen function for turns ahead is good though, but occasionally it can be caught out by some of the weird and wonderful German junctions on the autobahns. Generally the navigation screens are a great leap forward and strike a balance between what information to present and when. The re-route function for when it identifies road delays ahead is implemented really well.

A larger harddrive music partition (12 Megs is small) would be good. You can import VBR and 320 MP3s directly through the glove box USB port with no loss of quality. It is only the CD/DVD ripping that gives you 128kb files. It would also have been nice if you could use playlists on the harddrive imported music, but alas BMW did not do that and you can only use it on the centre USB. I also connect a SD card to the centre USB port and use that for even more tracks which can also use playlists. I have been able to use my iPod as a spare file drive storing even more music and playlists using the centre USB. Volume, bass etc are good, we specified uprated speakers after reading a few posts on the quality of the base system (no pun intended).

Comfort

Comfort seats are superb, and being heated is a must have. It did take me a while to find my optimal seating position, but once I did there have been no qualms about comfort on long trips. Likewise the seating position is just right for me, although my wife (petite) looks lost in the vastness of the cabin. She has no problems in the seating position and view when she drives. This also applies to switch positions. Heating and climate control are superb, the windscreen clears fast even on the coldest mornings (so far -13). It could only be bettered by having an electrically heated windscreen like Fords and BMW Minis. I am not convinced the rear climate control was worth it, although passengers in the back love it, it does affect output from the front if they go to extremes with the settings. They also say the heating coming from under the front seat ducts as excellent.

The View

The all round view is good, not many blind spots. The large wing mirrors offer a good situational awareness and don’t suffer from as much wind noise as some vehicles I have driven. They don’t easily clear of rain though, even at speed. The camera system is good and the guidelines on the iDrive are a boon to aid parking in tight places, but if street lighting at night is poor the image does suffer. A better low light camera system or more sophisticated auto brightness/contrast would have helped.

Storage

Luggage space is huge, not Land Rover Discovery level, but more than sufficient. The storage bay in the wheel well swallows our emergency sleeping bags, car fluids and snow gear leaving the rest of the rear free for shopping/luggage etc. More than enough cubby holes, with nice deep door pockets. The split centre storage lids are great, the wife can open up one side and not need me to move my elbow off the other pad.

Lighting

Internal lighting is spot on. I have seen some posts which lament that it is not up to current 5 series ambient lighting levels, but I don’t want the inside lit up when I drive at night, I want to see what is out on the road. Instrument are clearly lit and the reading lights are well marked and give good brightness levels without distracting the driver. iDrive on night mode is bang on the nail. External lighting is amazing, the LED coronas are very bright, and on one occasion someone mistook them for headlights. The Xenons are superb and give a clear white light of the road ahead, very comforting when driving at high speeds at night.

Conclusion

After looking at other cars and weighing up the pros and cons we know we bought the right car and spec’ed it correctly. Others edge ahead in different areas, but perform poorly elsewhere. As an all round package I cannot think of anything to beat it and the engine is the star which gives it that final must have appeal for me. I just need to get a bike rack for the tow hook in spring to justify that option

CW
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      03-01-2011, 06:10 AM   #5
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Great write up. I'm in the market for a new X5 35d or 35i and this certainly pushed me towards the 35d.
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      03-03-2011, 10:18 AM   #6
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8 speed transmission??

BTW, Clockwatcher mentions 8 speed tranny--"Going downhill using the manual mode of the 8 speed box is a delight, find the right gear, take your foot of the accelerator, and it holds it speed even during the steepest descents. Gear changes in the auto mode are smooth, quiet and pitched just right. For a proper kickdown you need to bury your foot in the carpet then it rewards you with a rise in revs as it drops a gear or two and the surge of torque gets you in the back."----do you have a X5 40d?--the X5 35d only has 6 speed transmission.

How about the 2012 model year--is there to be a change to the 8sp? I just got an X5 35d in December '10 and really like it. It would have been nice to have gotten an 8 speed and I would be a bit disappointed if it became available only a few months after I made my purchase. I think the 8sp transmission would make a substantial improvement in gas mileage--about 8-10%. We're getting about 23mpg overall--up to about 29 mpg on the highway if going fairly slowly, but more like 26-27 at 75mph.

Last edited by Hoo; 03-09-2011 at 12:01 PM..
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      03-09-2011, 11:32 AM   #7
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2011 x5 diesel

I too love
Mine, I average between 25 and 29 mpg between fill ups
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      03-09-2011, 05:49 PM   #8
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great writeup glad youre happy with yours too!!! (I also want a bike rack)
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      09-04-2011, 12:25 AM   #9
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X5 35D Mileage

After 6 months and about 6K miles, love the diesel. On a recent trip from Larkspur, CA to Point Reyes on country roads averaging about 45 miles an hour and back we averaged 25 miles per gallon.

Similarly, with 4 people (2 kids), 2 dogs, and a Yakima cargo box, and averaging about 80 on the highway, we got 24.5 MPG, on a trip back to Tahoe. Going to Tahoe (over an hour of uphill driving) we averaged about 21 mpg at similar speeds. Much better mileage than the 17-19 we got in our 2005 MDX.
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      09-04-2011, 01:19 AM   #10
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Rick would love to see some interior pics. The exterior looks great.
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      09-04-2011, 09:47 AM   #11
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Great write ups! I'm picking up my 35D tomorrow! Can't wait.
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      09-04-2011, 10:28 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vastyle View Post
Great write ups! I'm picking up my 35D tomorrow! Can't wait.
Lucky! We are waiting until after I get back from deployment to pick up ours. Is yours a 2011 or 2012? What color combos did you go with?
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      09-04-2011, 02:19 PM   #13
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2011, 2012's aren't until later this year. The way I understand is that no real changes are being made for the US market. I got black saphire/ cinnamon/ sport activity with 20" 214 Y spokes/ Premium sound/ rear climate/ cold weather/ technology/ premium package/ multi contour seating
MSRP 68,900

I'm paying 59k through AMEX purchasing and ZAG.com

Last edited by Vastyle; 09-04-2011 at 02:27 PM..
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      09-07-2011, 08:56 PM   #14
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I thought it would be time for follow up on our experiences with the car (the original post is 3rd from the top in this thread).

Car: X5 4.0d MSport (LCI, Oct 10)
Approx 21,000 Km/13,125 miles (End Aug 11)
Owned the car for 10 months
Not used for commuting


We have driven in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, the UK and a week long trip in Norway around Fjords and the mountains. What a car! It is not without fault, but the sum of the positives far outweighs the negatives.

The Drive:

Autobahn, country roads, towns, they are all effortless. I have taken it to its maximum speed on the autobahns (my wife is not in the car) and reached 147 mph / 235 Kph easily, but then it either runs out of steam or the governors are kicking in. Take your foot of the pedal though and it is like deploying a huge windbreak! Stability at this speed is astounding, sure footed and it goes where you want, even at this speed there is no appreciable body roll on the sweeping autobahn bends. The suspension set up is amazing, a car this size should not handle this well, but it does, so all credit to the BMW boys on this one. We run 19 inch in summer and 18 inch in winter. The brakes are very good, progressive, positive and fast.

The engine and 8 speed transmission are stars. Both never cease to make me smile when I put my foot down. It is no sports car, but 6.6 seconds is impressive. But where it really comes into its own though is joining the autobahns and lane maneuvers. It makes overtaking on country roads, where overtaking opportunities are reduced, safe fast and smooth. Diesel torque rules here!

Occasionally you have to think about narrow roads and their clearances, especially in some of the old European towns. Parking is never a problem, just a case of planning ahead and choosing a suitable place. A walk of 5 minutes is preferable to farting about in a town center. However, living in Germany, we are normally spoiled for choice, a different matter in the UK, but that applies to most cars.

Fuel economy is not bad. If we are steady, maybe 35mpg (imperial), cruising at 90mph /145 kph drops this to 32 mpg. We have seen 42 mpg, but this was on a long stretch of Autobahn with speed restrictions for maintenance (37mph / 60kmh).

iDrive:

Love it. Occasionally I get lost in the menus, but that is usually when I have a brainfart. The google/BMW online setup has changed slightly, and for the better. Google maps has been a boon. Traffic info is also great, however the current setup relies on the countries radio stations updating the data for it. Belgium is poor at this. Many times we have taken a chance in Belgium knowing their slow traffic updates, especially near Brussels or Antwerp, and found no hold ups.

No real issues with maps, occasionally a road layout changes, but that happens so we just roll with it. Never fallen off the planet Earth yet. Navigation routing is fast and accurate, travel times are fairly spot on, even on journeys of 1000Km plus.

Things that could be improved on the iDrive:
  • Playlist should be able to function on the harddrive,
  • The harddrive only plays albums in alphabetical order, not play order.

Comfort:

Seats are so comfortable, and the heating is great. It comes on gently and gradually warms you up. You are able to alter the difference between the seat and back through the iDrive. Long drives are not a chore and you get out feeling like you have just been out for 30 minutes. The leather is very easy to clean (Oyster/Navada), a warm damp microfibre cloth does the trick, no cleaner or detergent. An old leather worker told me that only shoes or boots need polish, seats just need a warm damp cloth. Dirt is the enemy, and putting on creams and oils only attracts them. I have never had any problems with leather seats (or coats) following this advice.

Heating and climate controls are good, no major grips. Keeps a good constant temperature.

Panoramic sunroof is fantastic, makes the car light and airy. With the sunroof open, noise is low until you get above 70 mph/110kph

Storage:

As mentioned in my previous post, more than enough, except for the glovebox which is tiny on a car this size. The underfloor stowage is great. Cup holders in the front are really good, always a positive fit. Great sitting on the tailgate while we have a drink or some soup after a long walk or cycle. The detachable tow hook is easy to fit and remove, we have only used it for our bicycle rack. The wife is not tall, so the powered tailgate is a boon since she does not need to struggle on her tip toes to pull it down.

Issues to date:

A rattle/buzz from the back was traced to the B Pillar vent. It only happens occasionally, not got round to sorting it yet since it rarely happens. In fact, it seems to have disappeared (thats jinxed it!).

The iDrive crashed and rebooted instantly on a long drive, it has never happened since. (It booted back up into the mode it was in before the crash.)

Half way up a mountain pass in Norway we stopped to admire the view from a layby. We jumped back in for only for the car refuse to restart, even after trying both sets of keys and leaving it switched off for 5 minutes. We contacted BMW through the iDrive while it downloaded the car data, (the iDrive showed no car faults). As we explained the cars reluctance to start I turned the engine over to demonstrate the sound of the engine just spinning. The bugger started! Lucky for us, the nearest dealer was about 5 hours away. It has never happened again and the dealer check up showed no faults

The center USB socket occasionally locks up. We have tried different USB sticks and SD cards (with different adapters) and still had the occasional freeze on playback. Typical BMW reply when questioned, "must be the brand you are using"!

Mirrors do not clear water from the glass when it is raining, there appears to be no airflow over them to clear the water off. All our previous BMW's (1s and 3s) mirrors cleared easily. You need some extra caution when maneuvering because of this.

When the car is wet, opening the doors drips water onto the seats, very annoying!

Overall:

As I said at the beginning, it is not without faults and we have listed them. However, the positives weigh very heavily in the cars favour. There are other alternatives, but none manage to unsurp this package for us.

Last edited by Clockwatcher; 09-08-2011 at 03:05 AM..
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