E60 to E70

Hi Everyone...

Littl background of myself with BMW's.. My first BMW was a 2007 E60 525i which I leased for 3 years... Enjoyed the ride very much although it felt underpowered for my taste. The car had 6MT which was fun to drive.

My second BMW ( current ) I did it the right way and got the 2010 E60 535i with sports package. It has been a blast driving this car as everything was exactly how I expected.
Only negative thing I can say about this car is that I can't drive it in the snow and I feel that I need the extra space. Both cars were ordered to my specifications with my SA.

I'm not too fond of the new F10 design and ride handling so I've decided to either go with the X3 or X5.. I'm however leaning towards the X5 since it does seem "Roomier" however, I've checked the specifications on BMW website and found that it seems the X3 has a higher headroom??

I was wondering if there were other previous or current E60 owners who have experience with the X5 and wondered if they could share their thoughts?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Kzang

Hi Everyone...

Littl background of myself with BMW's.. My first BMW was a 2007 E60 525i which I leased for 3 years... Enjoyed the ride very much although it felt underpowered for my taste. The car had 6MT which was fun to drive.

My second BMW ( current ) I did it the right way and got the 2010 E60 535i with sports package. It has been a blast driving this car as everything was exactly how I expected.
Only negative thing I can say about this car is that I can't drive it in the snow and I feel that I need the extra space. Both cars were ordered to my specifications with my SA.

I'm not too fond of the new F10 design and ride handling so I've decided to either go with the X3 or X5.. I'm however leaning towards the X5 since it does seem "Roomier" however, I've checked the specifications on BMW website and found that it seems the X3 has a higher headroom??

I was wondering if there were other previous or current E60 owners who have experience with the X5 and wondered if they could share their thoughts?

Thanks.

I can't give an opinion on the E60, but I was looking at an X3 as I had a previous E53 X5
and the redesigned X3 was supposed to be the same size as the E53 , The X3 felt substantially smaller to me, the deal killer was the back seat, the seats have to be the most upright seats I have ever seen. After seeing the back seats I never proceeded any further.

The new X3 does look as big as the older X5's from the outside. I've sat in the driver seat and felt to be ok and similiar roominess as my 5 series if not bigger.
I've never paid attention to the back seat but just by glancing at it I thought it was kinda small. I also think that the X5 back seat is smaller than it should be. It is almost comparable to my 5 series back seat just from the looks of it.

Kzang, do sit on both. Have you test driven both? I felt the X5 is roomier.

By the way, the X5 is the among last BMWs in the line up that still use hydraulic steering. It's feel would be closest to the E60 that you're used to. X3 and F10, perhaps a bit on the numb side.

I have '08 535i with SP and just got new X5 35i for my wife. It's still under 1,000 miles on X5 but I can tell you it's much bigger car, especially in the back, I'm 6'2" and I have plenty of legroom. The headroom is adequate but not generous and the front seating position is more car like than in some other SUVs, for me it's the only negative about X5s interior but my much shorter wife doesn't notice it at all.

The other negative about X5 is ride, it is stiff, E60 with SP rides better and our X5 doesn't have sports suspension...

You will miss the power of your 535i unless you go with 50i but 35i is no slouch, probably faster than your old 525i.

I have owned X5's and 5 series at the same time since 2002ish. I really like having the two. I do have a 2012 50 and right now I am liking the X5 a bit more than the 550 but it just depends on the day. I view the two as filling different rolls in my family and they do it quite well. I thought of maybe getting a X5m but I do like the smaller feel of the 550 when you have that summer day urge to have a bit of a spirited drive. The wife loves the X5 and prefers to drive it. She is so used to the X5 size that it does not even bother her. The only thing that bothers here is when she has to drive the 550 and complains because it is not as fast as here X5 and doesn't have heads up.