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      01-03-2014, 08:54 AM   #1
jbwitt
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Drives: 2014 X5
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: United States

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First road trip report (long post)

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This is a sapphire black on black dakota xline x35i. It had 400 miles on it before it was time for our first family road trip. I took some notes during the trip and thought some other people may be interested. I'll say right up front that the car performed extremely well and any complaints I have are just nit picks. This is my first BMW so some of this stuff may be well known to you all. This car is configured to be a soccer mom car. Not the "ultimate driving machine."

miles driven: 2157
time spent driving: 42:42
avg mpg: 22.7 - I was over 6000 lbs with family and cargo, so I consider that good. Average highway mpg was 23.8.
avg speed: 52.0 mph

Multi contour seats: This is probably my favorite option on the car. I have back issues but even after 12 straight hours of driving I had no pain. Well worth the money.

ACC: My second favorite option. I spent most of my time with the cruise on 78 and 1 click of distance control. This made highway driving pretty boring. The system performed so well that sometimes my wife couldn't tell it was on. If I have one complaint I would say it can be a little too aggressive with the accel/decel, even in eco pro mode. When I was just a few mph off of my target speed it would hit the brakes or downshift.

Profiles: This may be my biggest complaint and has occurred since we bought the car. The wrong profile is loading sometimes. Eventually I figured out it's because we park in a garage and do not lock the car when it's in there. As the manual states, the profile is loaded when the car is UNLOCKED. But if the car isn't locked between drives, it will not load a different profile. BMW: come on! This logic is all wrong! If there is only 1 fob detected on start, then that profile should be loaded. If there are 2, then it should load the one that last opened the driver door (if comfort access is on the car). However, even after realizing this limitation and manually selecting the right profile, sometimes the seats do not reposition correctly. Many times I've had to re adjust my seat for my profile. I'm not sure what's going on there but I'm considering taking it to BMW and demonstrating the problem.

I'm slightly paranoid with a new car so sometimes on the trip I would try to lock the car multiple times with the fob. But the car will not beep or flash the headlights on subsequent fob locks. All is does is turn on the interior lights for a few seconds which can't be seen during the day. BMW: the car should beep/flash EVERY time I press that lock button on the fob!

Once, when ACC was engaged, I bumped the shifter. The car went into neutral and the ACC redlined the tach. I tapped the brake to disengage the ACC and then put the car back in drive without any problem. Operator error, obviously, but it did make me wonder what would have happened if I had accidentally pressed the Park button. I wasn't about to try it, so I'll just assume that the car is smart enough to not let you put it into park at 80 mph.

My 8 year old daughter dropped an SD card between the seats in the back. It fell down into the seat belt enclosure. This is an enclosure with large opening around the seat belt latch. After 30 minutes of trying to fish it out, my 5 year old daughter walked over and used her little hand to retrieve it in 3 seconds flat. BMW: these enclosures need a rubber boot around them to keep stuff from falling in there.

HUD: Another great option. I loved it on the trip, especially when it would draw navigation info. My only complaint is that it has a very small viewing angle. If you're off center of the headrest even by a couple of inches then it will clip the slides of the HUD images.

This car is very quiet on the highway. The lack of wind noise is amazing. I will probably ditch the run flats in the future and get regular tires to make it even quieter.

If there is one option that I wish I had purchased it is the panoramic cams. The reverse camera is great, but having the others would give me a lot more confidence that I wasn't about to squish a kid in a parking lot.

I've read a few posts complaining about the behavior of the steering at high speeds. I think that must be a result of the M sport wheels and tires, because my car is very well behaved at high speed. It was easy to keep it in the lane. I do not have any steering or suspension upgrades (except for rear air suspension because I have the 3rd row).

Speaking of the 3rd row, we used it once. I put my 2 kids back there. They got car sick because the seat is so low they couldn't see out the front windshield. It will rarely be used so no big deal.

Blind spot detection: The car doesn't have any blind spots so I'm glad I didn't spend money on that one.

The navigation system is pretty good overall. I did have a couple of cases where addresses could not be found or the locations of points of interest were way off. I do have a nit pick... BMW: if guidance is active then the next instruction should always be displayed on the main nav screen. I know it's on the HUD, and I also know you can put the "arrow" display up on the split screen to get this info (it took me a good 1000 miles before I figured that one out). But I really think that info should be on the main nav screen.

I love tech, but I have no interest in audio upgrades, so I have the base sound system. It did a good job on the trip. I love how the preset buttons can be set to do just about anything.

Rear entertainment: There was no way I was paying that much for that option. I plan on getting 2 android tablets for a fraction of the price that do a lot more than that system can do. For now the kids are very happy with their headrest DVD players, Ipods, DS's, etc.

I'm very happy that none of the idrive controls are locked out when the car is in motion. Very good move, BMW. Maybe this is normal for you. I have been known to beat the dash of my Lexus for locking the controls while the car is in motion.

Several times I would get out of the car and go back to let my daughter out, only to find that her door was still locked and it wouldn't auto unlock for me even though I had the fob in my pocket. BMW: I want all the doors to unlock when the car is put into park. There is probably a way to code that up. I'm not sure.

I also want to be able to close the liftgate with the fob. Several times during the trip this would have been very useful. I know that's available in some countries - why not in the US?? Don't give me any legal BS because my brother's 2014 Ford Explorer has this capability. I've used it myself.

Instrument cluster: Overall very good. However, BMW: the compass rose in the middle should be persistent, regardless of whether or not it is selected in the speedo info box.

Climate: Also very good. But sometime I didn't quite understand what the system was trying to do. When "auto" was engaged I would feel warm air blasting up from the floorboards and cool air coming out of the dash vents at the same time. ?? The heated seats will roast your butt if you're not careful. I think the 3rd row vent is just a fan. I never felt any cool air coming out.

Door seals: I've never had an issue with my door seals turning inside out.

Auto wipers: I only mention these because they work better than the ones on my '07 Lexus. The auto wipers on the Lexus aren't quite as responsive as these are.

Lane departure: I only turned it on once to test it. The only time I would use this system is if I was driving late at night and wanted to make sure I didn't fall asleep. Otherwise it's just an annoyance.

The sun roof is awesome. I've had a sun roof on my past 4 cars, but this is the only one I've ever wanted to open. Once, though, we opened it and some trapped water somewhere flew all over everybody in the car.

The whole family very much appreciates all the DC charging ports on the car. At one time we had devices plugged into 5 ports.

So in summary, the family loves the car. We just have some minor complaints. I look forward to the next road trip. I may update this post as I remember other details.

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EDIT. I remembered more details.

Auto Start/Stop - If there was a way to permanently disable the feature I would do it. I didn't need the manual to tell me that this feature may "lead to premature wear on some components". No kidding. I should have mentioned that I had this feature OFF way up at the top in the gas mileage info.

Lighting - I have the standard lighting. The interior lighting is very good on the car. I really like the fact that the rear has separate lights for each passenger and even my kids can reach them. Ambient lighting on a car is kind of silly if you ask me. But the kids like it and my wife appreciated that when it's dark outside she had enough light to prowl through her purse. If it wasn't standard I wouldn't have bothered. Another thing I noticed the first time I drove in the dark - EVERY button is back lit whether it's on the steering wheel, the console, dash, overhead, everything. I never knew what I was missing.

Sun Shades - My kids love them, therefore I like them. In our previous SUV the sun would really bother the kids in the back seat. They would put the windshield shades on their door windows. No longer. However, they are a little difficult to latch at the top for kids. Many times I thought I heard gunshots in the back but it was just the sunshade snapping back into position. I hope they last.

Comfort Access - Several times I couldn't get the doors to lock with the "button" on the outside door handles. I think the range on the radios could be greatly improved because on my Lexus it can sense me coming from 8 feet away. How do I know? Because it turns on the courtesy lights for me.

Liftgate - The auto open feature is nice, but it takes too long. My wife gets annoyed and pulls on it, which will deactivate the motors and force her to open it the rest of the way manually. I get it - it's a safety thing. But, BMW, it could be a LITTLE faster. I know, how about making it settable in idrive? The custom height setting is a great feature. Also, BMW, listen up... the top of the rear "bumper" needs a plastic strip like the quarter panels. My paint will be scratched up in no time due to the luggage and equipment that's constantly pulled in and out of the back. This would also be helpful in case you had to put a foot up there. That paint is super slippery when wet.

The little wheel on the steering wheel is a great little feature. After I showed my wife how to use that to select radio stations and songs she fell in love with the HUD.

FOB - I like it. I can feel the buttons without looking at it. But it could be a little smaller. That thing is a monster.

The doors on this car are very long. I am constantly reminding the kids to be careful to not whack other cars with them in a parking lot. The car being quite a bit wider than my previous SUV doesn't help either.



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Update 6/6/14 - I've had the car for 6 months so I thought it was time for an update. In April I had the car coded. Some of the more notable things I had changed were:

- Enable Rear camera while driving. This also enables the trailer zoom feature. Pretty nice, but it has a small side affect of not auto-turning off after shifting from reverse to drive until it times out after a minute or so.
- Disable all legal disclaimers. Very happy to have these gone.
- Enable Tire Pressure & Temperature Readings.
- Disable Seat Belt Chimes. Thank God. That chime was driving me nuts.
- Close Windows & Sunroof With Key Fob
- Fold/Unfold Side Mirrors With Key Fob
- Unlock doors when car is turned off. Only seems to work half the time. Not sure what's going on there.
- Close trunk with Key fob.
- Default ACC distance to 1 click.
- Lower temp in cooled seats. I was hoping this would have more of an effect. But the cooled seats just don't work well.

Mileage is around 20 overall. I'm very happy with that. The car is almost always in Comfort mode because that's the default.

I continue to be disappointed by the nav system. It has gotten me lost on multiple occasions with directions that are just plain
wrong. I hate falling back on the 12 year old Garmin, but it works 99% of the time. I've had Nav systems built into 3 cars. All of them were sub par. Why can't they get this right? I think they just need to pay Garmin a billion dollars and partner up.

I've become addicted to the HUD. When I drive other cars I find myself always looking for it. Especially for changing radio stations and media.

Profiles - Ahhh the profiles. This feature needs work. Sometimes the seats won't adjust per the profile. Sometimes it adjusts only 2 or 3 parameters, sometimes it does nothing at all, even if I manually select the profile. And if my wife and I are both in the car with FOBs, then that really confuses it.

I had the passive Invisihitch installed. Great purchase. Highly recommend.

I also put the roof rails on so my wife can carry her paddle board around (SUP for all your Floridians). The rails are decent quality and look really good. But they make a LOT of wind noise. Sometimes I have to close the sunroof because they are so loud.

I've never had any real mechanical or electrical issues. I've never seen a check engine light or had the door seals flip out. Most of my disappointments come from the software. (I'm a software engineer.)

I've noticed in the past couple of months that the tranny is shifting just slightly rougher when going from 1-2 under very light acceleration. I'll have the service center look at that when I take it in but I don't suspect anything is wrong.

I had a small problem with the front floor mats. The velcro patches that are glued to the bottom came off; I assume because the floor made them hot. This caused the mats to become loose and shift around the floor. I sewed the patches back on myself and solved the problem.

This is my first black car. What was I thinking? I don't have time to wash this thing every week.

Most of these new comments are negative because that's what stands out in my mind when I write these things. So I want to reiterate that overall we are very happy with this car. It has one of the nicest interiors I've ever seen. The whole drive train is excellent. The technology needs help but it's still better than anything else out there in my opinion. Idrive is very impressive. I never want a touch screen in my car again. It is family friendly with the exception of the the poor third row, which is to be expected, and the lack of recline in the second row. But even the kids love the car.

Last edited by jbwitt; 06-06-2014 at 02:07 PM.. Reason: 6 month update
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