I wanted to give you guys an update on the vehicles we cover everyday on this blog. I think there's some concern out there that we have too many BMWs. We don't, it just looks like we do.
Fact is, the X5 is done. The wrap-up of its year long run with us will hit Inside Line thisThursday night. Our 2002 M3 is also pretty much finished. We've had it for 15 months, and have just been waiting for a new M3 sedan to arrive before we sold it off. Well, the new M3 arrived today. Don't worry, it's a 6-speed. No SMG. Or DCT. Or whatever they call it now. Look for it's intro to this blog in a couple of weeks and the wrap-up of our year long test of the E46 in about a month.
That leaves our 135i. It too will end its run soon. We'll have had it for 12-months sometime in May.
So, our timing may be a bit off, but the plan was to replace the 135i, the E46 M3 and the X5 with our new 750i and a new M3 sedan. So if you give it a month or two to play out, we'll be back down to just two BMWs.
Dear, why'd you pack a shovel for dinner and a movie? (oldchap) Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! (smilez) Oldham flees to Mexico before the CHP can nail him for doing 90MPH in the Edmunds LT Smart (deagle13) Honey, can we just stop and ask for directions?! (cruiserhead1) I told iDrive 'no freeways' and it routed me here. (vwthing1) Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book. (mnorm1) I can't believe we're having to park THIS far away from the Pottery Barn. (Franchitti27)
In the past couple of weeks we've had a lot of turnover in our long-term fleet. Some cars have gone bye-bye and we've gotten a couple of newbies. I thought you'd want an update.
Gone are the BMW X5, Audi R8 and Dodge Grand Caravan. There will be no more blogs on these cars, but look for an in depth wrap-up on each in the next few weeks, just like the one we published on our Mercedes C300 today. All three are already missed. The X5 and R8 were staff favorites, and the minivan proved to be great at moving people and things, even if we didn't always shower it with praise.
In a bid to appear like responsible adults we ordered the $1,200 third-row seats option on our long-term X5 instead of the monster 20-inch-wheels option. They are mutually exclusive options.
We're not saying it was a mistake, per se. But we can say that if we were buying an X5 for personal use we'd save ourselves the $1,200. And if we really needed three rows of seats, we wouldn't even consider the X5.
The two folding mini-buckets in the way-back are simply not very useful. But what about kids, you say? Well, there are no Latch attachments for the third row which would mean you'd have to use the old-school belts. And beside, we think some of our child-safety seats are bigger than the X5's third-row buckets. Although the kids would at least get an HVAC vent and a couple of cupholders back there.
And what about cramming adults back there, just for short trips? Stop being ridiculous. We crawled back there and it hurt. We don't dislike anyone that much -- certainly not anyone we'd allow into our car. Even employees of BMW North America will admit that offering the third row in the X5 was simply a marketing exercise and not a particularly useful option.
During it's stay with us the X5's rear-most seats remained folded into the floor basically always. There they added weight and cost and became the locus of resentment for staffers who really wanted the big, meaty rear tires.
-- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,358 miles
Context clues, people! In the image posted you can see I'm in DS-- drive sport--that can't be good for economy. Also to consider: I live in the city and never once for these 230 hit a freeway or even an uncongested street (but you couldn't have known that).
Closest estimate for gallons: kurtamaxxxguy who guessed 20.5. Our 2008 X5 took 20.429.
(And to those who asked: It's an old picture. The X5 is in Detroit but in honor of Car of the Week, I pulled some things from my library.)
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant and unofficial Inside Line quizmaster
A couple of you have asked how the X5's headlights perform, noting that most shoppers test drive a car during daylight hours and therefore have little or no opportunity to test a vehicle's lighting performance. Good point.
I'm as sensitive as the next guy to good nighttime lighting. Well, rest assured that the X5's lights are dazzlingly bright. Whether this annoys oncoming drivers I cannot say. I certainly have not had anyone flash their high-beams at me. That was a common occurrence when high-intensity discharge lamps were first arriving on the market.
As you'd probably suspect, the X5's lights are automatic, self-leveling HIDs. They're standard on all X5s, even the six-cylinder models. They're bright enough in the low setting that I rarely need to use the high-beams which scorch the surrounding shrubbery with lumens. The only optional part of the headlight system as fitted to our tester is the retractable headlight-cleaning system which comes as part of the $900 Cold Weather Package and also includes heated front seats, the much-loved heated steering wheel and ski bag.
So if you're worried about X5 headlight performance, don't.
--Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,342 miles
Pictured is dash of our Long Term 2008 BMW X5 just before a much needed fuel up. (Yes, I run the tank low. It's okay if you don't. I think it's fun.) How many miles are on the trip odometer?
FYI: The 08 X5 has a 22.5 gallon fuel tank and gets an epa rating of 14 city/ 19 highway,16 combined.
Winner gets absolutely nothing. Bonus nothings for guessing how many gallons of the good stuff this fill required.
Somehow we've managed to go through almost a year in a BMW without really ever talking much about the steering system. Compared to almost any steering system in anything with a remote resemblance to a sport-utility vehicle, the X5's is fantastic.
If that seems like damning with faint praise, it wasn't meant to. But neither is the X5's system entirely faultless. It's nearly perfect on the expressway when a little heft and a relatively slow ratio off-center result in a steady, composed demeanor -- exactly what you want for high-speed runs.
Around town, though, that weight seems unnecessary and unwelcome. Now, we're not talking heavy like the old days of non-assisted steering here. But it will come as a surprise to the uninitiated. And, as on most crossover/SUV things the ratio isn't particularly quick, even though the standard X5 system uses a variable-ratio rack that quickens the response the farther from center you guide it. But the weight combined with the relatively slow ratio and the X5's bulk can still mean a whole lot of work in parking situation.
If there's one vehicle in BMW's lineup that could genuinely benefit from the company's Active Steering system, it's the X5. At speeds up to 55 mph Active Handling uses a quick ratio that results in only two turns lock-to-lock -- giving the driver more turning response for a given input. At higher speeds the system uses a slower ratio to maintain stability. We don't really care for the system on the nimble 3-series.
But if you're in the market for an X5 we would say you should test drive one with Active Handling and one without. It is a stand-alone option which cost $1,400 for the 2008 model like ours. It's since gone up to $1,550.
There was some gnashing of teeth 'round the home office when we were ordering our long-term X5. This is because once you see a sport-package X5 fitted with the optional 20-inch wheels and fat, high-performance treads, you can't get it out of your head. It just looks so good.
That's the X5 I want to drive. It's just not the one I want to live with. You see, there's this frozen precipitation that falls from the sky and accumulates on everything where I live. You know how fun that stuff is on summer rubber? None.
The 19-inch wheels with Michelin Latitude all-season tires are notably less bitchin' looking. But it's a great all-around set up. They proved to be excellent in one of the snowier winters in Michigan history. And, at least on the X5, they don't give up much in the way of dry performance. With them, the X5 still stops from 60 mph in 123 feet, one of the better performances available in the world of crossovers. And our long-termer made it through the slalom at a surprisingly fast 62.9 mph. And it circled the skidpad at .82 g. Not bad. Not bad at all.
And when you factor in not having to swap out summer tires for winters each year and not having to deal with the terrain tracking exhibited by X5s with the 20s, I'd say there's not much compromise is making the sensible choice here.
Remember a few weeks ago, the post I did about shift patterns as mandated by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 102 (FMVSS102)? Of course you do. A page-turner like that? How could you forget. Well I went ahead and re-read that section and saw nothing in it about forcing the car into park if the vehicle is in motion and the driver door is opened. Why would I look up something silly like that? Glad you asked.
Open the door on the 2008 BMW X5 when the car is in drive and the transmission slams itself into park. PARK! WHILE MOVING! It's upsetting and confusing when this happens at a 2mph roll as the X5 is being used to collect orange cones murdered during slalom testing. It's scary and just plain wrong when it goes into park-- instead of, say, neutral-- at 11mph as we try to test the limits of just where this boat will stop trying to kill itself. The X5 will also throw itself into park from reverse at similarly low speeds. So much for peeking out the door to avoid that big curb.
Further proof this SUV needs a manual transmission. The Cayenne offers one.
Professional driver. Closed course. Hey you stupid, don't try this at home.
Four things. One: The X5 is dead stable at these speeds, although there is a fair amount of wind noise. Two: No Tahoe or Flex or Enclave or SRX or Durango can approach a buck fifty, so there's still something special about the X5 and other performance minded German utes like the Cayenne. Although I'm sure a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 could swing it. Three: It was a steep downhill. Four: With my foot to the floor, the computer said mileage at this velocity was 7 mpg.
Contention: A Hill Descent Control system on the strip-mall off-roader X5 is like having a tow/haul mode for the automatic transmission in the Miata.
Look, I know that it doesn't really cost BMW anything for the lines of computer code that applies the brakes automatically and frequently enough to keep this beast crawling down inclines. Seems like the one good thing BMW might have gotten out of its unfortunate and costly days owning Land Rover.
But, come on. I'd bet less than 10 percent of X5 owners even know what that button is for much less that they can vary the vehicle's target speed between 4 and 15 mph using the button.
I'm a set-it-and-forget-it guy. I leave the automatic climate control system at somewhere between 69 and 72 degrees on any car I drive and leave it. Cranking it to 85 degrees doesn't make an 18 degree morning tolerable any quicker than setting it at 72.
Which is why, years ago when I first encountered BMW's manual intensity settings for its automatic climate control system, I thought it was a gimmick. Just another layer of complexity in the brands increasingly complicated control systems.
Briefly the system works like this: You set your temperature as normal. Successive pokes at the AUTO button will change the intensity of the climate control operation, including the fan. So you want some hot air blowing on you? Crank it to Intensive. Want to hear a quiet piece of music without cranking the audio system to compete with fan noise, punch up Soft. You can also adjust it through iDrive, of course. But that's a minimum four-step process.
Look, sometimes you want 72 and sometimes you want 72, if you know what I mean. Could I just manually adjust the fan and get much of the same benefit. Yes, but why should I. I drive a $70,000 BMW.
The X5 just got back from its second, and last, oil change during its stay with us. It took one hour -- exactly the amount of time the service guy estimated when we made the appointment. It cost us nothing, as is the way with new BMWs.
We test drove the customer lounge at Erhard BMW in Bloomfield Hills, MI and found that the chairs were not long-term supportive but the all-you-can-eat doughnut bar suited us just fine, despite a narrow selection. Curiously, BMW owners in suburban Detroit apparently really like People magazine judging by the mountain of issues in the lounge.
We also had the rear-wiper nut cover -- which our service man, Richard, took to calling "the doo-hickey" -- replaced for $6.44. It was lost in a California car-wash incident some time ago.
--Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,293 miles
Look, I like to plan for the future as much as the next guy, assuming the next guy doesn't really like to plan for the future. But I just got a warning from the BMW X5 long-termer that it would like an oil change.
Well, it would like an oil change in 1,800 miles anyway. Now, it's true that our long-term X5 has accumulated miles at an average of more than 2,000 per month, but our vehicle is a little unusual in this regard. It would take the average driver about a month-and-a-half or more to rack up that number of miles. And every time that average driver started up his X5 he would get the yellow warning and alert-dong notifying him of a service that's not required for many weeks.
But okay, better early than late, right? So we've got an appointment to get new goo and filter tomorrow and the service department of our local dealer promises it will cost us nothing, despite being early.
Curiously, the driver-information center between the gauges says we're looking at a time deadline of October, 2009 to get the service done. Stranger still, the Service Requirements portion of iDrive estimates a date of July, 2010. We can only assume this is referring to something else but we can't figure out what exactly that might be.
Of all the dubious achievements credited to BMW's iDrive, I do not remember Destroyer of Marital Bliss being on the list.
Here though are snippets of a couple of telephone conversations I had with my long-suffering wife recently. The set up is that I've taken her car to the office to check the brakes. She's driving around in the X5 for the day.
[ring, ring] Me: Hey. Wife: Your daughter wants to listen to "Little Ghost." Me: Okay, it's on the iPod. Wife: Yeah, how do I do this? Me: Um, well. Okay. Hit the big MENU button. Okay, now push the big knob in the direction of "Entertainment." Wife: Okay. Now what? Me: You've got to find the AUX setting. It's in one of those menu bars along the top. I don't know which one. Wife: [sighing, fumbling] Me: It's White Stripes. Wife: I know that. [an inordinate amount of time passes] Wife: Is it the album "Get Behind Me Satan?" Me: Yeah, you're in! Just push down on the knob and then rotate until the song title is highlighted, then push the button. Wife: Okay. Thanks.
See, I thought, iDrive isn't that difficult to operate. If I can act as the help line for it, how bad could it be?
[ring, ring] Me: Hey, honey. Wife: How do I get this stupid navigation lady to shut up? She's talking over the song. Me: Uh, navigation? Aren't you just going to the grocery store? Wife: Yeah, [background: "Make a U-turn if possible"] Uhg! Stupid thing! [click]
It was then that I realized that I essentially re-learn many aspects of iDrive's operations each and every time I drive the vehicle. Or rather, I take stabs at what seems like the right moves until I've failed to get what I want so frequently that only the right answer is left.
Then I recalled it took both Executive Lead Senior Super Editor Ed Hellwig and myself 15 minutes and the owner's manual just to find Chicago's McCormick convention center one morning on our way to cover the auto show.
The time has come, BMW. I can defend you no longer. It is time for Gen II iDrive to make its way through the lineup. --Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Despite the widespread availability of airplane flights between Detroit and Chicago on which I could fly to the Chicago Auto Show, I make an annual habit of tempting the weather gods and hitting I-94 for a little bonding time with whatever I car I happen to be driving in early February.
Save for the year that I took a V-12-powered BMW 7-series, this year's mount, the long-term X5, was the finest road companion yet. The X5's high-speed stability is spectacular -- almost as if it was designed by engineers used to driving on unlimited Autobahns. The driving position is excellent. The seats provide good thigh support, something many manufacturers neglect. And the iPod integration is easy to operate. So that's one iDrive-based feature that's not infuriating to use.
The trip takes four hours on the dot each way and is roughly 600 miles, total. So we averaged somewhere in the mid 70-mph range. The X5 returned 17.6 mpg in all highway driving (with a few assorted full-throttle, on-ramp accelerations thrown in). It's not the most efficient way to travel, particularly for one guy and one bag, but it surely is a satisfying way to. It is greatly preferable to riding on an air bus. -- Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,201 miles
I'm going to go out on a limb here; our long-term 2009 Infiniti FX50 is the quickest factory bone-stock SUV we've ever tested. In recent testing it hit 60 mph in 5.5 seconds (5.3 seconds with one foot of rollout like on a dragstrip) and covered the quarter mile in 13.7 at 101.5 mph. Impressive.
Around town, the Infiniti is mellowed by a sluggish throttle tip in, but lay into it and hold on. That big 5.0-liter under the hood really pulls, and it relines at a four-cylinder like 6800 rpm.
But this blog post is not about the FX50's thrust, it's about its other abilities. Which are also impressive; 60 - 0 stopping distance of 117 ft., 63.3 mph in the slalom and .82g around our skidpad. As far as SUVs go, this thing is a hot rod.
Still, I was expecting more.
It's on huge 21-inch summer tires for Pete's sake. Dunlops. SP Sport 01. 265/45R21 front and rear. That's quite a bit of contact patch. Far more rubber than our long-term BMW X5 wears. It rides on all-season Michelins. Latitudes. 255/50R19 front and rear.
Yet, the BMW nearly matches the Infiniti's dynamic performance. It stops from 60 mph in 123 ft., covers the slalom at 62.9 mph and circles the skidpad at the same .82g. Sure the FX50 smokes it in a straight line, but with more aggressive rubber the BMW would certainly stop and handle better.
Oh, you want proof. Then check out our recent road test of a 2008 BMW X6. That truck wore the optional meats. Huge all-season Dunlops. SP Sport Max. 275/40R20 front and 315/30R20 rear. And it smoked the Infiniti in every dynamic track test except acceleration. It stopped from 60 mph in just 111 ft., blasted through the slalom at 65.3 mph and circled the skidpad at .87g.
So are the Infiniti's dynamics disappointing or are the BMWs abilities so redamndiculous that this entire blog post is worthless?
The BMW X5 let me know over the weekend that it was a little thirsty for a quart of Castrol's finest 5w-30 synthetic. When I turned the engine off Sunday, the little Aladdin's oil lamp warning appeared in the driver information center, accompanied as always by a "dongggggggg."
So I checked through the iDrive information system and saw that same bit of information relayed to me in an entirely different graphical way -- the engine needs a quart of oil. Because I wear suspenders, a belt and I bolt my pants into my hip bones every morning, I decided to also check the dipstick (that inconspicuous-looking black plastic nub behind the oil filler in the picture below). Guess what? The engine needed a quart of oil. You'd have to be willfully abusive to your vehicle to miss triple redundancy like that.
I grabbed a quart of Castrol, since I was instructed to by the cap on the oil filler, for $7.41. You might be able to tell from the other photo below that I should have used a funnel since the access to the oil filler is compromised. But I only dripped a drop and the car is fine.
Tomorrow morning the X5 and I will depart for the Chicago auto show and at least one of us is looking forward to the drive.
Inspired by High Chief Oldham's genre-defining video performance detailing the annoying chimes of the Ford Flex, I have made my own short-feature movie of the BMW X5's start-up/warning chime.
But it's not a chime. It's more of a dong, really. A dong with a slinky, wavering fade-out. This same sound has been slowly making its way into all BMWs, since it appeared in the too-weird-for-prime-time 7-series years ago.
Anyway, it brings me a sort of spaced-out peace. Listen to it in the hastily shot video above. Then I finally realized why it fills me with a child-like wonder each and every time: It is almost exactly how my head remembers the sound of The Jetsons' doorbell.
I am moved by muscle cars. I can appreciate a big, ol' luxury boat. And I even like the occasional drive in a pick-up truck. But, honestly, I'm most comfortable and generally happiest in a relatively small, relatively lightweight car. This makes my growing affection for the decidedly beefy BMW X5 4.8i something unusual.
Everything about this vehicle is brawny, thick, heavy or solid, including its heavy-duty as-tested price of $68,520. And at more than 5,000 pounds of solid German/American goodness, the perception of high weight is reality. But it's almost shocking how easily the X5's V8 moves this two-and-a-half tons. Surely, the engine must be underrated at 350 hp. And somehow, even without the sport package, the X5 is nearer to being nimble than anything this big has right to be.
I don't need all this size. I certainly don't need to sit up as high as I do in the X5's driver's seat. But damn if I don't like it. The only real downside, assuming you have the means to make the monthly payments, is the big fuel tab. Since it's arrival in Detroit less than a month ago, the X5 has averaged 14.2 mpg. With the X5, you get size and you get speed, but you can't have everything.
Remember when we wrote that the long-term X5's right rear tire was down 10 pounds of air pressure? This would have been moments after Editor in Chief Oldham arrived in Detroit after two-thousand-and-whatever miles. Right, well, turns out somewhere along the way (my guess, for no good reason, is Indiana), the X5's right-rear picked up a self-tapping screw that had self-tapped itself right in between the tread blocks of the big Michelin.
It did a fine job plugging its own hole too, because the tire held air for many, many days before finally tripping the X5's tire pressure monitoring system again. I took the X5 over to a local Belle Tire location and they plugged the hole and even gave me back my (or Oldham's) screw. It cost $20.
In my last smart fortwo passion blog, the comments strayed away from the topic at hand (as is the point of the internet) and onto the shift pattern of the US model versus that of the European one. The statement from Bumby was "We didn't get the Euro shifter because the PRND layout is required by US law." EPBrown found an exception to this quickly "We're swimming in cars that use semi-auto gearboxes that use the N/R/+/- shifter. It's on every SMG-equipped BMW." That got me to thinking and then to researching exactly what is required by the NHTSA. And let me tell you now, it's not easy. The NHTSA only lists a "quick reference" guide to searching the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. In order to access the full text, one needs to go to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ and search for "49 CFR 571." Obvious, right? Whatever, here it is:
FMVSS Rule 102 beings "Sec.571.102 Standard No. 102; Transmission shift position sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect. S1. Purpose and scope. This standard specifies the requirements for the transmission shift position sequence, a starter interlock, and for a braking effect of automatic transmissions, to reduce the likelihood of shifting errors, to prevent starter engagement by the driver when the transmission is in any drive position, and to provide supplemental braking at speeds below 40 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour). " That sounds about what I was looking for.
The section that pertains to our question is S3.1.1: (S3.1, of course, being titled Automatic Transmissions.) "Location of transmission shift positions on passenger cars. A neutral position shall be located between forward drive and reverse drive positions." And S3.1.1.1: "Transmission shift levers. If a steering-column mounted transmission shift lever is used, movement from neutral position to forward drive position shall be clockwise. If the transmission shift lever sequence includes a park position, it shall be located at the end, adjacent to the reverse drive position."
Oh, but that only appears to deal with column-mounted shifters, not the nub of a shift lever the 2008 X5 uses, let's try "S3.1.4 Identification of shift positions and of shift position sequence. S3.1.4.1 Except as specified in S3.1.4.3, if the transmission shift position sequence includes a park position, identification of shift positions, including the positions in relation to each other and the position selected, shall be displayed in view of the driver whenever any of the following conditions exist: (a) The ignition is in a position where the transmission can be shifted; or (b) the transmission is not in park." That would mean that the BMW's park button is legally acceptable, but still stupid.
But what about the R8 and BMWs with SMG? Well, S3.1.4.2 handles that: "Except as specified in S3.1.4.3, if the transmission shift position sequence does not include a park position, identification of shift positions, including the positions in relation to each other and the position selected, shall be displayed in view of the driver whenever the ignition is in a position in which the engine is capable of operation."
The rest of FMVSS 102 isn't nearly as exciting, but that seems to have settled the debate pretty thoroughly: PRND is not required, but N must be between D and R and, if applicable, Park must be labeled (as it is in the X5), and if there is no park (like the R8 and the 2008 M3 with DCT), gear position must be labeled and visible to the driver.
On day three, from the heart of Iowa to Motown, I covered all 600 miles in a snowstorm. At some points, vision was down to a few car lengths and the interstate was pure white, especially in Michigan, where they seemed to have parked the plows. Damn budget cuts.
Several times traffic slowed to a crawl. And very often I was cruising with the X5's six-speed transmission in 4th or 5th gear so I would be able to use engine braking and not just the brakes, should I need to slow or stop. I also counted 18 cars and trucks off in the ditch, ranging from four-wheel-drive pickups to Peterbilts and one lone Porsche. And one time, deep in Michigan, a guy in an almost new Jag S-Type spun right in front of me. Miraculously he didn't hit anything, but I'm sure he had to change his panties.
Despite such contitions, I averaged 60.5 mph and 17.1 mpg. I also arrived at my hotel feeling like I could go another 400 miles. I was wired. Six-hundred miles in a snowstorm really forces you to be alert. I didn't even blink east of Chicago. I wolfed down a beer and a burger before my adrenaline simmered down.
This was a great trip in a great truck. If you haven't road-tripped in a while, get out there. And don't wimp out and take the southern route.
There are more day-three highlights and photos on the next page, and forgive me for all the behind-the-wheel shots; it was cold out there.
Day Two of the Great X5 Santa Monica-to-Detroit Road Trip started with the white stuff. I awoke at the Grand Junction Holiday Inn Express to find the BMW X5 covered in a dusting of snow. Nothing severe, but enough had stuck to the roads that I quickly appreciated the X5's all-wheel drive and state-of-the-art electronic stability control system. The truck's seat heater, steering wheel heater, strong wipers and fast-acting defrosters had me on the road quickly. Remember, the X5 may be built in South Carolina, but BMW HQ is in Bavaria, and it snows quite a bit in that part of the world.
Some called it a stupid idea, including my wife, but my drive from Santa Monica to Detroit in our long-term BMW X5 was a blast, and a hard and fast education into the good, bad and ugly of BMW's big SUV. I spent three days essentially locked behind the wheel of the X5, only stopping for gas, bladder relief and the occasional photo.
Most of you know all of this because you followed my progress as it happened on the insideline.com twitter page, but for those of you who missed it, here are the highlights and photographic evidence of day one.
There are many things to like about the X5 such as its exterior design, size and handling. There are a couple of things to love about the X5 such as its stonking V8 power. And there is at least one thing to hate about the X5: Its standard pant-dirtying rocker panels.
For whatever reason, BMW grafted onto the SAV's rockers a gray plastic shelf that is exceptionally good at collecting dirt, slush and mud and then delivering them to your left pant-leg as you try to exit the vehicle. In this way, the X5 is the anti-Ford Flex, which not only doesn't force you to leap out of the vehicle but keeps any potential contact area clean.
Not a deal breaker, I suppose. Still, a guy likes clean pants.
--Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 25,087 miles
Turns out, the boys (and girls) from California left Detroit just in time. A deep freeze has settled into the Upper Midwest. I hopped in my new winter-approved long-termer, the X5, this morning to find that the temperature read-out registering -4. That's not on any kind of wimpy Celsius scale. No, no, it's the big F, my frigid friend.
So you'll excuse me if I don't really care at the moment about ride or build quality or acceleration or any operational aspect of the X5, other than those involved with creating and disseminating heat. And that brings me to the BMW's seat heaters, which are simply magnificent. I have long held that if I can't make myself uncomfortably hot with seat heaters then they are just not powerful enough. I want the extra margin of heat on top of what is comfortable just, you know, just in case. And the three-step BMW units will absolutely toast your buns. And it is mornings like this one that convince me that a heated steering wheel is not a frivolous thing, but indeed, a near-necessity. You activate that separate from the seat heat, by pressing the spoke-mounted button with a pictogram of what looks like a steering wheel with an exceptionally hairy hub.
Hell, I would advocate the implementation of some sort of electro-shall with detachable ear muffs and maybe some plug-in leggings with booties. Although I would settle for a heated tunnel between my back door and the office.
--Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 25,037 miles
Ok, fine, that picture wasn't taken in Colorado (Wrightwood, Ca if you must know) but that's where our 2008 BMW X5, piloted by Inside Line Editor-in-Chief Scott Oldham, is right now. While I didn't get an exact location from him, Eastern Colorado was mentioned and that leaves an estimated 1,200 miles to Detroit and his reunion with the Cadillac CTS. Oh, and there's some Auto Show there, too.
While I can't call for an actual convoy on this trip, follow him digitally via Twitter on both this trip and his return from the Motor City in Cadillac's finest.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 23,681 miles
After weeks of indecision (there are about two dozen cars to choose from) I've decided to drive our long-term 2008 BMW X5 from L.A. to Detroit. It'll be good test of the truck's cross country and winter driving abilities. Plus it has nav, satellite and all that good stuff. All season tires too.
Should I make it to Detroit alive, I'll leave the BMW with Dan Pund, our Detroit Editor, and drive our long-term Cadillac CTS back to California. Regulars on this page will remember that Dan drove the Caddy from L.A. to Detroit about a month ago.
I'll blog from the road if I can, but fatique and the Detroit Auto Show might get in the way of that. Chances are I'll catch up on the posting when I return.
I will Tweet, however. That I can promise you. So if you care to tag along, go to the insideline.com Twitter page and follow my trip. I'll try to make it interesting.
That's a load of 8 ft. long 2x4s and three sheets of 4x8 drywall in the back of our long-term Dodge Grand Caravan. Lets see our BMW X5 or our Infiniti FX50 do that.
In a few weeks I'll be driving one of our cars from Los Angeles to Detroit and leaving it there with our Detroit Editor Dan Pund for much of the winter.
But which one of our cars should I take? Right now the short list is our 2008 BMW X5, our 2009 Audi A4 Avant, which is on summer tires, and the brand new all-wheel drive 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover Sport that will be introduced to this blog in a couple of weeks.
I'm not limited to those three cars, however. I can basically take whatever I want. Maybe our new Mazda 6 is the one to take, or our STI. What do you think? What would you take?
Any car that spends time parking in a city will have at least one intimate encounter between it's wheel and the curb. No matter how good the driver, it happens. If you're going to come in and comment "i've never done that", well, your day will come.
While I'm never surprised when a wheel gets curbed, this one was a shock even to me.
I got a call about the BMW X5 this morning, the tire pressure light was on. Right front. Sure enough the right front tire was low and from my flashlit view, there was no foreign object embedded in the tread. Off to Stokes I went.
10 minutes went by and our guy came out with the news, the front right wheel had been curbed and bits of concrete and curb paint was lodged between the rim and tire causing a slow leak. It could be cleaned out and reinstalled without a problem. There was no charge for the repair.
I drove the X5 plenty in the last week for photo shoots. My passenger and I constantly knocked our elbows on the video screen situated between the two front seats.
I tried to find a way to fold it out of my way, but my arm was so numb and tingly from repeated beatings that I simply gave up.
I don't have much new to add about our 2008 BMW X5--I just liked this photo. It shows the BMW in what is arguably its natural environment, Newport Beach, California.
Never seen this part of the OC (don't call it that) before? We're parked just off the side of Back Bay Drive, a one-way road/two-way bike & jogging path that runs along the eastern flank of the tidal marsh known simply as the Back Bay.
The BMW's large panoramic sunroof, which I usually have no use for, allowed the girls to stand with binoculars and look at the wildlife along the route. What they didn't notice is that the work of some of Newport Beach's finest plastic surgeons was simultaneously on display on the jogging path.
Near the northern end of Back Bay Drive you'll find a humungous Mercedes dealership which reportedly sells more AMG's than any other single Benz store in the world, Germany included.
All in all, it's a worthwhile side trip when you're in the neighborhood.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 20,150 miles
You're seeing the same view of the long-term 2008 BMW X5 that I saw yesterday morning. I came out groggy-eyed to get the morning paper, and there she sat in my driveway with all four windows fully down and the sunroof partway open.
Large blobs of dew were pooled on the hood and roof, but the interior seemed dry enough. And none of my neighbor's many cats were curled up inside, so no damage done.
A quick read of the manual reveals that this is in fact a feature called "comfort opening". If one presses and holds the unlck button on the remote for more than 2 seconds, all of the windows start coming down in unison. A 5 second hold lowers them all the way, like this.
The remote must have gotten pinched in my pocket when I sat down in the house sometime last night. It's happened before with panic alarm buttons.
When I lived in Phoenix I would have killed for a way to remotely roll down the windows before I sat down in what amounted to an oven. But knowing that my car could sit unlocked and wide open all night without my knowledge isn't nearly as convenient.
Further manual-reading shows that this feature isn't one that can be customized or shut-off via the extensive iDrive menus. It should be.
On the plus side, if one touches and holds the top of the door handle for 5 seconds, the windows will all roll up and the sunroof will close after the doors lock. Now that I can use.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 20,125 miles
It's the automotive equivalent of Rock-Paper-Scissors, and it goes like this: Wiper defeats Rain, Rain defeats Carwash and, as we recently confirmed with our 2008 BMW X5, Carwash defeats Wiper.
So we picked up what pieces we could find to see if we could humpty-dumpty the thing back together again.
This morning I woke up especially early for no particular reason so I decided I to just go to work. I hate time change, it's like jet lag while staying home.
I don't know if it was due to the X5's massive engine or that people weren't caffeinated just yet, but I every time I punched the gas from a traffic light I left my fellow commuters in my dust trail by massive margins.
There's no worse request than a friend asking for a ride to or from the airport. The traffic, jockeying your way to the curb, trying not to make eye contact with the airport cops who are yelling at you to move along, the whole process really blows.
But last night I decided to surprise a friend who was arriving at LAX, and the BMW X5 was my willing accomplice.
Any car that can persuade me to go to the airport of my own volition must be fun to drive.
I just spent about a week in the X5. I like it, the transmission is too jerky (first is too short) but otherwise it's a comfortable SUV.
On a three hour road trip, I noticed there are too many levers - short levers, long levers, levers with, with switches on top of the levers - I felt like an antebellum riverboat captain bleeding off steam as I adjust the steering wheel, set the cruise control and check the outside temperature. Maybe GM's cruise/turn/high beam stalk isn't so bad after all. Anyone think I'm full of it?
I just saw a dark blue X5 and it looked really sharp. There's something about the dark color that hides the black plastic bumpers. Our Long Termer looks kinda cheap because of the black bumpers that contrast with the light colored paint. I know it's supposed to be rugged and all as BMW calls it a Sport ACTIVITY Vehicle as opposed to a regular SUV but I'd rather have body colored bumpers - the chance of me taking this thing off-road is very slim.
There's a lot to like about our long-term 2008 BMW X5 4.8i, but its 6-speed automatic transmission is not one of them. And after this past weekend of head butting with the damn thing I need to vent.
The unit has three modes: D, S (Sport) and M (Manual). And they all have their deficiencies. In D it's lethargic, won't kick down without full throttle. In S it's alert, but jumpy and jerky. And in M it starts in 2nd gear.
Around town, I usually put it in S and deal with the jerkiness, but then you have to remember to put it back into D once you merge onto the highway because top gear is locked out in S. Trouble is, now the trans is back in lazy mode. So gaining any kind of passing power requires you to either floor the gas pedal to get the gear down you're looking for, or quickly pop the shifter back over into S. Usually I pop it over, which means that after the pass is made, I must remember to push the shifter back to D to get 6th gear.
Another quirk of this situation is pushing the shifter up into neutral by mistake when trying to execute a manual downshift. This is a result of you having forgot that you put the transmission back into D for highway cruising. If it were still in S, the manual gate would be active.
Got all that? Bottom line: X5 good. X5's transmission bad.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 17,250 miles
Altruism. Not a word that is normally associated with me. As a native Los Angeleno, I'm quite content being self-serving and self-involved. Imagine my surprise when I volunteered to be a designated driver for a group of friends. Granted, these friends were exceptionally attractive members of the opposite gender - ok, so maybe this wasn't as selfless as I lead on...
I was thinking the other day (always a dangerous proposition, I know) and wondering how all the current (or really, really recently departed) Edmunds/Inside Line long-term vehicles stack up against each other in fuel economy, at least the fuel economy we've been recording during their time with us. So I made a list. For you and for me. In case we were both wondering.
The only current vehicles missing from my list are the Audi R8 and the Dodge Grand Caravan, and that's because no one has entered any fuel data into the tracking spreadsheet for those vehicles yet. The very top and the very bottom of the list aren't going to surprise anybody (I don't think), but the middle is kinda interesting. Seeing the Rondo and the WRX so close to each other made me raise my eyebrows. Ditto the Ford GT's spot above the Veracruz. Ready to check it all out? Follow the jump with me.
Many tankfuls of premium unleaded have come and gone in the life of our long-term BMW X5 since we last reported its fuel economy.
Our lifetime average is now 15.7 mpg. Before this update, it had been 15.9. Before that it was 16.6. I feel a trend.
The farthest traveled on one tank was recorded by Karl Brauer back in May: 364 miles (during which he got 17.5 mpg).
We've managed a couple tanks in the mid-18s, and a couple way down in the 10-11 mpg range.
Someone even pushed the fuel envelope once and waited until the 22.5 gallon tank only had .398 gallons left in it to mosey on over to the gas station. It wasn't me. I swear.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 16,825 miles
Back on July 18, I posted that our 2008 BMW X5 4.8i returned from its first service with a clean bill of health. Well, all but that squeaky steering column and driver seat that was squealing against its tracks. Both of these issues required parts to be ordered. Parts, it turns out, that weren't very easy to get hold of. It was nearly a month later that got the call from BMW of Beverly Hills that the parts were in and ready to be installed.
Again I made the appointment online. As much as I liked doing this online the first time I thought I'd try this one by phone. No luck. I tried calling three times and only once was I connected to a person in service. She advised that I book the appointment online because her computer was down. (Thinking about that sentence too hard will turn anyone into a technophobe.) The online process was, again, painless and quick. Scheduling my appointment for the next day was no problem, though there was no quick-check box for "replace steering column." Broken headlight was the closest option given.
Our X5 was dropped off at 7:58 and same-day return was probable. I got antsy around 4:00. The car could be ready by 6:30 that evening, but it wasn't probable. He asked if the next morning was acceptable. It worked by us, though we would have appreciated some more warning.
The following morning the car was ready. All of the parts and labor were under warranty.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 16,481 miles.
In the last 10 days I've driven our long-term 2008 BMW X5 1,016 miles. Aside from a few days of my basic 8 mile (each way) commute, the mileage was accumulated on two family road trips.
The first trip was from West Los Angeles to the mountain resort town of Big Bear Lake about 120 miles northeast. To get there you run about 85 miles or so of freeway and 35 miles of twisting and turning mountain roads. The second trip was from West Los Angeles to Monterey, California about 350 miles due north, and it can be as much freeway and as much two lane as you want, depending on how much day you want to eat on the journey.
After that much time in the X5 I'm sold on BMW's now larger sport utitlity. It's fast, comfortable and just spacious enough for the Oldham clan to pile in. It's also really fast on a mountain road. In the BMW tradition is offers far more grip, grunt and brakes than my family would allow me to use on the twisty bits. And it cruises at 100 mph like a German sports sedan.
I'm also amazed at the X5's high comfort. I spent seven hours in it yesterday driving home from Monterey. We took the long way, hitting Highway 1 down to Big Sur before taking Highway 46 east to the 101 south. Even after all that, I arrived home ready for more. No backache. No buttache. No numb legs. My wife and kids too.
It's not perfect; the transmission locks out top gear in sport mode, iDrive is complete madness and mileage is what anybody should expect from a V8 powered tank like this; 18.5 mph on the highway, 13.3 mpg in the city and 16.2 mpg in mixed conditions. Oh yeah, pack your gas card baby. Still, no Buick Enclave will ever be this much fun.
This is a fine vehicle, and it's a true BMW, as engaging and beautifully built as it is useful.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 16,125 miles
We've already told you about the fart noises coming from telescoping steering wheel of our long-term 2008 BMW X5. It plays the toot salute everytime you climb into the car and the wheel moves itself into the predetermined position. Parts are on order to fix the problem and it has been the only scar on the BMW's quality record. Not bad for a vehicle that has covered 15,000 miles since January.
Well, this weekend I discovered the X5's second small glitch. This rear headrest is jammed. Won't go up, won't go down. No big deal, but it can make the installation of some kid seats more difficult (notice I installed ours on the other side). We'll get it fixed when we return to the dealer to fix the SUV's flatulence.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 14,779 miles
I can't believe it, but I'm starting to feel at home using iDrive in our long-term 2008 BMW X5 4.8i.
I still don't think it's the best interface out there, but when you're entering a specific address, with a street name and house number, it's quite straightforward to use. I especially like how you can enter each bit of information separately in whatever order you like -- and how you can easily switch between entering a house number and an intersection.
I've found the trick to getting good service in the greater Los Angeles area: Bring a $70K SUV to BMW of Beverly Hills (or buy a Saturn). From beginning to end this was a sharp, well executed service visit. There was nothing fancy or particularly special, just competent employees who do good work in a timely manner.
The maintenance light was illuminated and with 13,511 miles on the clock, it was expected. I made the appointment online through Beverly Hills BMW's website. It was a pleasant change from the usual disinterested and hurried cashier / receptionist. The virtual calendar clearly showed what days were available, and what times. Good system. I liked it.
Once we got to the dealer there was no fussing around with pencil and paper, our service advisor simply took the key, slid it into a reader on his desk and got the full vehicle history: How many miles we drive per week, odometer reading, VIN, what services were required. It also told him that the X5 was low on wiper fluid.
We're also experiencing a grinding noise when raising the driver seat (lowering it is fine) and a similar grinding noise when telescoping the steering wheel (tilt is fine). The key did not know this information.
The oil change, washer fluid, and filters were done by noon. We got the call at 11. Being a new BMW, there was no charge for any of this. The seat and the telescoping wheel both required parts that had to be ordered. We'll update you when they come in and when they are installed.
Mike Magrath, Vehicle Testing Assistant @ 13,511 miles
Sure our 2008 BMW X5 is a city dweller, and sure it's probably more suited to the racetrack (we did order the sport package) than the unpaved road, but what the heck, lets go off roading.
Okay, so it's not exactly the Rubicon, but a good hour of this deep silt had our X5 workin'. To keep moving we had the stability control system off and the truck's big 4.8-liter V8 near the top of the tach. Never got stuck, though, and the truck's all-wheel drive system never tried to eat itself or lock up in befuddlement.
We also have high praise for the Beamer's air conditioning, expecially its recirculation feature which kept the dust and the 105 degree desert heat on the truck's outside.
Tune tomorrow when I actually try to put a full grown human being in the X5's third row seat.
Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief @ 12,936 miles
I say "Camping" because had this been a true dehydrated-food and filter-your-drinking-water type expedition, I wouldn't have had to play this three-dimensional game of Tetris with our largest cooler, sand toys, mini boom-box, etc. Still, I managed to get four-days of food and 4-year old entertainment under the cargo tarp of the X5. I folded one of the second-row seats down, but it all fit. Follow the jump to see how camping for the camping-averse looks.
I have no doubt that the rear entertainment system in our X5 is useful for keeping kids occupied in back, but the placement of the screen is annoying. It's attached to rear of the center console, so when it's flipped down the chances of whacking your elbow on it are roughly 100%.
Then why don't I just flip it up you say? Well, yeah, sure I could do that, but that doesn't excuse the fact that it's a poorly integrated unit...
If it was a $20,000 Saturn I could deal with it, but this is a $70K BMW, I shouldn't have to put up with anything.
This is what it looks like when a 165,000-mile old Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan jump starts a brand-new BMW X5 SUV. Much to my father's delight, the Olds, still on its original alternator, was able to revive the stately German. How did we arrive here? Well, this story is no less embarrassing...
Our 2008 BMW X5 4.8i is equipped with the optional ($1,700) rear entertainment system. The location of the 8-inch screen is unusual – it's mounted between the front seats. The system is easy to use, and it sounds pretty fantastic. There are two power points, two headphone jacks (not wireless), a remote and a set of RCA input jacks...
I'm sure everybody has experienced the unpleasantness of getting into a parked car that's been sitting out on a hot summer day. For the X5, BMW offers an iDrive-based feature to help alleviate the unpleasantness.
You can program the X5 to turn on its climate control fan (to draw in fresh air) at a set time. For example: say you've gone shopping at the mall and know you'll be done about 5 p.m...
I had our 2008 BMW X5 4.8i for Memorial Day weekend. No surprises here – it's a sweet ride. Besides the obvious attributes, I also happen to like its overall size. The X5 isn't plus-sized like the now-departed Q7 and is therefore sportier to drive and easier to park...
After more than 9,000 miles in just three months our long term BMW X5 needed its first bit of service; it was a quart low of oil. Well, problem solved. We poured in 1 quart of Mobil 1. Total cost: $6.59...
Last night, I decided to give our long term 2008 BMW X5 4.8i a safety check. And so I did, while eastbound on Kentwood Blvd. In just seconds I checked the truck's oil, brake pads and brake fluid from the driver's seat. I never cracked the hood, never skinned a knuckle, heck, I never even stopped the truck.
Say what you want about BMW's iDrive system, it does have its moments of greatness...
Shocker of the weekend – the X5 4.8i is not for the slight of wallet. The 200-mile round trip to mom’s house on Sunday required 12.5 gallons of gas. That’s 16mpg for the mathematically challenged. Not terrible for a 5,333 pound vehicle driven with little regard for mileage, but given its need for premium fuel, it was a $50 trip...
Yesterday after much debate with my wife, I drove our long term BMW X5 to the bed store and bought our three year old daughter her first big-girl bed. But there was no way I was going to pay the $100 delivery fee, so down went the X5's seats and up went its tailgate. Sure the mattress and box spring were sticking out a bit, but not enough to be a problem...
Just finished up my first stint behind the wheel of an X5 since they were actually a novelty, just beginning to roll out of the BMW plant in South Carolina, and have to hand it to the boys from Bavaria (by way of Spartanburg) – except for the overkill on electronic accoutrements, they still do it good.
After 1,295 miles that included a few hundred on back roads in Northern California's Russian River wine country and a run down the state's scenic Highway 1, I can report that the ride, handling, power and comfort of our long-term 2008 X5 4.8i left nothing to be desired. Even the iDrive wasn't too obnoxious once I ran through its various permutations a few times.
But (there's almost always a "but") I couldn't believe how much greasy black brake dust the 19-inch alloys collected.
I have cold hands. Back when I used to live in cold climates, they would be like freezer packs from about November to April -- big hit with girlfriends. Although California has improved the situation, my hands still get a little cold and unlike Indiana or Toronto, I'd look like a moron if I went around Santa Monica with gloves on.
While managing editor Donna DeRosa loves herself some heated seats for a wonky back, I found myself just as happy with our X5's heated steering wheel included in the $900 Cold Weather Package that also features Donna's heated front seats, a ski bag and retractable headlight washers...
Find a person who likes iDrive and I'll show you 48 others who think it stinks. Although I've pretty much gotten the hang of it, that doesn't mean I like it. You can get the hang of cleaning toilets, too.
But this morning I've found something iDrive is good at, very good at actually. The iPod connection and control is probably the best I've come across. Although the iDrive and its menus are overly complicated for simpler tasks like changing a radio preset or stereo mode, they are a good match for controlling an iPod's more complicated arrangement of playlists, albums and artists. They are also accessed pretty quickly (some systems have annoying loading times) and you can also control it while driving, unlike our Scion.
The Scorsese video below is a small glimpse of how quick and easy this iPod connection is. And no, there is no excuse for having Avril Lavigne on the iPod artists list (I actually paused on it in disgrace), even if we do come from the same Canadian province.
Springtime is full swing in the South Land; in fact it was the hottest weekend on record for this time of year. It's a perfect time to get rid of all my junk, get some tax write offs all while enjoying the nice weather with the X5's near full-length sunroof.
Temperatures got into the high 80's around LA. I had the sun shade open and the suns heat started to cook the cabin. Blasting the AC helped, but the heat radiating from the glass kept the interior toasty.
Most SUVs take to our track like I would take to attending a taping of "Dancing with the Stars." Actually, on second thought I don't think it's possible for an automobile to perform ritual suicide. Anyway, the BMW X5 has always been a different animal, with better-than-the-pack handling and an overall character tuned definitively for the road. The numbers our long-term X5 generated at the track back that up, but they are far from the abilities of a 5 Series wagon.
For comparison, the slalom and skidpad numbers are virtually identical to those of the last Acura MDX we tested, but a fair bit better than our long-term Cadillac SRX. The X5 brakes and accelerates better than both, although with its V8, the latter comes as no surprise. I'm eager to see how the new Infiniti FX50 will stack up when it arrives in our garage shortly.
UPDATE: Turns out I have a horrible memory and we actually did get video that day (we just did it after testing). Because of certain technical issues, I've dropped in the video links below rather than embedding video. Forgive me.
But it's such a pleasant car to drive. It's comfy, it's cozy and it allows you to make other motorists on the freeway a distant memory in the rear-view mirror.
I drove it down to Costa Mesa this weekend to the Orange County Performing Arts Center -- a beautiful place, if you've never been there...
During my first night in the BMW X5, I had a hard time opening the center console but eventually managed to put my iPod in there for safekeeping. Each side opens up from the center.
Later, when I tried to retrieve my iPod, I couldn't get the doors open again. It took me a good ten minutes to rescue my iPod from the X5's clutches and I was only able to open one side of the console...
