My first post on here but thought I would share with you my experience of my new purchase. I have posted this also on BMWland so apologies to those who have read this before
After a pretty hefty search for a suitable upgrade from my fantastic e91 330i M Sport, wading through a sea of Q7s, Discoveries, Range Rovers, 5 Series BMWs and ML and E Class Mercedes, I finally took the plunge and bought the X5 I posted about a week ago or so.
All because of the eye poppy rate at which our family's labradoodle has been growing means that, regretfully, our 330i was no longer appropriate for our needs and I am still, to some degree, gutted.
So here I am, day three into the ownership of my X5 and thought I would share my initial impressions, but before I do I will run through spec of my new acquisition. It is a 2007 3.0d SE 7 seater with dynamic pack, panoramic roof and more toys than I can be bothered to list, but suffice to say there was only very little missing from the options list when it was originally ordered. With 62,500 miles on the clock and full BMW service history it struck me that a £16,790 ticket price seemed reasonable (especially as I was able to negotiate this down).
On picking up the car from the dealer, there were a few minor items that had not been dealt with, one being the plastic cover for the "tow hook" for the back bumper. This was broken when I view the car and I was told it would be fixed before I picked it. The reason? The part failed to arrive but would send it to me when it was delivered. The other two are more annoying. Firstly the service sign on the dash comes on even though the it says it does not need a servicing for a further 13,000 miles and i-drive shows all the service items as "ok" and my service book being stamped. The reason given was "our mechanic must have not completed the reset". Annoying to say the least, but as the mechanic could not do anything about it until the follow Tuesday and I had driven 2 and 1/2 hours to get to the car I was in a dilemma... I took the car as I spoke to my preferred mechanic and he said it would not only check if the car had been serviced, but would reset the system if he were confident it had. I did check the quality of the oil by opening the oil filler cap and covering my finger in oil and wiping it on paper towel and the oil seemed new (not black and grungy). The other annoying item was one of the ear covers for the headphone for the rear DVD player was missing, which they said they would replace… They couldn’t in the end. Though in itself not a major issue, I find it frustrating that people promise to deal with matters and then don’t. Think before you promise, or at least warn people before they commit to a long journey.
So slightly miffed, I still left pleased with the car, knowing I had 115 miles of driving (mostly on motorway) in the X5 to familiarise myself.
As the car we basically empty of fuel, I took it to the nearest branded fuel station (I wont fuel up at a supermarket chain due to the additives they use to keep the costs down). Though I was fully aware that the fuel tank was 85 litres, it did not stop me feeling slightly nauseous at the £101.90 I paid to fill it up. I must have got to the petrol station on fumes as the car took just over 87 litres of diesel. As the nearest petrol station was quite far it was rather reckless of the dealer to leave the car so empty.
Onto the car itself. Initial thoughts are that it is an incredibly competent car, that is supremely comfortable and pleasurable to drive but in a completely different way to the 330i I left behind. Where I would be driving my 330i in "enthusiast attack mode" in the X5 I found I could not be bothered. Though the X5 has plenty of power and propels it’s ample girth with sufficient urge, it is not a car to be hurried, though no doubt familiarity will mean I may find the deeper handling attributes of the car later on. This is not a criticism just an observation.... However what I appreciated was the commanding driving view that many SUV drivers rave about. Until now I was a sceptic, now I am a convert. I also valued the familiarity of the controls and the logic of the fascia’s layout.
Initially, its size did seem overwhelming, but a few miles in and I was completely used to its proportions. Though not as turbine smooth as the petrol 3 litres in line six of my old 3 series, it is refined enough and delivers the much needed low down grunt to shift its mass. The drive train and gearbox feel positive, the steering feel meaty and accurate (though less so than the 330i which is understandable) and the reassuring sense of security of 4 wheel drive tangible.
My 10 year old son also approved of the car, loving the panoramic roof and the opportunity to watch a Simpsons box set on the rear DVD player, though trying to stop him mucking about with the rear climate control and heated seat was pretty difficult. A move to the front at the drive in McDonald’s dealt with that.
Once home my wife took it for a drive with our 8 year old daughter, 13 year old niece and my son. My wife took to the car immediately and found parking in Sainsbury’s car park painless. Good thing too as this is her primary means of transport. The kids wanted to try out rearmost seats, which coped well, but I am sure the novelty will wear off.
Sunday was a chance to see if our dog found he new motorised habitat comfortable. Since owning him (He was 3 months old when we got him) he has always been an anxious passenger. Though he no longer whimpers, he dribbles a lot and had, at times, been sick (Insert your “terrible driving” gags here!). A couple of short trips interrupted with a very long walk and, though he has all the room he could wish for, he was still a bit dribbly, but not as much as usual. He better get used to it as he has a 8 hour journey to withstand at the end of the month.
The only real area of disappointment is the economy. I am not naive enough to think I would be achieving 40+ mpg, but (as well discussed on this forum) I struggled to get past 25mpg on the motorway. Admittedly the car was registering 7mpg when I picked it up (due to the battery being removed over night) but I would have thought a steady 80 mph would have delivered the expected 32mpg. Trip computers are notoriously inaccurate, but I do hope in time that this will improve, but remap from Simon at emaps will be ordered shortly.
My car came with the iPod connection, which has the older connector. I dug out my old iPhone 4 to see if I could use it as a music storage, but it does not seem to be compatible and is not registering on the i-drive. This is a shame as the Harmon Kardon audio system has excellent sound quality. I may need to source a second hand ipod but need to work out which one would be compatible – Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
So after just under 300 miles covered over this week I am happy with the car, the way it drives and it fulfils it’s brief extremely well. Only time will tell if I have purchased a good car and a spring break to France should help me get to know the car even better.
Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.
