1000 mile road trip with X5d

Thought I would share some impressions from my 800+mi trip from Milwaukee WI back to Atlanta, GA in my new to me x5d. some quick background on the sale:

Able to locate a 2011 with under 14000 miles but it was in Wisconsin. So I call the number on autotrader and I speak with a very nice, knowledgeable owner. My mother grew up in town not too far away from where the car was located so I asked what his last name was. Turns out, its the nephew of one of my uncle's oldest and best friends. Our families have known each other for say 30 years! So a ffew conversations later, we have a deal, and I am on delta for 100 bucks up to Milwaukee a week ago Friday. Get the deal done on Friday afternoon, go out with cousins for fish fry (wisconsin tradition on Friday nights) and off I go at 430am the next morning after getting in bed a little past midnight.

Get on I-43 and set the cruise at a GPS speed of 75 and I am on my way. First impressions as the sun comes up
The pros:
1. How massive and solid the car is at speed...vault like. Morse so than my wife's 335d
2. 24 mpgs; not bad at all
3. This sun roof is awesome
4. Sportseats are really comfortable
5. High quality fit and finish
6. The engine HP and torque

The cons
1. Can't see the right hand turn signal with hands at 10 and 2. Need to be at 9 and 3. Did they not drive the car?
2. 20" inch and tires feel ultra heavy and you feel pretty much every road imperfection. on I-65 south in Indiana the highway is actually rutted in some areas like an old dirt road and that wheel was having a hard time keeping it straight as the tires tracked each new rut.
3. Needs one more gear or they need to change final drive ratio. Cruising at 75 is almost 2500 on the tach. Wish it was 2000 as that could potentially make a big impact, for the positive, in the mpgs.
4. Sound system leaves somthing to be desired
6. Voice prompts suck...I've got like 700 contacts in my iphone and I can't scroll to the Rs every single time.

First stop was Lousivlle, KY for gas...average of a solid 25 mpg at that point at 72.3 mph. Better but not 26 - 28mpg which is where I thought I might have been given little traffic and constant speed.

2nd stop was nashville for the night. Approx 11 hours and 800 miles....

Up the next morning early (430 again) and in ATL at 10am qith the time change. Can I say those seats are great. Much better than the base which we have in my wife's 2010 335d. It's almost criminal that they put those things in there.

last comment: the engine is nothing short of amazing going up over the ridges in and around Chattenooga...little down shifting and passing ease from 60 - 90. No muss no fuss passing the ****ty little cheap cars that we see on the roads with a house full of crap in them that are in the left lane.

So we now have 2 diesels and right now we're on the wrong side of this fuel price trade but I am ok with that...some of the best engines BMW has made in my opinion.

Thanks for letting me ramble here.

Thanks for the review & nice story. I can understand driving fast with the long trip but I kinda wish someone would actually drive the speed limit instead of 5, 10 15 or 20 MPH over it in each of these reviews to give us an idea of what fuel economy is possible with these SUVs. I read one review where a guy averaged 80MPH (that is an AVERAGE which included him slowing down for exit ramps, etc so he was probably doing more like 85 MOST of the way & he got similar fuel economy. Just once, I'd like to see what kind of fuel economy someone gets driving 65 on the interstate for 4 hours or so. It would also be helpful to know if there were head-winds that may have impeded your progress (or tail-winds that assisted should that be the case). Coming through the Mountains like you did, I would say that your fuel economy may not have been too bad. Not certain if there were any drive train differences between the '11 & the '12s so I'll have to check my 75MPH speed and get back with you to let you know if ours are @ 2,500RPMs as well at that speed.

PS - I do have a ski trip planned so will be able to report my results in another thread in about a week and a half. I will have a hitch-mounted ski rack that imparts a minor amount of wind resistance but should not make 0.5 MPG difference

Nice review. I agree with the BMW X5 35D does feel its need one more gear. Then again, lot of members complained about BMW 8 speed and its slow start. So I am happy to stick with 6 speed auto.

My advice: switch over to the world of 18". Its nice and comfortable.

Originally Posted by ndabunka

Thanks for the review & nice story. I can understand driving fast with the long trip but I kinda wish someone would actually drive the speed limit instead of 5, 10 15 or 20 MPH over it in each of these reviews to give us an idea of what fuel economy is possible with these SUVs. I read one review where a guy averaged 80MPH (that is an AVERAGE which included him slowing down for exit ramps, etc so he was probably doing more like 85 MOST of the way & he got similar fuel economy. Just once, I'd like to see what kind of fuel economy someone gets driving 65 on the interstate for 4 hours or so. It would also be helpful to know if there were head-winds that may have impeded your progress (or tail-winds that assisted should that be the case). Coming through the Mountains like you did, I would say that your fuel economy may not have been too bad. Not certain if there were any drive train differences between the '11 & the '12s so I'll have to check my 75MPH speed and get back with you to let you know if ours are @ 2,500RPMs as well at that speed.

PS - I do have a ski trip planned so will be able to report my results in another thread in about a week and a half. I will have a hitch-mounted ski rack that imparts a minor amount of wind resistance but should not make 0.5 MPG difference

Actually, somebody did drove at the speed limit of 55 mph in Canada. His MPG was very good. He drove at that speed to enjoy the view.

Nice review. I agree with the turn signals, but there are some other dash designs that seem like you have to work to see the function. I have the premium sound and find it is much better than standard option. I plugged my iphone in before buying with both units and the premium is better. I doubt you have experienced driving it in cold weather yet. I'm in the Northeast. The last few weeks, we're waking up to low 20s and frost on the windows. At first start the engine sounds like a tank for a few miles until it heats up. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but the gurgle of the engine is a new experience. I wish there was one more gear too. I traded a 535xi for the X5d and really appreciate not dealing with the constant lag when going from stop. Your review of the sports seats are spot on. Even the head rests feel great when you lean into them. Agree on the voice prompts too. I would have seen some of the touch screen features in other cars and like the way you can dial a number. Forget about using the idrive wheel. It's just too much work.

Thanks for he replies...we're heading down to Beaufort, SC for the New Year. I've done that drive at the speed limit in my wife's 335d. 42MPG! Maybe high 20s in the x5d...I'll post when I get the chance.

Around town the car is starting to feel "smaller" so that's a good thing as the first week was spent agonizing around corners and just generally just "feeling" may way the parking garage.

Thrilled with the purchase.

Originally Posted by 27outboard

Can't see the right hand turn signal with hands at 10 and 2.

FWIW, nowadays they're teaching people to use 9 and 3 rather than 10 and 2.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/get-...l-wrong-518710

Originally Posted by Penguin

FWIW, nowadays they're teaching people to use 9 and 3 rather than 10 and 2.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/get-...l-wrong-518710

that's what I thought when I read that as well....it's not BMWs fault you have your hands in the wrong position good review though I also find it feels small around town, almost more like a big car than an SUV. You shouldn't have to much trouble trading those 20" for a set of 18" and some $$$ the 18" have much skinnier 255mm all around so you would likely find them more pleasing then the 20" 275/315mm widths the 18" 255mm don't seem to track as bad as the wide 20" tires in IMO.

I tried to drive my 2010 X5 35d cruising at 65 mph for about 100 miles. I got 31 mpg according to the trip computer. Cruising on the right lane with these semis was no fun at all! I am much happier with 27-28 mpg cruising at 75 mph.

Have also noticed that the steering wheel, depending on how it is positioned, can hide the turn signal as well.

Switched out the 20s to 19s. Right choice for ATL roads. But miss that look. Otherwise, everything is awesome and we are getting ready for our trip to Beaufort so that will be the next time for some mpg testing. Probably another long trip to dc for our daughters graduation. Any thoughts on things to stop and see to or from dc to ATL.

Quick update: just finished our drive from atl to Beaufort sc. So it 300 miles and we did the speed limit all the way down. 29 mpg at anvg of 68mph. Actually was up to 29.7 at one point but then the speed limit increased from 65 to 70. Impressive especially with a car fully loaded and bikes on the back with a trailer hitch mount.

Old Volvo wagon would have been in the mid 20s!

Great MPG. I just checked mine. 23.7 mpg and almost all of it was city. MPG is def. improving

Update from the return. So the return trip from Beaufort was 300 miles. Avg speed of 69.7 and and mpg was 26.9. I don't think the 3mpg difference was the result of the 1mph difference but rather the gain in elevation. Once on 16 it is All up hill back to Atlanta from beaufort.

We also had ton of rain once we picked up 75n and I am impressed that it didn't hydroplane or get squirley on me at all.

Nice review.

I got almost 30 mpg driving down from Tahoe with some traffic, so I agree that elevation matters a lot. It was in the low 20's going up the hill.

I have also noticed my mileage improving now that I am at 6K, but that probably won't change much over time in OP's case.

Originally Posted by 27outboard

Have also noticed that the steering wheel, depending on how it is positioned, can hide the turn signal as well.

Switched out the 20s to 19s. Right choice for ATL roads. But miss that look. Otherwise, everything is awesome and we are getting ready for our trip to Beaufort so that will be the next time for some mpg testing. Probably another long trip to dc for our daughters graduation. Any thoughts on things to stop and see to or from dc to ATL.

+1 on the turn signal. I'm only 5'11" and I like my steering a little low...X5 should be designed to see the turn signal at any height of the steering wheel.

WRT contacts list, I had the same issue with the iPhone. The solution is to set up a custom phone list of the contacts that you are most likely to use on the go. Then go into the iPhone settings>Bluetooth. Touch the blue arrow next to the paired vehicle and select only the custom list to pair.