RAJ27

No I'm not a footballer's wife.

Has anyone had one, no not a footballer's wife.

Thinking of buying one for the missus, and I have seen some good ones on the net for 18k. Can't think of anything else, that has the space for that price. Is there anything else?

Dave Thornton

ML270 or RR td6. Neither are as good but they're not a BMW!

RAJ27

Heard some horror stories on the Mercs. Supposed to have a shocking reliability record. Range Rovers, just seem to be big, maybe to stately for a woman?

turboman786

X5s are very good, competent vehicles, the only bad bit is the image, and in all honesty, who cares!

The 3.0d is the pick of the bunch, BUT dont be expecting good economy on small runs, my mate has one, and he whinges about how thirsty it is aroudn town, especially if its an auto...

Lot of car for £18k though...

Paul_M

Why not a 5-series (get the wagon if you need the space)? Better car in every respect, unless you need to plow fields.

stilover

Because he want's an X5, not a 5 series.

It's called choice.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

I had a 3.0d sport with the 20" out for a test drive. Also tested the Q7, XC90 and VW Touareg. Ordered the new BMW on the basis of the test drive and that all the reviews say it's improved in every area over the old model

Very easy to drive fast and handles like a big estate - Q7 not far behind but just not as sorted.

RAJ27

We've had a E39 530i sport.... nice car, but with another sprog on the way, the saloon boot opening isn't big enough. It's long but not deep, whereas the X5 has a hatch opening, so can swallow "all terrain pushchairs" easily.

Have also considered a 330d touring, but I think it's lacking in space and is bad value for money.

Could possibly try an Audi, but never have been keen on them.

The Chief

[quote=turboman786;6844639]
The 3.0d is the pick of the bunch, BUT dont be expecting good economy on small runs, my mate has one, and he whinges about how thirsty it is aroudn town, especially if its an auto...
quote]


I bet he does not drive a Scoob then he'd have something to whinge about


A 3.0d passed me once on the motorway, i was quite shocked when i saw the 3.0d badge on the back, for such a heavy car they really can pick up their heels.

i was well impressed.


Buy one and stuff the tree swinging Guardian reading* brigade.

(appologies if anyone reads the Guardian)

///\oo/\\\

Ok,

lets take a look at where the 5 series (lets say a touring for comparison) is, basically, pretty crap in this application.

1- It is pretty crap at having a high, commanding driving position with great visibility.

2- It is pretty crap at having a high boot floor that you don't have to stoop into to remove heavy and awkwardly shaped objects which can be slid straight out in the X5

3- It is pretty crap at having good internal cargo area floor to roof height for tall objects

4- It is pretty crap at having great access for attending to kids in car seats without having to bend over to lift them in and out

oh, and lastly

5- It is pretty crap at being an X5

HTH

Paul_M

If he'd said
"I want an X5, so I'm off to buy one. Bye."
Then maybe you'd have a point

I guess you missed the "thinking of buying one" and "is there anything else?" parts in your haste to get a snide comment in.

RAJ27

Easy fellas thanks for your advice, but no need to dig into each other. Just a harmless thread.

Infractfree

Let's take those one by one

1. The X5 doesn't have great visibility, what it does have is loads of blind spots that a 5 hasn't. It is higher though.

2. It's pretty crap in that it has a high boot floor which means it's hard to get heavy objects into it from the ground ie a pram. Considering many of them seem to be driven by talentless female drivers this is as much of a drawback as the 5's perceived weakness. Swings and roundabouts.

3. There is 4cm difference in useable cargo area floor to roof height

4. If you are only 5 foot 2 like most of the poisoned she-dwarves that drive them then you have a similar access problem with kids seats except this time the difficulty is up not down.

5. It's pretty crap at being an X5 which all things considered is probably good.


Unless you have need of 4 wheel drive an X5 isn't as good an all rounder as a 5 touring.

sbk1972

The man is interested in an X5, its a good car, it may not suit everyone, whether in looks, image or practicallity, but living in a free world, one has the choice.

I like them, would I buy one?, perhaps not, I would choose a Toyota Landcruiser Amazon as I dont rate BMW reliablity. Pound for pound, landcruiser amazon 4.2 diesel, for space, size is a better car but not as `car like` to drive.

This forum hates X5's, there seems to be some sort of unspoken rule that anyone that wants a X5, should get a 5 series touring. I disagree, I find the 5 series, unless a M5, a dull looking car.

When choosing a car, I dont just go for practical reasons, I also choose on how the car looks, makes me feel and image. I find the X5 a stunning car, not too sure about the new model coming out, looks wise. I dont like the VW Tourag, or the Volvo, but I do like the Range Rover Sport, so that might be worth a stab.

Whatever the case, let us know what you decide.

Best of luck.

SBK

///\oo/\\\

Alan (I believe you once typed that I could call you that), I appreciate you have a generic hatred for X5s, but have you ever lived with a baby buggy and all the associated crap that comes with a sprog?

Have you ever had to put said sprog into and out of a cars seat repetatively?

All our friends with kids who have had SUV's say the difference is night and day in favour of the SUV when it comes to sprog handling.

Oh, and it may only be 4cm of a difference (my apologies, I thought it was more) but as any woman will tell you, that 4cm can make ALL the difference

Peace dude

Infractfree

I don't have a hatred of X5's neither do I seek to deny anyone the choice of owning one. In reply to the other poster I was merely pointing out that a 5 touring is an excellent alternative to an X5 if you don't require 4 wheel drive.

BTW I now have a 4.4ltr V8 for towing my motorboat replacing my Landcruiser.

RAJ27

Even though I have had a 530i saloon, I do not like the look of the touring. One thing that I have to strongly agree on is the easy of lifting a little kid (20kg by the age of 3 from a higher position, rather than lifting them from a lower position as when we experienced when we had the saloon.

Landcruisers, I find too big and have always hated the Toyota brand (my father swore by them, but I felt that they were boring).

craig5

i own a 3.0d x5 and i can tell you they are a fantastic car or suv.mpg wise they are very good i average 32 mpg.it has also been remapped and is knocking out 600 nm of torch and it will hold its own against most sport cars and i should know as i also have a 450 bhp evo 8

Sub97

I'm not saying you're lieing, but I find it slightly hard to believe a remapped X5 3.0D can hold it's own against a 450 bhp Evo..

Although we may have different definitions of "holding it's own"

craig5

i didn't say it would hold its own against my evo i said against most sport cars

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

Was it a remap or a plug in conversion?
Where di you get the work done and cost pls?

craig5

it was do by e-maps,they just come to you're house and download the new remap to you're car and it costs 350

RAJ27

Hi Craig,

What BHP is it now churning out? Also is the re-map detectable by BMW? Is the re-map worth it in terms of mpg and driveability?

Cheers

Jay

scooby222

on a current shape x5 it should take power from 220 to 270 bhp, my dads just waiting to get his done. i love them, for their size theyre relativelt economical,they tow well,servicing costs are similar to a regular car and are comfortable and able to tackle allsorts. just got in from a 250 mile round trip in ours today,used just over 1/4 of a tank(90 litres though) and covered motorway,a and b roads forest roads and a landrover track we made last year without an aching bone or tiredness in sight. not too many other things that would fulfill that role

shustir

I think the X5 is a fantastic car in many aspects. It just so many things so well, and I am certainly no fan of these types of cars. The more I drive them the more I like them. If your worried about the image all I can say is pot, kettle and black if you drive a Scooby.

craig5

yes around the 260-270 mark and no bmw have never noticed my re-map

Scrappy08

It's a rare find, especially for a BMW.



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sbk1972

Anyone looked at / chipped their X5 with a tunning box ?

Tuning, Performance, power, Diesel, system, puce, turbo, additionnel, tdi,CDI, Tuningbox, HDI tuning, Jetta TDI, Toyota D4D, system

I was told that this little tunning thing simply clicks in, between some connector, and uprates the bhp / and torque. Simple to remove as well.

At one point I was looking at a 3.0D X5 and was going to buy one of those.

I really like X5's, the facelift version, in met. grey looks good. Not too impressed with the new model out, not too keen on the dash, but hopefully this will knock the prices down.

However, my £££ would go on to a landcruiser, 4.2td, wtih some big rims :-)

SBK

craig5

was told by a few people not to touch the tunit box's as they does change all the parameters that is needed for a good safe remap