Styling disappointment - X5 gone soft?!

[purdyawesome]

First post in the X5 forum - quick background:
I bought a 2011 X5 Premium - black on black, 35xi
We leased it, and decided to sell it to close friends when lease was up. We bought a 2013 MB GL 450. Liked it, didn't love it. Was huge, and cursed (long story). My wife missed her X5! So 7 weeks ago, we traded it in at the BMW dealer for close to an even swap for a demo 2014 X5 35xi - sophisto grey, cold weather, soft close doors, comfort access, etc etc - standard trim. She's happy. I would have probably ordered one in m-sport with a bit different equipment if I had not been concerned with keeping it as close to an "even swap" as I could with the GL - already took a giant bath on that trade-in... So here we are! I love the X5. It has a great engine, great transmission, wonderfully comfortable - but I gotta BEEF!

The X5 HAS GONE SOFT! Perhaps I should have looked into this more before trading, and I'm embarresed to say I didn't notice, but here are my gripes:

1. No more tire stagger? My 2011 had 19's that looked sporty and aggressive, and had big beefy rear tires. The 18's on my new X5 look very-- I dunno, "Equinox-like".
2. I miss the matte black shadowline trim around the windows.
3. The stance is BRUTAL - tires are really pushed in and don't come close to filling the wheel well. It's like the body is sitting on a 3 series chassis.
4. The wheel gap is huge! It looks like my GL when I raised the suspension for additional clearance - is this necessary?
5. The steering wheel is GARBAGE. It's flimsy, cheap, really thin, and the center piece is big and super ugly. It gets HOT with the heated steering wheel function enabled.
6. The electric steering is sooooo light and wimpy. When switching to sport mode, couldn't they make the steering firm up to recreate the feel of the 2011? Or at least close?

Okay - I feel better! Sorry my first post over here was to bitch and moan, but I felt like my 2011 sat fat and low - with an aggressive stance, awesome steering, sporty exterior trim, great steering wheel. Are these all things that I overlooked when buying the "standard trim" X5? I realize much of this is different on the m-sport model, but geez! Truthfully I found the different trim offerings as kind of confusing and over-complicated when I was using the BMWNA website configurator and I must have missed a lot.

Does anyone share my disappointment with the standard trim, and has anyone done anything about it? Spacers? New wheels? Suspension drop? Upgraded steering wheel?? Thoughts?

[opasha]

Hey, sorry about your woes. That's why we have this forum, which has helped many choose and understand their options BEFORE buying .

1) DHP - you should have gotten this. This is hands down the best suspension for the F15 that will help you feel close to your old E70 - E70 had a good tight suspension the way BMWs are meant to be.

2) Upgrade your wheels. It makes a huge difference. Why the heck you chose 18" is beyond me unless you live in bad winter climate 365 days/year.

Take a look around at other X5s on the board to get good ideas. Ask plenty of questions because it will help you with your upgrades. The steering wheel can be changed. It just costs money, unfortunately. I upgraded mine and coded it. Maybe this will change your mind a little.

[purdyawesome]

Originally Posted by opasha

Hey, sorry about your woes. That's why we have this forum, which has helped many choose and understand their options BEFORE buying .

1) DHP - you should have gotten this. This is hands down the best suspension for the F15 that will help you feel close to your old E70 - E70 had a good tight suspension the way BMWs are meant to be.

2) Upgrade your wheels. It makes a huge difference. Why the heck you chose 18" is beyond me unless you live in bad winter climate 365 days/year.

Take a look around at other X5s on the board to get good ideas. Ask plenty of questions because it will help you with your upgrades. The steering wheel can be changed. It just costs money, unfortunately. I upgraded mine and coded it. Maybe this will change your mind a little.

Nice whip!
I love your steering wheel. Huge improvement. The purchase was somewhat impulsive. If I didn't have a huge check to write for the M3 I bought at roughly the same time, I would have spent more time and money getting exactly what I wanted. I got a great deal on this X5 because it was a 2014 with only 2,000 miles on it. It was a dealer demo that was only 2.5 months old... I'm not familiar with the DHP suspension...

[opasha]

Originally Posted by purdyawesome

Nice whip!
I love your steering wheel. Huge improvement. The purchase was somewhat impulsive. If I didn't have a huge check to write for the M3 I bought at roughly the same time, I would have spent more time and money getting exactly what I wanted. I got a great deal on this X5 because it was a 2014 with only 2,000 miles on it. It was a dealer demo that was only 2.5 months old... I'm not familiar with the DHP suspension...

Thank you . I understand where you're coming from. 2K miles isn't too bad. I hope it was broken in without being abused. Time will tell, but you can upgrade a lot of things over time. Wheels are easy. My friend gets good deals on forged wheel/tires for around $1500 for 19" and $1600 for 20". I'll PM you if you want. If you have any coding questions, I'm happy to help. Check out the coding thread: http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1033991

[purdyawesome]

Originally Posted by opasha

Thank you . I understand where you're coming from. 2K miles isn't too bad. I hope it was broken in without being abused. Time will tell, but you can upgrade a lot of things over time. Wheels are easy. My friend gets good deals on forged wheel/tires for around $1500 for 19" and $1600 for 20". I'll PM you if you want. If you have any coding questions, I'm happy to help. Check out the coding thread: http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1033991

I probably won't upgrade until after the holidays, but yes, please PM details for you wheel buddy. Thanks. I think car was broken-in gently - was a dealer demo, but driven by a pga pro exclusively - the guy just drove it around town for a couple months...

[purdyawesome]

Originally Posted by opasha

Thank you . I understand where you're coming from. 2K miles isn't too bad. I hope it was broken in without being abused. Time will tell, but you can upgrade a lot of things over time. Wheels are easy. My friend gets good deals on forged wheel/tires for around $1500 for 19" and $1600 for 20". I'll PM you if you want. If you have any coding questions, I'm happy to help. Check out the coding thread: http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1033991

I just wonder how much better the cars would look with 2" less wheel gap, with some 20mm spacers. Maybe I've spent too much time on the F80 board...

[opasha]

Originally Posted by purdyawesome

I probably won't upgrade until after the holidays, but yes, please PM details for you wheel buddy. Thanks. I think car was broken-in gently - was a dealer demo, but driven by a pga pro exclusively - the guy just drove it around town for a couple months...

Nice. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend until after winter has passed either. I sent you a PM of the info.

Originally Posted by purdyawesome

I just wonder how much better the cars would look with 2" less wheel gap, with some 20mm spacers. Maybe I've spent too much time on the F80 board...

2" makes a huge difference. Trust me. Nothing wrong 20mm spacers. I'd rather just get a staggered setup if I were you than worry too much about spacers.

[turbotoy4me]

Opasha, Where did you get that steering wheel? I would like to get one of those.

[GrabacrOne]

Opasha, that M-Sport steering wheel looks great! The grips on that wheel are like the 458/F12's. With coding, do the paddles also work? I would also like to know where you got it. I'd imagine it is not OEM.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by turbotoy4me

Opasha, Where did you get that steering wheel? I would like to get one of those.

Originally Posted by BMWMacht

Opasha, that M-Sport steering wheel looks great! The grips on that wheel are like the 458/F12's. With coding, do the paddles also work? I would also like to know where you got it. I'd imagine it is not OEM.

PMs sent to both of you .

Paddle shifters work perfectly. It is OEM F15 M-Sport Steering Wheel that was modified and redone with 3k (true/real) Carbon Fiber pieces and wrap. Coding it is very easy. Add 2TB to your FA and Vo Code BDC_Body. It's that simple.

[SUV55]

I knew DHP with 20's was going to be a substantial upgrade, but I underestimated just how good. It really is a different animal with DHP, it drives smaller, tighter, is more nimble, corners, dare I say, perfectly flat yet gives an extremely smooth ride in comfort mode with 20's. What it brings to the table is a merging of ML comfort when you want it and Cayenne like handling in windy roads when you need it.

In Comfort...all the way up to Sport+ the active roll wil
keep it flat, with varying degrees of bump smoothing/absorbing abilities.

Not sure which options are necessary to trigger this, but in Sport and Sport+ the steering wheel becomes very heavy and tight feeling with a better perception of the road. No it's not hydraulic, but it's fairly good when you are in the mood for that heavy steering feel. The key factor with DHP is that the drivetrain is also independently adjustable to the suspension so the tighter steering can be used more often if it is preferred. This is not so with the base or M Sport suspension.

There is certainly nothing wrong with the base sprung suspension it does everything well and has no servicing headaches, but if you want adjustability then the magnetic suspension or better yet DHP is the way to go.

DHP is truly remarkable and certainly adds to the feeling that BMW has not gone "soft".

[opasha]

Originally Posted by SUV55

I knew DHP with 20's was going to be a substantial upgrade, but I underestimated just how good. It really is a different animal with DHP, it drives smaller, tighter, Is more nimble, corners, dare I say, perfectly flat yet gives an extremely smooth ride in comfort mode with 20's. What it brings to the table is a merging of ML comfort when you want it and Cayenne like handling in windy roads. The drivetrain is also independently adjustable to the suspension, which is unlike the M suspension upgrade. Truly remarkable.

Now, I'm just jealous and can't wait to get my Accuair suspension upgrade . Glad it's working great for you, my friend!

[SUV55]

Thanks Opasha. I am sure you will be very happy with the Accuair suspension upgrade. Looking forward to reading and seeing the pics of all your upgrades. It will be a very unique and awesome vehicle.

[Roundown]

Originally Posted by SUV55

I knew DHP with 20's was going to be a substantial upgrade, but I underestimated just how good. It really is a different animal with DHP, it drives smaller, tighter, is more nimble, corners, dare I say, perfectly flat yet gives an extremely smooth ride in comfort mode with 20's. What it brings to the table is a merging of ML comfort when you want it and Cayenne like handling in windy roads when you need it.

In Comfort...all the way up to Sport+ the active roll wil
keep it flat, with varying degrees of bump smoothing/absorbing abilities.

Not sure which options are necessary to trigger this, but in Sport and Sport+ the steering wheel becomes very heavy and tight feeling with a better perception of the road. No it's not hydraulic, but it's fairly good when you are in the mood for that heavy steering feel. The key factor with DHP is that the drivetrain is also independently adjustable to the suspension so the tighter steering can be used more often if it is preferred. This is not so with the base or M Sport suspension.

There is certainly nothing wrong with the base sprung suspension it does everything well and has no servicing headaches, but if you want adjustability then the magnetic suspension or better yet DHP is the way to go.

DHP is truly remarkable and certainly adds to the feeling that BMW has not gone "soft".

Agree- I cannot stress how critical DHP is to handling (if that's your thing). Active roll stabilization (via dynamically adjustable anti-roll bars) and proper torque vectoring make all of the difference.

[purdyawesome]

Honestly I haven't driven the X5 hard enough in corners at speed to notice anything negative about the suspension. I expect some body roll and want a little bit of a "squish" in my ride. It is after all my family hauler... I drive my F80 to get my fix with speed and handling. What concerned me the most is the styling. Narrow square tire setup, wheels pushed in quite far into the fenders, boring standard equipment wheels, thin and cheap feeling steering wheel, chrome window surrounds, etc. My E70 was a sports car with space- appropriately named "SAV". Can't help but feel that my second X5 feels like a "crossover". I realize some of this is my fault for not special ordering an m-sport, and I know I can remedy some of it with aftermarket mods, but geez! I didn't dig deep enough upon purchase because I expected it to look mean like my E70 did off the lot... I think I was so caught up in getting rid of the MB GL and getting a newer car at close to a "wash" that I overlooked a few things that are important to me. Bottom line, I'm still happy with the car- it's a great vehicle. I just feel like the styling is much more tame than the last iteration. From SAV with heavy hydraulic steering, to mass-market looks and electronic light steering.

[MattBianco]

If I may advise, the "soft" comes from the light feel of the steering. Having driven a '13 e70 I can say it is far more precise, provides great feedback, but it is light. It is not mushy however.

Sport setting firms everything up, especially suspension.

You get staggered with the 20" wheels.

Congrats.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

If I may advise, the "soft" comes from the light feel of the steering. Having driven a '13 e70 I can say it is far more precise, provides great feedback, but it is light. It is not mushy however.

Sport setting firms everything up, especially suspension.

You get staggered with the 20" wheels.

Congrats.

To add to this, suspension will only tighten up if someone orders M Adaptive Suspension or DHP. For cars with stock suspension, only the drivetrain and chassis change to give that tighter steering feel when switching into Eco Pro (modest) and Sport (aggressive).