Test drove X5 today 3 APR 2014

[mattsnow]

I test drove an X5 today and wanted to post my review. But before I do, you should know what is important to me in a car so you will have a context with which to interpret my review.

Currently I drive a Toyota Highlander, but the car is getting old and i am not getting younger so i thought I'd treat myself to a new car. I could afford most anything, but i can't see spending more than $100k on a car. The perfect car for me would look understated (with little chrome or metal finishing, and no edgy design flourishes), have lots of cool gadgets, excellent seats, excellent reliability, and have a very quiet and refined ride. I am only one person, so i would prefer a vehicle that is not too big, but I also like a high ingress/egress/seating position, so I am limiting myself to crossover SUVs. Finally, I live in Alaska where we use studded tires in the winter, and i haven't been putting many miles on each year, but I have recently become semi-retired and so i think i may start spending more of the winter in the lower 48, driving my new car.

Based upon what i am seeing, the X5 looks like the best option. The Lexus RX350 may have better reliability but it has fewer gadgets and is just plain stupid looking with its asymmetrical dash, metal interior finishes, and "stealth fighter" looking front. The Q5 doesn't have all the cool gadgets, but is closer. The Jeep Grand Cherokee has been having all kinds of reliability problems. The Acura RDX has an ugly front, with all that chrome, and fewer gadgets. The Touareg has horrible reliability. The Mercedes ML seems dated, has fewer gadgets, and until recently a horrible reliability reputation. The Porsche looked weird on the inside (I think the designer has some sort of button and leather fetish). The Volvo XC60 is still a possibility for me, it has a bunch of safety gadgets (although not as many as the X5) and a tasteful design, but i didn't like the way i felt in the cabin.

My perceptions of BMWs is that they are designed to go fast and hug corners but that they may cost more and make other compromises (stiff ride certainly, possibly reliability) to accomplish this. BMWs also have a lot of cool technology (head up display, adaptive highbeams, night vision) that i really like. I wish they were more reliable - for me it is not just the cost of repairs but the hassle that bugs me. For me, time spent servicing a car is time wasted, often unpleasantly.

Today i drove a 35i with M Sport package and 20" wheels. This is the only one the dealer had on the lot. My impressions:

* The ride was a little stiffer than i would like, even in "comfort." This is not a fatal flaw for me, but suboptimal. The salesperson told me that part of the problem is the 20" run flats the car had, and i believe him. I will probably just get 18" wheels anyways. In the winter, I'll run studded conventional tires, and in the summer and the lower 48 i'll probably just run regular all season radials. This should soften up the ride more to my taste.

* The voice command system is slow and inaccurate. You can't use natural language like you can in a Jeep Grand Cherokee where i can say "tune the radio to the BBC" and it knows to go to the satellite radio and bring up the BBC. In the BMW you have to follow the menus and wait for each step of the menu to be recognized before you can go on to the next. The same procedure on an X5 is press the button and say "radio"...then wait...then say "satellite"...then wait...then say "BBC"...then wait...then it says "do you want to tune to the BBC on satellite radio" to which you reply yes and then...wait...the radio tunes to the station. Actually, although i was able to go through this procedure to tune to a FM station, I couldn't get it to pull up the BBC on satellite. After i said "radio" and it accepted radio, when next i said "satellite" it decided I wanted to adjust my lights, and went into some light adjustment menu. This weirdness may have been caused by this car not having the satellite receiver activated, but there were other problems with the voice commands. Inputting destinations on the nav didn't always work, and other mistakes were made. The salesperson seemed a little embarrassed as i put it through its paces.

* There was a surprising amount of road noise for a luxury car, but again the problem could have been the 20” run flats. Honestly, I didn't think the car was quieter than my Toyota Highlander when it has its all season radials on.

* DHP. I was wondering about whether I would want DHP to soften the ride. The salesperson seemed to think that this option did a lot more for driving dynamics than for comfort. He seemed knowledgeable to me, so I think 18" regular tires may do more for me than the DHP. I don't need to take corners really fast, I can slow down. And i'd rather avoid the maintenance problems complicated suspensions are known to have.

* My legs are short relative to the length of my torso. I find that I like seats where the bottom cushion can tilt downward to the front a little bit. I was able to try the regular seats in the X5 as well as multicontour seats in a 5 series. I thought they tilted forward enough, not as much as some other cars, but enough. The seats were otherwise quite good. If I get a X5, I'll get the multicontour seats.

* The car i drove had a Harmon Kardon stereo. It sounded just fine but frankly I think most radios in premium cars are just fine or better. One minor concern about the HK stereo is that it includes a logo on the pillar speakers. I don't like logos on things - I think they look tacky. But this one is not obtrusive and so acceptable. The dealer here is going to get in a variety of X5s in a week or two, so I'll go back and compare the HK with the regular radio.

* My dealership does not participate in the Costco program. Guess I'll be haggling.

* The nappa leather is softer than the Dakota leather, but not so much that I’d sacrifice the durability of the Dakota.

* I sat in a different car that had vented seats and was surprised that it did do something. I could feel some air coming out. I have been spending time in Tucson, AZ during the winter, and last year i rented a car with dark, unperforated, unvented leather seats. Not good with shorts on! I think the best thing for me if i am to spend anytime in hot climes is a lighter interior and perforated/vented seats. This means Dakota beige with vented seats for me.

* The salesperson told me that the auto highbeam with the LED lights on the USA X5s work as shown in the following video:

I hope they are right, this is very cool. I was told that the auto highbeams on the US X5s with xenon headlights just turn the highbeams off and on automatically. If this difference between the LEDs and xenons does not really exist in the US, then i don't see any reason not to just go with the xenons.

* I mentioned that i wish that BMW had an remote start feature (remote starts are very useful in cold Alaska). The salesperson told me that remote start is coming! Huzzah! When i asked when, she said soon.

* Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd ask how much extended warranties are. One that adds 3 years and 50k miles costs $4-$5k. That seems like a lot to me and so I think I'll self-insure any problems beyond the 4/50k standard warranty.

[gorun]

Ive got a 40d m sport on 19s and the ride is very supple. Avoid the 20s for ride and road noise reasons. The downside is that the car is nowhere near as stable as my old e70 sport on 20s in the corners. Much more rolly polly. I guess what they say about the cake is true.

[katsu]

would you consider purchasing the car in the lower 48? dealer competition will usually get you a better deal vs haggling with a dealer in an exclusive market...

but I agree with your assessment of the competition...its the primary reason I picked the X5 as well. Not sure if you looked at the Range Rover Sport, but they have a much more capable 4wd system than the BMW. Reliability of the RR is... inconsistent.

[JamRWS6]

The dynamic dampers will give you the best possible ride as far as comfort.

[dn325ci]

Originally Posted by JamRWS6

The dynamic dampers will give you the best possible ride as far as comfort.

Agreed. I have DDC with 20's and it softens up any remaining impact harshness. The F15 ride is far more comfortable than E70 already - that was one of BMW's stated goals of the F15 redesign. The DDC moves the F15 a couple more notches towards comfort, while maintaining excellent dampening control.

The US LED's don't work like that. It has been "decoded" for US models. US models use the camera for straight auto on/off control of the LED high beams. wdimagineer or someone might figure out a US solution/recode.

[mattsnow]

Originally Posted by katsu

would you consider purchasing the car in the lower 48? dealer competition will usually get you a better deal vs haggling with a dealer in an exclusive market...

but I agree with your assessment of the competition...its the primary reason I picked the X5 as well. Not sure if you looked at the Range Rover Sport, but they have a much more capable 4wd system than the BMW. Reliability of the RR is... inconsistent.

Purchasing in the lower 48 is an option I would consider. Since I am thinking about traveling during some portion of the winter, I can fly down, take a long vacation somewhere warm, and then drive back up to Alaska in the spring.

I think the RR is too unreliable and their styling, although not the worst i have seen, is a little to "blingy" for me. I like things that look understated, classy, and the BMW seems to have the best styling in crossover SUVs (although IMHO they could loose all the metal finishes in the cabin).

[mattsnow]

Originally Posted by JamRWS6

The dynamic dampers will give you the best possible ride as far as comfort.

I have read this from a number of posters. Your comment makes me a little more likely to get the DHP, but i still an concerned about how reliable the complicated suspension would be. Air suspensions are notoriously difficult to diagnose once they start having problems. I just am not sure what to do about this, but for the present I am leaving DHP off my prospective build. Thanks for the comment though.

[mattsnow]

Originally Posted by dn325ci

Agreed. I have DDC with 20's and it softens up any remaining impact harshness. The F15 ride is far more comfortable than E70 already - that was one of BMW's stated goals of the F15 redesign. The DDC moves the F15 a couple more notches towards comfort, while maintaining excellent dampening control.

The US LED's don't work like that. It has been "decoded" for US models. US models use the camera for straight auto on/off control of the LED high beams. wdimagineer or someone might figure out a US solution/recode.

I saw some more posts after i posted that said the same thing. Bummer. This means I'll probably just get the xenons. One advantage of the xenons that I haven't heard mentioned before and that could matter more in Alaska than perhaps elsewhere is that the xenons get hot. If we have driving snow or freezing rain or anything else frozen that is adhering or wants to adhere to the lights, the heat makes it melt/fall off. It seems possible to me that LED lights could require more cleaning.

[MysticBlue]

Originally Posted by zmatt00

The salesperson who told me that remote start "was coming soon" is the same one that told me that the LED lights would operate like the European spec ones (like the video i posted above). She was wrong on that and so who know about the remote start. I am not holding my breath.

BTW - how is it that people who are in the business of selling expensive luxury items know so little about the products they sell? I know others have pointed out how little salespeople seem to know but i guess i just had to mention it again because it just blows my mind. What do these people do between customers? Watch youtube? I am not in their shoes so perhaps i have no ability to understand their situation, but wow.

Yeah, if you are the sort who spends time on forums doing research for your puchase, chances are very good you will know more about the car than most Sales Associates. Sad, but true. Anybody who spent time in the military knows how funny it is when someone starts a sentence with, "But my recruiter told me..." It's right up there with, "But my SA told me..."
You have to take everything they say with a grain of salt. And no, we in the US do not get the headlight treatment like what is in the video. I really hope there will be a remote start available soon, but I wouldn't count on it based on what one SA said. BMW has never done that.