I'm back......

[Lee4.8is]

Welcome back  the new motor looks great  enjoy it.

[AW8]

The wanderer returns......I actually like the latest X3 - Good choice....... albeit not yours

[Don Coffey]

[quote="mogsyman"]
[quote="Don Coffey"]
Welcome Back,

The Current X3 looks good and a good size. 

Don
[/quote]

Cheers Don

I would have rather gone X5 but it's not my car so I was outvoted!

Hope you're well and having a day off today, not sure it's fun in the snow?
[/quote]

I'm currently living on a rig in the North Sea. Two weeks on two weeks off doing shuttle runs between rigs in the morning and evening. Got caught in a heavy snow shower a couple of nights ago that was strange. With the lights of the aircraft and the lights of the rig in the distance it looked like we were traveling at warp speed yet not getting anywhere fast.

[mogsyman]

Picked the car up today and as expected Vines of Gatwick did a fine job. We actually picked it up a few days early (I'm busy next week) and the sat nav code needs to be supplied but other than that it's perfect.

Initial impressions are it's a massive step up from our last 58 plate X3 and appears to be very well put together and drives very nicely. A bit slower than the 120D M Sport it replaced but I guess with 4x4 and a heavier car it's going to be and then again it's doing a different job.

The children (yes, all 376 of them PVR) fit in the back very comfortably with lots of e.g. rooms and it seems bigger than my previous 05 plate X5  :no expression: The dash is as expected from BMW although again the LED's on the heater matrix etc. seem to have been updated compared to my 63 plate M5. There's also some interesting additions to the iDrive which I'll post separately.

I'll get some pics up tomorrow or as quickly as I can for reference for future potential purchasers if that's any help.

[X5Sport]

  of the interior.

Well you didn't expect otherwise did you?  )

[mogsyman]

Here they are 











All very nice and kid free at the moment  )

[graemeX5]

Hi and welcome back

Nice choice and can understand the wow with the M5 certainly a wolf in wheels clothing and the X3 isn't bad either

Maybe we should have another section our other BMW's as a lot seem of us to more than one in their fold.
Graeme

[chris.t]

Looks nice,  BMW seem to have improved the build quality of the new cars

[X5Sport]

It's got a temperature gauge too.......someone finally realised that the econometer was a little further down everyone's wanted list. 

[mogsyman]

I'm really impressed with the build quality, seems pretty good and well screwed together.

It's a nicely spec'd model with all the toys you need - the Harmon Kardon is simply brilliant and better than my M5 factory spec system which is apparently upgraded from normal F10's etc.

Turn of speed seems slower than our old 120D, but I guess it's a different car doing a different......it also has 70 miles on the clock and not 17,000.

Over the last year we've been on a 3000 mile Italian road trip and the South of France over Christmas skiing and of course I had no choice but to take the M5 and enjoyed every mile 

Would I take the X3? Well being in the fortunate position of having two nice cars one of which really is an absolute monster that can swallow a family including holiday gear et al and the other, a 120D it was never really a choice I'm afraid........however I would think more than twice now. Loads of room in the front and back, very pleasant and comfortable, toys are all a good selling point. Sure it won't go from 0-100 in a touch over 7 seconds, but let's be honest on a European run you tend to do a marathon rather than a sprint.

Time will tell how I really feel about the car. I won't drive it a great deal, it's a school run tool but I hope I'm still as happy in two years time.

[pvr]

Nice to see it, and also nice to see the new features - but what is the feeble excuse when you pass my door not to drop by? We could have had 6 football teams using the field whilst I could have had a good nose around …  )

Funny to think you were at Gatwick when PVR Junior was playing with a 135 there. Can't remember him saying there was a herd of children about though.

[mogsyman]

[quote="pvr"]
Nice to see it, and also nice to see the new features - but what is the feeble excuse when you pass my door not to drop by? We could have had 6 football teams using the field whilst I could have had a good nose around …  )

Funny to think you were at Gatwick when PVR Junior was playing with a 135 there. Can't remember him saying there was a herd of children about though.
[/quote]

I'm not sure Mrs. Mogsyman will appreciate it if I steal her car for an afternoon but I'm sure I can drop by, show you the M5 and what a proper monster car looks like (unlike the 991!)

With regard to the dealership fortunately we have an exclusive VIP area so don't have to mix with Crawley riff raff  )

[pvr]

I have been in your M5 last year when you were trying to chat me up in that garden centre last year  )

[pvr]

I need to get to your pet of the country soon to get the Abarth serviced so may as well get you to chauffeur me around then

[mogsyman]

650 miles in and I've now had a chance to drive a few (not many) miles.

Initial impressions are what a great car. The interior is certainly as well put together as my M5 and I really think BMW have got the interior spot on. The technology is all very similar and a bit like Apple simply works. The Harman Kardon sound system makes my standard F10 M5 system (which is upgraded as standard) seem pretty poor. The driving position is great, the only gripe is the drivers seat has manual adjustment and could really do with electric with memory.

The 2.0D engine is a real peach and whilst it won't break any speed records is sufficient to haul the family along with some overtaking power there when you need it. The 8 speed auto box is seamless and I can see why the car mags say it's a good box.

As some may be aware my M5 is due for change end of the year and I'm thinking of an X5 M50D which I appreciate is a totally different car from the M5 but driving the X3 makes me really think my next change may well be back to an X for me.

We're off skiing driving down to the South of France in 6 weeks which will also give me an opportunity to give the X3 a good long run. At this stage I'm not sitting here disappointed I'm not taking the M5 which also makes me wonder about my long term relationship with that car.

Anyway, so far well done BMW, the X3 is a great package that's for sure  :punk: