RE: BMW X5 M50d: Driven

[robm3]

fernando the frog said:

for that sort of money i'd rather buy a brand new land cruiser with all of the toys

That would be a massive mistake, the new Landcruiser Sahara is a dynamic mess (as is the interior).

[Chestrockwell]

GranCab said:

SQ7 ... more seats, more power, more torque, quicker ... and all for about the same dosh.

I think it boils down to preference of the brand at this rate, SQ7 might have more shove on paper but in the real world, there’s not going to be much between them and I think there’s more chance of Elvis Presley coming back to life and starring in the next Eastenders Christmas special than an X5 50d owner and an SQ7 seeing eachother on the road and deciding to have a race

I thought the new Q7 was hideous when it come out but it’s grown on me quite a lot however I think I’d have the X5, not because I prefer BMW’s (which I do), but because of the interior, BMW are on a roll with the interiors, retaining the driver focused cockpit they’ve always had with the same gear selector lay out.

I’m in love with that X5, if only I had 71k or 700 pounds a month to spare.

[TheDrBrian]

E65Ross said:

Engine sounds good though, for a diesel.

That'll be the mp3 in the stereo

[Limpet]

jjr1 said:

The only thing letting this and all BMW's down at the monet is you can't have Android Auto with them.

This is a big let down for me, also. BMW's mobile integration capability is poor, and is massively out of step with the market. Car Play is only offered on a subscription model, and there's no support for Android Auto at all, despite 3 out of every 4 mobile devices globally being Android powered.

Available on a Hyundai i10 or Ford Fiesta, but not available on a "premium" product at any price? Come on, BMW. Not good enough.

[HoHoHo]

Limpet said:

jjr1 said:

The only thing letting this and all BMW's down at the monet is you can't have Android Auto with them.

This is a big let down for me, also. BMW's mobile integration capability is poor, and is massively out of step with the market. Car Play is only offered on a subscription model, and there's no support for Android Auto at all, despite 3 out of every 4 mobile devices globally being Android powered.

Available on a Hyundai i10 or Ford Fiesta, but not available on a "premium" product at any price? Come on, BMW. Not good enough.

I have Apple CarPlay on my F15 and to be honest it offers no more than the standard iDrive, I never use it, perhaps I’m missing something?

It’s a one off £230 cost either when new or to activate at a later time and I shouldn’t have spent the money.

[aeropilot]

HoHoHo said:

Limpet said:

jjr1 said:

The only thing letting this and all BMW's down at the monet is you can't have Android Auto with them.

This is a big let down for me, also. BMW's mobile integration capability is poor, and is massively out of step with the market. Car Play is only offered on a subscription model, and there's no support for Android Auto at all, despite 3 out of every 4 mobile devices globally being Android powered.

Available on a Hyundai i10 or Ford Fiesta, but not available on a "premium" product at any price? Come on, BMW. Not good enough.

I have Apple CarPlay on my F15 and to be honest it offers no more than the standard iDrive, I never use it, perhaps I’m missing something?

It’s a one off £230 cost either when new or to activate at a later time and I shouldn’t have spent the money.

I didn't spend the money when I ordered my F15, and haven't missed something I'd never use, but then I pretty much only use my mobile for err.....making calls and sending messages, the latter you wouldn't do when driving anyway, and the bluetooth integration works fine for the former, so like you I'm not sure what I'm missing
I'm more interested in comfort and driving than geek-gadgets.

[theboss]

rassi said:

I had a F15 M50D for 6 months, and stupidly bought it to replace a F10 M5, which obviously made it feel like a very slow boat indeed. Got 24.5 MPG over 10.000 km, had it remapped to 435 bhp and 840 nm, and while it made it as fast as I thought it should be, it was still not a particularly good drive, and very thirsty for the performance. The F10 M5 was not much more thirsty.

This model is an improvement in the interior and the new quad turbo is probably very nice, if complex, but as others noted, if you really want a silly fast diesel SUV, an SQ7 is a better bet.

Interesting observations. I had a 2012 E70 40d previously and having ran my F10 M5 for 4 years now I’m facing changes in family circumstances which means I’m missing some of the benefits of the X5 notably the third row. I wondered if I should have grabbed a F15 on the run-out last year when they were being offered with huge discounts and 0%.

I’m not keen on the look of this new thing and prices seem to have gone up substantially.

Looking at this sort of feedback I feel I’m probably better off keeping the M5 and just picking up another E70 for which I still have a set of winters, rather than expecting a new one of these to become all things.

If buying new then the SQ7 does also look like a better bet especially if the third row is more usable.

[E65Ross]

TheDrBrian said:

E65Ross said:

Engine sounds good though, for a diesel.

That'll be the mp3 in the stereo

I meant from a statistics perspective, but have a all the same

[sr.guiri]

jjr1 said:

I had the new X5 on loan for a day last week and was absolutely stunned by how much I liked it.

I think you're exaggerating

Loads of hate for this vehicle. Funny how we like to visit this site and have a good old winge....something I'm trying really hard not to do

fking piece of st!! Whoops, sorry, I couldn't help myself

[schaeffs]

ashway said:

I'm in the same boat 2 years in and still love mine, it does our annual trek down to Spain with ease and in comfort. Would buy the new one again if I could get the same sort of deal as the current one.

In exactly the same boat - had ours for almost four years now and still love it. It's perfect for the ski-run to France/Switzerland and the summer trek onto the continent. Have had one fill do nigh on 1,000km on a cruise on the continent. It really is epically good for what it is designed to do - carry a family in comfort and crush continents. For me its a toss up between the new M50d and 45e as a replacement - but i think the M50d will win.

Oh - and spec sheet tip - don't get the M-adaptive suspension, spec it with the 2-axle air suspension instead. Much better ride/handling compromise.

For those who think SQ7 - go and drive both. I have, and apart from the sound of the SQ7 - the M50d wins hands down - its not even close.

[HoHoHo]

schaeffs said:

ashway said:

I'm in the same boat 2 years in and still love mine, it does our annual trek down to Spain with ease and in comfort. Would buy the new one again if I could get the same sort of deal as the current one.

In exactly the same boat - had ours for almost four years now and still love it. It's perfect for the ski-run to France/Switzerland and the summer trek onto the continent. Have had one fill do nigh on 1,000km on a cruise on the continent. It really is epically good for what it is designed to do - carry a family in comfort and crush continents. For me its a toss up between the new M50d and 45e as a replacement - but i think the M50d will win.

Oh - and spec sheet tip - don't get the M-adaptive suspension, spec it with the 2-axle air suspension instead. Much better ride/handling compromise.

For those who think SQ7 - go and drive both. I have, and apart from the sound of the SQ7 - the M50d wins hands down - its not even close.

I'm also thinking about the Hybrid, there's a bit of confusion but I'm told it's 50gms/km so will be a good choice of company car in 202 when the BIK rules start to use electric mileage as well as co2 out of the exhaust. It's also got a straight six 3L petrol rather than the current 2L petrol which is a better lump to have once the battery has died.

[greghm]

flatso said:

Have a good hard look at this blob ...
At some point normal cars will be a safety lliability,

I like this and I would go even further: "in a not too distant future, human drivers will be a safety liability" !

[Ray_Aber]

Nice inside. Side profile isn't too bad. Front is a grotesque caricature of Bugs Bunny in a toothpaste advert. I can find cars unattractive, but this and the new 7 Series are cartoonish in their ugliness. Mind you, the Bangle 7 series from 2001 (ish) still sets the benchmark for me.

[Ares]

Quhet said:

It'll be interesting to see whether they sell. At a point where everyone is deserting diesel, I can't many buying them...

Big SUVs are one of the few areas I can still see the pull of diesel, and 400bhp worth of waft is attractive for a family truck.

Sure, if fuel was the price it was in the US, we'd all have the ubiquitous 5/6 litre V8, but it isn't, so this makes sense.

....and £70k for a well appointed, large car with 400bhp isn't bad value in today's world.

[theboss]

Ray_Aber said:

Nice inside. Side profile isn't too bad. Front is a grotesque caricature of Bugs Bunny in a toothpaste advert. I can find cars unattractive, but this and the new 7 Series are cartoonish in their ugliness. Mind you, the Bangle 7 series from 2001 (ish) still sets the benchmark for me.

I am hoping this might just somehow look better in the flesh.

I have always liked BMWs and tended to stick with them because of the inherent familiarity “in spite” of reputation and in some cases (eg E65) challenging looks.

I prefer form over function and wouldn’t generally buy one car over another just for its looks, nor the opposite - until now!!

The facelifted 7 and the new X7 just look atrocious and hence I would have to have a look at an SQ7 if I did decide to plough money into a new quick 7-seat family car. I just can’t ignore how bad they look on paper.

[Ares]

GranCab said:

SQ7 ... more seats, more power, more torque, quicker ... and all for about the same dosh.

....but drives like st. These cars aren't supposed to be drivers cars, but they should still be nice to drive. When the X5 came out 20yrs ago, there was a gulf between it and the Merc ML (I had an ML), it brought a car like drive to a large SUV. Revolutionised the sector.

For my money, having only driven a 30d of the current 2019 X5, and an SQ7, that same gulf seems to be evident. The 3.5tonne Yukon SLT XL I hired in the US last month was a better drive than the SQ7 IMO.

[theboss]

Ares said:

....but drives like st. These cars aren't supposed to be drivers cars, but they should still be nice to drive. When the X5 came out 20yrs ago, there was a gulf between it and the Merc ML (I had an ML), it brought a car like drive to a large SUV. Revolutionised the sector.

For my money, having only driven a 30d of the current 2019 X5, and an SQ7, that same gulf seems to be evident. The 3.5tonne Yukon SLT XL I hired in the US last month was a better drive than the SQ7 IMO.

Would you take the 30d X5 over the SQ7 for this reason?

[Ares]

theboss said:

Ares said:

....but drives like st. These cars aren't supposed to be drivers cars, but they should still be nice to drive. When the X5 came out 20yrs ago, there was a gulf between it and the Merc ML (I had an ML), it brought a car like drive to a large SUV. Revolutionised the sector.

For my money, having only driven a 30d of the current 2019 X5, and an SQ7, that same gulf seems to be evident. The 3.5tonne Yukon SLT XL I hired in the US last month was a better drive than the SQ7 IMO.

Would you take the 30d X5 over the SQ7 for this reason?

I'd take the X5 30d and £15k change everyday.....

Taking cost out, it depends on its use. As my only car, probably not. As Mrs Ares car, yes.

But that's not really comparing apples with apples is it? I'd take the 3.0 X5 over the 3.0 Q7, and the 50d over the SQ7.

[nickfrog]

aeropilot said:

I didn't spend the money when I ordered my F15, and haven't missed something I'd never use, but then I pretty much only use my mobile for err.....making calls and sending messages, the latter you wouldn't do when driving anyway, and the bluetooth integration works fine for the former, so like you I'm not sure what I'm missing
I'm more interested in comfort and driving than geek-gadgets.

The two are not incompatible. I am gadget adverse but Android really isn't a gadget, it's a fantastic tool, particularly from a comfort and ergonomics point of view as everything becomes voice controlled out of one device in a way that no oe equipment can match IME. Having Spotify and Google maps and contacts and calendar all integrated into one seamlessly and with minimum input is just brilliant and I would only not miss it if I never had it. It actually helps you focus on the driving rather than be a cognitive distraction, it's that good. BMW will soon offer it on the entire range I am sure.

[Dr Nookie]

I'm a little disappointed they've stopped at 4 turbo's.
I for one can't wait for the 2025 X5 which if rumours are to be believed will be a 500cc octupal turbo motor, with 2000 lb/ft from 20 rpm.

It's the future people....