2017 X35i initial impressions @ 160 miles

[Apple Corps]

Our latest BMW family member was picked up on Friday - 160 mile drive to its new home.

We have had BMWs in the garage almost non stop since 1985 - guess I have a lot more miles on me than our new Bimm does!

A frame of reference is important in assessing my impressions. Those years of BMWs have included several 7 series, a couple of 5s, an M5, several 3s - one with the zhp suspension, an X5 5.0. My most extreme driving involved some public road rallies around the Sonoma coast area in the M5. So a lot of seat time in Das Bimms for me to reflect on.

The drive home included massive traffic / routine high speed travel on I5 / some steep gradients around the Altamount Pass / some curvy and undulating sections of road.

So, impressed with the practical power band of the 6 cylinder engine - no lack of power for real world / non rally driving. The dynamic handling package well worth the money in guiding this big Bimm to where you want it to go. Road feedback was about spot on for what I was expecting from this class of SAV. Steering input was also a plus. In some higher speed driving on curving and undulating sections of road this Bimm was quite composed - no drama and enough "excitement" for a non M. Thus far, no rattles or wind noise.

The technology package was very impressive and useful. This latest generation of iDrive is really intuitive - virtually no need to read the manual or call the genius for help.

It is possible that the engine may crack next week or the tranny burns up, but for now I am feeling a 10/10 on this Bimm meeting / exceeding my expectations

Forgot to mention - the stock wheels look much better in person than how they show up on the website - will probably keep them. Also - I HATE run flat tires - the Pirelli Scorpions were not too bad. I will probably keep them on for at least 6 months or so and than decide on tires.

[Neuera09]

Congrats on the purchase man. Just wait until you get an mppk for your 35i. It'll awaken your engine and transmission. just like many members here had said, it should have been standard.

[Apple Corps]

I'm kind of on the fence about the MPPK it terms about how improved the acceleration would be from about 45mph up to 90mph. I have not found any actual measurements on that but perhaps the "butt-o-meter" impression would help or

The second area that has me on the fence is how the day to day drivability is impacted. We all like better throttle response but that sometimes makes smooth throttling a bit of an issue.

What has been your experience on those two areas of concern?

[Neuera09]

Plenty of reviews here .. http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...157810&page=12. Some even stack it with RaceChip piggyback tune.

For me, there was a significant increase of power mid to top end, even in comfort mode. Just got back from Disneyland last week and often times I have to watch my speedometer as it was so easy to get carried away when overtaking a semi. Around town, I'm often in sport mode and notice a more aggressive shift points but not to a point that it'll jerk you or your passengers around.

[Apple Corps]

Thanks - I had read those posts - so many were about price / installers / etc.

Your comments about what the driving experience with MPPK is what I am after. I'll most likely run this for a few months before deciding. Most of our X5 trips are to Napa / Sonoma / Big Sur / Bodega / John Muir / you get the picture

[Neuera09]

Yeap, same here. I got my mppk installed in SoCal during a family vacay. Quite satisfied with the power increase. It's been a year now and I am still enjoying it. You'll do to as long as you don't expect an M performance. Lol.

Btw, show us some pix of your new ride.

[Apple Corps]

I will do a few photos - gotta get that creative flair going though. I am more and more impressed with the technology on board. The image quality on the screen is excellent, iDrive 5.0 remains a breeze to use, iPhone setup very easy, music library via usb was instant plug and play, sound from the Harmon Kardon system was a thumbs up (and that is comping from someone with a fairly high end home audio system).

My only difficulty so far was while picking up some salads for dinner I was distracted as they were careening across the floor. I caught them before they spilled all over and looked up to see my passenger side front fender heading for the rear of a small car in the parking lot Gotta remember this is a bigger BMW than I have been driving for a few years.

More to come as seat time increases.

[Jkizzle]

I'm kind of in the same boat. Picked up an Alpine white 35i xdrive about a month ago. I added MPPK and MPE to the car before picking it up. I have just under 500 miles on the clock. How long before I can stand on it?? I have to say the thing I love about this car the most is the transmission. Both of my previous bmw's had SMG transmissions and I have to say the automatic in this thing is so much better. Shifting in Sport+ with either the stick or paddles is so much better than the SMG. Light fast shifts, no jerkiness... I love it. Such a please to drive! I can understand why they said the M cars are going to automatics vs double clutch. I wish my M6 had come with this trans.

[Apple Corps]

A few more miles under the belt and my thoughts on this X5 get better and better. The dynamic handling package really works - flat cornering beyond what I expected from a vehicle weighing this much - wow, it just works.

Ditto the comments on the transmission - very smooth and fast - would never go back to a manual tranny.

This is the first BMW that I really loaded up with options. I had a bias that most of the options were there to increase profits for BMW with marginal real world benefit. Based on this experience so far, I was wrong!

The resolution of the touch screen with the overhead camera view when parking is awesome. iDrive 5.0 continues to impress me - not sure what benefit I will see from Apple Car Play.

Very quiet ride on all road conditions so far - Pirelli Scorpions are excellent for a run flat tire - they may be long run keepers.

More to come as I get more miles and road conditions under the belt / seat.

[Kzang]

Originally Posted by Apple Corps

Ditto the comments on the transmission - very smooth and fast - would never go back to a manual tranny.

Never say never... Unless you don't really care about "driving" and you only care about going from point A to point B as fast as possible then a manual transmission can never be replaced by any auto.

[Apple Corps]

Originally Posted by Kzang

Never say never... Unless you don't really care about "driving" and you only care about going from point A to point B as fast as possible then a manual transmission can never be replaced by any auto.

Well, while I respect your perspective, and understand that individuals mileage may vary on the topic, the hardcore manual tranny enthusiasts are in a very shrinking minority. I do care about "driving" and find that for even spirited driving I shift much quicker and smoother with the current auto than I ever could with my M5.

Will BMW ever discontinue manual trannys?

BMW M-Division: Dual-clutch gearbox dead on water

And the days looked numbered for manual transmission too.

The passenger-car transmission war will ultimately be won by the conventional, torque-converter automatic, according to BMW's M division.

Wonder why?

[Kzang]

While I agree that the modern automatic transmission can out shift the fastest manual shifter in the world, but that wasn't my point. My point was the involvement in actual driving versus just riding along in a car is lost with an automatic and to some and for me it is more fun to drive a manual than letting the car shift for me.

In regards to the discontinuing of the manual transmission, it could be due to many reasons.. efficiency, convenience, future cars being electric and using the auto drive technology.

[Apple Corps]

Driving an automatic, for me, does not mean you are riding along as opposed to driving.

This is one of those topics where we all have an opinion and I guess and there may not be a right or wrong answer.

[Flying Ace]

which M5 did you own?

[Apple Corps]

It was a 2003 model - E39?

Wife corrected me

Been quite awhile :-)

[Apple Corps]

This past Wednesday I had a several hundred mile trip mainly on the 580 and I5 south.

Traffic was running about 80mph with moderate traffic but several "gaggles" or clusters loaded with oblivious drivers clogging the way. Quite frustrating to see clear highway in front of the cluster but no way of getting there safely. The cluster stretched and shrunk like an inch worm moving along but never clearing.

The dynamic cruise control worked flawlessly. I did reduce the following distance and it mimicked very closely how I would have controlled the throttle in such traffic - very well done BMW. When closing on another vehicle it slowed and then applied the brake almost as I would have. When the left lane had an opening, I would steer over and the acceleration was quite smooth - no jerkiness at all.

The Pirelli run flats are probably going to work for me - a much more comfortable ride than the earlier generation of run flats or simply a better brand at this time.

Wind conditions were very gusty as a low pressure system was dropping in the area. That, coupled with some undulating road conditions and high speed challenged the steering response / feedback. It was clearly different than earlier hydraulic systems - but I left this drive feeling more that it was different rather than not as good.

The stock Harmon Kardon audio system is quite good - the B&O may be better but I don't see myself spending the $$ for that potential improvement.

There were a few occasions where I could have used the enormous power of the V8 but only a few - the 6 cylinder was more than enough for 99.95% of my driving time - enough said on that I guess.

[Alan l.]

Keep an eye out on those Pirellis. I've seen users wear them down between 10-15K miles. Those tires wear fast and comments on Tirerack seem to back that up too.

Alan

[Apple Corps]

Alan - yep, I just read about that in another thread. These are the Verde All Season tires, not sure how specific the wear issue is to their various rft models.

Will keep an eye on them 4 sure though.

[Alan l.]

You might be ok. I was referring to the 20" Pirelli Pzeros wearing out fast.

Enjoy the car

Alan

[F15GorDe]

Very quiet ride on all road conditions so far - Pirelli Scorpions are excellent for a run flat tire - they may be long run keepers.

I have been surprised at how much I like the Pirelli Scorpion Verde RFT. You didn't mention what size wheels you have. I went with the 19s because of all of the offerings in that size. Have over 37k miles with enough meat left to get through the summer before I put a set of the DWS06s on next winter.

[Apple Corps]

F15GorDe,

255/50/19 - I like the handling & look of the lower profile wheels/tires but road conditions dictate the higher profile for me.

More and more I am trading off a bit of performance or "look" for comfort & relaxation on the longer drives. Thoroughly enjoy feeling the road feedback but no longer to the extent of having it wear me out.

Years ago I had an important assignment that had me in the car going from north of LA to Orange County and back the same day. I drove that in a 3 series with the ZHP suspension package and low profile tires. Outstanding handling and road feel - thrilling for the first 3 hours or so and then......

By the time I got back home around midnight I was wishing for a floating boat Lincoln with super soft bench seat LOL.

[F15GorDe]

Originally Posted by Apple Corps

F15GorDe,

255/50/19 - I like the handling & look of the lower profile wheels/tires but road conditions dictate the higher profile for me.

More and more I am trading off a bit of performance or "look" for comfort & relaxation on the longer drives. Thoroughly enjoy feeling the road feedback but no longer to the extent of having it wear me out.

Years ago I had an important assignment that had me in the car going from north of LA to Orange County and back the same day. I drove that in a 3 series with the ZHP suspension package and low profile tires. Outstanding handling and road feel - thrilling for the first 3 hours or so and then......

By the time I got back home around midnight I was wishing for a floating boat Lincoln with super soft bench seat LOL.

You are singing my tune.