I've only owned my X5 3-4 months. Up though a few days ago its been unseasonably cold here. Past few days in the 90's though and I had to park on the office garage roof away from other cars, so as not to get dinged.
Roof is full sun on my black X5.
I expected it to be hot. And it sure was. Almost full length moonroof doesnt help.
Opening the windows and letting the heat blow out helped.
The max AC mode is disappointing as the fan is so loud its not worth using it.
Turning the fan speed up higher rather than using max AC is easier on the ears and it seems to cool down just as fast.
Black seats, black car and full moon roof I never expected to be frozen out by the AC.
But I would agree with many of the comments in this thread that its a tad underpowered as to coolness. And its also true that the newer, more enviromentally friendly refrigerants . . . Suck
I'm bringing my car back to the dealer for a recurring PDC issue tomorrow and I'll see if they can check to see if its blowing as cold as it can.
Bottom line is black or dark cars are simply tough to cool. But highway speeds really help the systems effectiveness.
On my way home today it was 90 degrees and it was on max. When I pressed AC to shut max off the AC does not come automatically on again until I press the ac button again. Within about 2 min. I thought I was suffocating and then noticed ac was not lit. . . car cooled off pretty after I switched ac back on, but it could be colder.