My new '10 X5 35d!

We just took delivery of our new 2010 Space Grey Metallic X5 35d.

We chose the Black Nevada Leather interior with Dark Bamboo wood trim. It has the Tech Pkg (yes...with the rear view camera), Premium Pkg, Executive Pkg, Sport Pkg, Premium Sound Pkg, Aluminum running boards, and Heads Up display.

With only a few hours of driving time in it already I'll offer a few early observations. It's fast...lol. Really fast...especially compared to our '09 ML320 Bluetec and our old '03 X5 4.4. It handles as expected, and I would agree with another owner that stated the X5 feels more like a car and the ML more like a truck. The X5 is definitely harsher over bumps than the Mercedes.

The stereo system is incredible. I have never heard anything that good in a big empty SUV. I have the Mark Levinson in my IS F, which I love, but this is clearly much better.

The comfort seats are also amazing. They help to cushion the blow over the bumps, but where I'm sure we'll really appreciate them is on long trips.

The HUD is fantastic. I tested the Nav with it to see how if functioned, and while I didn't need it where we were going today, I can definitely see how beneficial it will be if I'm somwhere unfamiliar. I love being able to focus on the road without looking down or away....especially at night with the amount of wildlife we have around here.

A few things that I've been less than impressed with already. I still have no clue as to why BMW Canada does not include or even offer block heaters for their SUV's. It's no secret that it gets ridiculously cold up here...lol. I ran into a new owner of a 35d at the bank prior to my pick up and questioned him on any issues he's faced so far. The only thing he mentioned was that when it got super cold up here (-40 C) that it froze up and had to be towed.

I don't understand why the rear tailgate opens with the remote but you have to physically push the button on the door to close it. In both our ML and our previous RX330 you can open and close the door with a touch of the remote.

I don't like the gear shift sticking up like it does and where it's positioned. I actually prefer the stalk set up on our MB. It dramatically frees up space on the center console. I found it awkward to reach for my coffee with the shifter directly in front of the cupholder. I also find it ridiculous that we don't get paddles on a vehicle that performs this well. Even our ML has paddles.

The quality of the image from the rear view camera is quite disappointing. I like the lines and the park assist, but the image quality is poor. I'm not sure if it's the camera or the monitor or a combination of both, but the rear view camera on my IS F is crystal clear vs. this.

Even with these few criticisms....we are very, very happy with our new purchase. More comments to follow with longer seat time.

I should also give mention to the dealership. We worked with Calgary BMW and specifically Darcy. We have nothing but great things to say about how everything was handled, especially the ordering and camera issue. Thanks so much!

P.S. Sorry about the crappy pics....it was late and the moment we took it outside it was dirty...lol.

Congrats on the new X5d! Regarding the rear view camera, how does it compare to your ML's rear view camera? While test driving the X5, I was very impressed by the parking assist (vs the MB's parktronic), but didn't quite pay attention to the image quality of the rear view camera.

Finally, since you own both diesels, you can now compare first hand which one has better real-world gas mileage. Congrats again!

Congratulations on your new X5!!! We ordered ours with the same color combo, should get it in a couple of weeks. It looks very very nice!

I see that you have the BMW rubber mats, care to comment on them? Enjoy the ride!

Originally Posted by finnbmw

Congratulations on your new X5!!! We ordered ours with the same color combo, should get it in a couple of weeks. It looks very very nice!

I see that you have the BMW rubber mats, care to comment on them? Enjoy the ride!

I have the BMW all weather mats as well. They're great for all seasons. They really work well with the snow we have now. I don't know how cold -40C is, but it was -9F here today and I didn't have any problems with mine freezing up. This is my second winter with mine.

Congratulations and enjoy!

Craig

Hey,

-40C is -40F. I gues that at these temperatures everything freezes.

Originally Posted by Nardo

Hey,

-40C is -40F. I gues that at these temperatures everything freezes.

I don't think the diesel fuel where I'm at is rated to run in those temps. I had mine out this morning -9F and had no problems.

That's cold!

Craig

Congrats!

By the way, up in Alaska they run supplies to research centers and other facilities in the arctic circle using diesel trucks. Temps get down to -70C up there. It all depends on the diesel blend. The question is how does the DEF handle those temps. The active tank is heated but it only holds a few thousand miles worth of the fluid and if the passive tank stays frozen all winter, you may have to top off the active tank to avoid the dreaded no-start thing.

Thanks everyone!

Originally Posted by Cal

Congrats on the new X5d! Regarding the rear view camera, how does it compare to your ML's rear view camera? While test driving the X5, I was very impressed by the parking assist (vs the MB's parktronic), but didn't quite pay attention to the image quality of the rear view camera.

Finally, since you own both diesels, you can now compare first hand which one has better real-world gas mileage. Congrats again!

We don't have the camera on the ML unfortunately. We were in a bit of a time crunch with deciding on a new SUV so we weren't in a position to custom order everything that we wanted.

It's still a little early to say on the gas mileage but I will update in the near future. We are a bit concerned with our ML as it went in for a new software flash last week and the current gas mileage isn't nearly as impressive as before.

Originally Posted by finnbmw

Congratulations on your new X5!!! We ordered ours with the same color combo, should get it in a couple of weeks. It looks very very nice!

I see that you have the BMW rubber mats, care to comment on them? Enjoy the ride!

The mats look very nice and we'll definitely see how they perform this week as we're having unseasonably warm weather and lots of melting going on.

I will say that they are ridiculously overpriced. I picked up a set of Michelin winter mats that look good and perform even better at Costco for $40 for the Mercedes...lol.

Just a quick update.

I seriously don't know how Benz and BMW continue to sell vehicles at this price range and are unable to figure out the electrical components.

We picked up our vehicle on Friday night...drove it home....under 3 hours and 200 km....and it started acting up Saturday morning.:mad0260: I was driving to work, when all of a sudden all of the audio shut down. No radio, no Ipod, no navigation and no Bluetooth.

It was weird because the Idrive showed like it was operating correctly. It continued to happen every time I drove the vehicle over the next couple of days. It wouldn't re-set if you just turned off the vehicle and restarted it. But after a day or work it would start up just fine with everything working. Within 5-15 min. it would shut down again.

Needless to say it went into the shop first thing on Monday morning. They gave me a loaner and kept the car all day. They ran all of the diagnostics and determined that they couldn't replicate the problem. They did find one fault and reset it. Being that I was driving 1 1/2 hours to pick up the vehicle, I questioned if it had been actually test driven and if it worked properly. They took this suggestion and drove it for about 20 minutes before I arrived. I picked it up and drove it home with no issues. I was concerned the next day, but remarkably it worked fine all day.

Unfortunately, on my way to work today the audio shut down again. I have spoken with the service manager and it will be going back in tomorrow. (Luckily for them we are off to Vegas tomorrow so they can have it for a few days). I have informed service and our sales guy that if they are unable to completely figure out and repair the issue while we are gone, we will be returning it. We firmly believe that we were delivered our X5 in an unacceptable condition and don't think we should have any issue. Our sales guy agrees.

I'll let you know the end result.:confused2

Wow! That sucks! Does it still happen if the phone is not paired with the car?

Originally Posted by Halfdragon

Wow! That sucks! Does it still happen if the phone is not paired with the car?

Hmmm...interesting. Not sure, as when we took delivery our sales guy set it up so it automatically pairs up on start.

Do you know something they don't?...lol.

BMW says your phone has to be on the approved list. I think it's a way of getting out of some of their electrical problems. In my Lexus, you can use any bluetooth phone. I use an approved phone in my X5.

Let us know what they come up with...

Good luck,

Craig

I don't have my 35d yet, but currently in my X3 when my iPhone is paired via BT, when an incoming call comes in it blanks all current audio output for maybe 4-5s before the ringing starts.
I haven't seen your issue before, just thought if the BT was having an issue it could be overriding your audio like it does for phone calls, and your dealer wouldn't see it because they're not pairing a phone with it.

Let us know what you find out.

I have an I phone in my X5d and don't have my audio blanking out for 4-5 seconds...

Craig

I had the same thing happen about 3 weeks ago. It has only happend once. I did not have my Bluetooth Phone paired with the car. My wife was selecting a song using the buttons on the CD player when the music stopped playing. For the rest of the 2 hour trip we could select songs on the hard drive or songs on the CD in the CD palyer but they would not play.

Later after the car was off for about an hour I was able to play music off of the HD and the CD without any problem.

I've banned the wife from touching buttons inside the car and we've had no issues since.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

We just took delivery of our new 2010 Space Grey Metallic X5 35d.

We chose the Black Nevada Leather interior with Dark Bamboo wood trim. It has the Tech Pkg (yes...with the rear view camera), Premium Pkg, Executive Pkg, Sport Pkg, Premium Sound Pkg, Aluminum running boards, and Heads Up display.

With only a few hours of driving time in it already I'll offer a few early observations. It's fast...lol. Really fast...especially compared to our '09 ML320 Bluetec and our old '03 X5 4.4. It handles as expected, and I would agree with another owner that stated the X5 feels more like a car and the ML more like a truck. The X5 is definitely harsher over bumps than the Mercedes.

The stereo system is incredible. I have never heard anything that good in a big empty SUV. I have the Mark Levinson in my IS F, which I love, but this is clearly much better.

The comfort seats are also amazing. They help to cushion the blow over the bumps, but where I'm sure we'll really appreciate them is on long trips.

The HUD is fantastic. I tested the Nav with it to see how if functioned, and while I didn't need it where we were going today, I can definitely see how beneficial it will be if I'm somwhere unfamiliar. I love being able to focus on the road without looking down or away....especially at night with the amount of wildlife we have around here.

A few things that I've been less than impressed with already. I still have no clue as to why BMW Canada does not include or even offer block heaters for their SUV's. It's no secret that it gets ridiculously cold up here...lol. I ran into a new owner of a 35d at the bank prior to my pick up and questioned him on any issues he's faced so far. The only thing he mentioned was that when it got super cold up here (-40 C) that it froze up and had to be towed.

I don't understand why the rear tailgate opens with the remote but you have to physically push the button on the door to close it. In both our ML and our previous RX330 you can open and close the door with a touch of the remote.

I don't like the gear shift sticking up like it does and where it's positioned. I actually prefer the stalk set up on our MB. It dramatically frees up space on the center console. I found it awkward to reach for my coffee with the shifter directly in front of the cupholder. I also find it ridiculous that we don't get paddles on a vehicle that performs this well. Even our ML has paddles.

The quality of the image from the rear view camera is quite disappointing. I like the lines and the park assist, but the image quality is poor. I'm not sure if it's the camera or the monitor or a combination of both, but the rear view camera on my IS F is crystal clear vs. this.

Even with these few criticisms....we are very, very happy with our new purchase. More comments to follow with longer seat time.

I should also give mention to the dealership. We worked with Calgary BMW and specifically Darcy. We have nothing but great things to say about how everything was handled, especially the ordering and camera issue. Thanks so much!

P.S. Sorry about the crappy pics....it was late and the moment we took it outside it was dirty...lol.

Would you care to give some pricing details? I am planning to order the same in Edmonton and any feedback would be very useful.

Thanks.

Picked up our semi-fixed X5 last night. They were able to finally duplicate the issue and identified it as being a faulty amplifier. They have installed an amp that works temporarily while they wait for the new one to arrive from Germany. The new one will be installed in two weeks and hopefully that is the end of the problems.

P.S. I was out of town RJ. PM me and I'd be happy to discuss what I worked out on mine.