[MashinBenzin]

Finally got my hands on a X5 for an extended drive. Having unavoidably missed the two launch events that I was invited to, I was looking forward to this one.

Minor fly in the ointment was that when I booked it a couple of weeks back I was specifically told it would be in a 40i arriving the day before my test, but I found out it would be a 30d just at the last minute.

The car
Carbon black X5 30d Msport that appeared to be fairly fully loaded. Luxury pack (comfort seats), tech pack (HUD/HK), laser lights, 7 seats, extended merino leather, acoustic glazing (I think), star lounge pano roof, a full suite of driver assistance. Phew! I'm guessing a list in the low 70s.

interior
Very impressive, as expected from a X5 with these options. The iDrive screen is huge and i liked the new gen digital dash far more than the previous one.

The seats were supremely comfortable, but i suspect it would take weeks to fine tune the perfect position with so many adjustments available.

Quality everywhere was excellent with so much leather. Two touchpoints seemed inferior to my F36 though - the iDrive controller (harder plastic surround) and the auto gear stick. The cynic in me thinks this is to make it more tempting to go for the glass upgrade option.

the drive
Standard air suspension gave a superb ride quality over most urban surfaces. This made it a very soothing drive. I spent almost all my time in comfort mode which is fairly soft.

The refinement was very good. The 30d is a far quieter companion here than in the X3 I drove a few months back. Whilst I would prefer a petrol or hybrid, the diesel is definitely 'fine'. Bit of buzz through the accelerator and an overall tone reminds you it's the black pump. Seemed to be fake sound pumped in which made it sound a lot better.

Handling. Hmm. This is where I think the 30d maybe let it down a little. It just doesn't have the power or immediate response to make you feel that the car is doing much more than just strolling around a roundabout. Easy to place, but more power would make it better. Yardstick here was a 400bhp hybrid RRS which hunkered down and pulled through bends in a far more throttle-adjustable way. Feels like the X5 needs a 40i or hybrid to give it better balance.

Driving assistance - parking cameras brilliant, steering intervention an experience!

I will stop rambling and add some pics...

[MashinBenzin]

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[MashinBenzin]

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[MashinBenzin]

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[mikeoz]

Does not look that big in the pics... Clearly it is ..What's with the blue things in the lights?

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by mikeoz

Does not look that big in the pics... Clearly it is ..What's with the blue things in the lights?

Nothing to give it scale. It's pretty chunky, noticeably taller and longer than, say, an X3. Less physically imposing than a RRS or XC90 though I think.

Blue bits = laser lights. So if we skimp on the options list our cars are clearly less cool, with no blue bits.

[JD6]

Did you get to try out the laser lights? I have been pretty unimpressed with BMW’s LEDs, which seem worse than the xenons they replaced, so hope that these are significantly better.

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by JD6

Did you get to try out the laser lights? I have been pretty unimpressed with BMW's LEDs, which seem worse than the xenons they replaced, so hope that these are significantly better.

Unfortunately not, all night driving was under street lamps. I do quite a few 4am drives up the M4 and these would be of interest for that. I already like the distance that my xenons illuminate.

[Archer-s]

How do you rate it against the RRS?
I am still looking, current plan is older X5 for the mrs and new 330d for me, I did find a RRS in budget with spec but Mrs seems set on the X5 at the mo

[MashinBenzin]

Originally Posted by mssond

How do you rate it against the RRS?
I am still looking, current plan is older X5 for the mrs and new 330d for me, I did find a RRS in budget with spec but Mrs seems set on the X5 at the mo

The RRS has more of a wow factor and has a higher driving position- you feel like you can see over everything.

The X5 has a more solid feel and the tech is streets ahead.

The RRS in Dynamic hybrid form handles better and feels far more adjustable to the throttle.

Prefer the looks of the RRS, except for the fact it's a little too in your face and the blingy examples of the breed (bronze roofs etc) are automatically associated with yours. But like having a factory fresh E36 now and being surrounded by all the chavved up ones.

Despite how all of that reads, I think the X5 is a better long term proposition. It's more of a 8/10 in every category and 10/10 for tech. Whereas the RRS veers between lots of 10/10 and lots of 5/10.

[R0B]

Good write-up, MB.

Aesthetically it's definitely a step forward from the F15 at the rear, though the front still looks a bit odd with those grills. Internally a giant leap on, but to be honest the overall quality in the X5 is way, way above the level in a 3 series, and poverty spec 5s.

Power wise, I have the 30d in mine and it's borderline. It still feels fast because you don't expect something so big to move so quickly. And that can be quite fun on occasion when someone is dicking around with me. But then I think back to the F30 with the same engine and that was actually fast.

This was our first 'jeep' (as we term them) in our household and we'll definitely always have one now, but it would be with a bigger lump / an extra turbo next time.

We could have got into a RRS or Cayenne, I.E. a blingy monster but it would have presented political issues in my business, whereas the X5 is a BMW, and a BMW is seen as fairly attainable. But in retrospect and on balance I like that because it's normal enough to pass people by, but when clean and with the right mods, it does turn heads.

[creepy coupe]

I think DPD have smaller vans when they deliver to us. How much bigger can these things realistically get. Might be ok in the USA where they still have room. But the UK?

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by R0bb0

Good write-up, MB.

Aesthetically it's definitely a step forward from the F15 at the rear, though the front still looks a bit odd with those grills. Internally a giant leap on, but to be honest the overall quality in the X5 is way, way above the level in a 3 series, and poverty spec 5s.

Power wise, I have the 30d in mine and it's borderline. It still feels fast because you don't expect something so big to move so quickly. And that can be quite fun on occasion when someone is dicking around with me. But then I think back to the F30 with the same engine and that was actually fast.

This was our first 'jeep' (as we term them) in our household and we'll definitely always have one now, but it would be with a bigger lump / an extra turbo next time.

We could have got into a RRS or Cayenne, I.E. a blingy monster but it would have presented political issues in my business, whereas the X5 is a BMW, and a BMW is seen as fairly attainable. But in retrospect and on balance I like that because it's normal enough to pass people by, but when clean and with the right mods, it does turn heads.

I think that sums it up nicely. One of the reasons I chose SQ5 over Macan was the (lack of) image, it does what I need but oooks little different to a normal Q5 or Q3...

It would be between this and Q7 if I wanted one that big - and that might just come down to best deal on the day if I was looking at diesel. Audi don’t offer a Q7 to compete with the 40i though...

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

I think that sums it up nicely. One of the reasons I chose SQ5 over Macan was the (lack of) image, it does what I need but oooks little different to a normal Q5 or Q3...

It would be between this and Q7 if I wanted one that big - and that might just come down to best deal on the day if I was looking at diesel. Audi don’t offer a Q7 to compete with the 40i though...

Image is a funny thing. One of the reasons the X3 was always going to be a long shot for us was that wife thinks that SUVs are mainly driven by mums wanting to impress other mums on the school run, based on the other mums she knows that drive SUVs to impress other mums on the school run.......

The 5 touring on the other hand, is somewhat more discrete.

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by R0bb0

Good write-up, MB.

Aesthetically it's definitely a step forward from the F15 at the rear, though the front still looks a bit odd with those grills. Internally a giant leap on, but to be honest the overall quality in the X5 is way, way above the level in a 3 series, and poverty spec 5s.

Power wise, I have the 30d in mine and it's borderline. It still feels fast because you don't expect something so big to move so quickly. And that can be quite fun on occasion when someone is dicking around with me. But then I think back to the F30 with the same engine and that was actually fast.

This was our first 'jeep' (as we term them) in our household and we'll definitely always have one now, but it would be with a bigger lump / an extra turbo next time.

We could have got into a RRS or Cayenne, I.E. a blingy monster but it would have presented political issues in my business, whereas the X5 is a BMW, and a BMW is seen as fairly attainable. But in retrospect and on balance I like that because it's normal enough to pass people by, but when clean and with the right mods, it does turn heads.

Agree with this word for word, having made the same change from 330d to F15 30d for the family hack.

When it comes time for replacement, this will definitely be on my list. I'd also go for a bigger lump up front, and diesel still makes most sense in a car like this, but I don't think they're doing the 40d equivalent this time? I'd consider a jump to the M50d if I was going to be using it a lot, otherwise would likely stick with the newer 30d or a hybrid option.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Bryans69

Image is a funny thing. One of the reasons the X3 was always going to be a long shot for us was that wife thinks that SUVs are mainly driven by mums wanting to impress other mums on the school run, based on the other mums she knows that drive SUVs to impress other mums on the school run.......

The 5 touring on the other hand, is somewhat more discrete.

Whereas I came from a series of estates (Merc, Volvo) and didn’t want to look like another sales manager on the motorway!

Plus I like the high seating position. As I found when my wife had a SUV for the school run (and pulling a massive caravan)...

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Whereas I came from a series of estates (Merc, Volvo) and didn’t want to look like another sales manager on the motorway!

Plus I like the high seating position. As I found when my wife had a SUV for the school run (and pulling a massive caravan)...

Ha. Gone for de-badged, so look more like a copier engineer

I genuinely don't get the high seating position thing. You still can't see past the white van that is never more than three cars in front in any line of traffic.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Bryans69

Ha. Gone for de-badged, so look more like a copier engineer

I genuinely don't get the high seating position thing. You still can't see past the white van that is never more than three cars in front in any line of traffic.

Most of my driving is on motorways. You don’t get too many vans in the fast lane (or overtaking lane two...), but lots of copier engineers that you can look over / through before you drive past them....

[Oceanic]

Please tell me there is a sync feature on the heating controls an you don't have to adjust both driver and passenger like the F30

[Wills2]

The sync button is of no real use in my opinion, I don't touch the temp it's at 22c and stays there if I want it slightly cooler/warmer I adjust the air flow temp, why would you touch the actually temp as that's the temp you want regardless of the conditions outside that's what it will get to and you can fine tune from there.

[skipraider]

I still can't get over the grilles. They look f**king ridiculous.

[Oceanic]

Originally Posted by Wills2

The sync button is of no real use in my opinion, I don't touch the temp it's at 22c and stays there if I want it slightly cooler/warmer I adjust the air flow temp, why would you touch the actually temp as that's the temp you want regardless of the conditions outside that's what it will get to and you can fine tune from there.

I vary mine between 20-21-22 depending on what clothing I'm wearing, I don't want to guess at it with the wheel of fortune, I want an actual temperature and don't expect to have to adjust it twice, most cars have a sync button for good reason, it just makes life easier if you drive the car on your own most of the time.