X5M, 1000 mile review
For those of you who might have missed my delivery pics, they can be found in the lounge:
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I'll start with the bad just to get it out of the way.
- Drivers side mirror is in-op. Probably means I have to leave it at BMW for a day..
- Chugs gas like it's a share holding member of OPEC.
- Thigh bolsters on the seats don't seem like they're going to hold up long term.
Now that we have that info out of the way lets start with a little personal info. I'm an open wheel racer. Race in the Skip Barber regional series. I'm not the fastest guy out there but usually finish just off the podium. I also have two 911's that are tracked quite frequently. My point is, while I'm not a pro driver I speak from a fairly informed place.
In addition, this is my third X5. Owned a 2001 4.4i and a 2004 4.8is.
Okay, lets talk about the ///M. Pardon my french but, HOLY ****. I drove 500 miles of coast, twists, switchbacks, increasing radius turns, decreasing radius turns. I had deer jump out 10 ft. in front of the roundel, slippery leaf encrusted-forrest roads, rain, traffic and awesome open roads.
My buddy who drove with me is also a race car driver. Incidentally, he hates any and all cars that aren't, rwd, slammed, rear engined and pre 1998. To say that he is an air cooled 911 leg humper is an understatement. He LOVES the X5M and wants one desperately. I've never heard so many positive adjectives leave his mouth. He is now a believer.
-Collectively we were astounded, turn after turn, apex after apex, braking zone after braking zone. The X5M doesn't believe in the laws of physics. A truck that big and that heavy has no business accelerating, braking and handling the way it does and it does so with relative ease. Check that.. With desire, attack and accomplishment.
The ///M is so completely neutral it's scary. It seemed to project what the driver wanted to do and was doing it before inputs were even entered. Amazingly though, there wasn't anything boring about it. It was freaking exciting. Granted I haven't had it on the track yet and wasn't going to push it to the limit on public roads, but even in our spirited drive, we had plenty of performance left on the table and we were hauling serious ***.
No noticeable turbo lag. Lays down power like a sledge hammer. 3rd gear is absolutely brilliant. And the transmission is outstanding. I like it much better than the SMG. It might be a touch less crisp than the SMG II but in return you get a smooth, fast and intelligent automatic that keeps you in the right gear. And if you choose to go to manual mode, it doesn't nanny. It's like having all the benefits of the SMG without the downside. Furthermore, you can drop it into D and it cruises smooth as a cadillac. Or slip it into S and it gives you a real sport mode.. Not like the "S" modes of yester years.
We were driving through turns at the same speeds that I would be doing them in a 911. No kidding.
The drivers and passenger seats are sooooo comfortable I can't speak highly enough about them. I'm not crazy about the thigh bolsters but they don't detract from the overwhelmingly comfortable seats. I don't have the comfort seats either or the perforated, ventilated and I don't miss them for one second.
There is a lot of technology and toys to play with on the idrive and around the vehicle. Fortunately it doesn't feel overloaded and even has some fun stuff like a torque distributor display that shows you how the rear and independent wheel bias is being used by the car cpu.
Only major complaint is, 65mph feels like your going 20mph. At 85 my friend joked, I could get out and run faster than this. It's that smooth and that easy. And the ///M will reach major triple digit speeds faster than you could imagine. In addition, it's so composed at high speed that it feels no different at.. Well.. Lets just say "FAST" then it does at 40 mph. -
Oh yeah, thought of one other complaint. Smart phone integration. WTF is that thing? Doesn't seem to do much except take up 1/2 the glove compartment. Either that or I have to buy an additional piece of equipment to make it work.
Lastly, my brother who just got his M5 about two months ago took it for a spirited drive on Mulholland tonight. He's also a racer. His comment, "WOW, didn't think I was going to like it, I love it. I would get one of these.."
In conclusion, BMW has outdone themselves with this vehicle. Some people may hate on it but there just misinformed and have archaic views on what types of vehicles should and shouldn't have performance roots.
The X5///M delivers on every level.
I give it a coveted rating of five stars and only hope this segment is popular enough to keep BMW making variations in the future. Though I can't quite imagine what else they could do to make it better.
Anyone want to buy a 1997 911 Carrera 2S or a 2007 911 Turbo? I'll give a packaged deal on both
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