BMW X5

[baby_troupe]

Hey guys.
Got to drive one of these "Luxury" 4wds a few months ago & as an offroader did not think much of it.
I drove the 4.0 & was impressed with the comfort & power, but as for offroad I was not impressed.
I scraped the front bar on a small (i mean tiny) creek bed crossing & the traction control @ low speed was ordinary. It made all of the right sounds as it was searching for drive (crunch crunch grind grind), but was losing heaps of momentum while it was doing so. I lifted the front pass wheel about 1 foot off the ground on a small banked turn (no flex) & it looked like we would be stuck there. We did eventually get the vehicle off, but you would think that the traction control on a 100K plus car would be better.

They allow you to get to the chalet in great comfort with the ski's on the BMW integrated roof bars though, and Strauss sounds so good through the entertainment system... ;D

[baby_troupe]

The sound system, TV & climate control were all very good.
Problem was all the alarms going off as I launched it at a small hill (it got stuck first go, so I used the power of the 4.0 to give me momentum).
Launch control was good, great power down, & good bounce after the hill (a little air was achieved without trying too hard)

[joehupp]

If I were to buy an X5, it would be the 3.0d variant!!!

[Grimsey]

a mate of dads had one and there not all that good on road aswell. I think you will find it was a 4.4l as they do not make a 4.0. But people must like them because i was speaking to our local BMW dealer with dad the other day and there is like a 6 month waiting list on the 3.0 d.

[Rocky]

The only people I know who owns one of these things wouldn't know the first thing about offroading and they hire someone every couple of weeks to detail it it keep it looking new. I still don't understand why anyone would pay so much for one of these other than to show off their wealth a bit?? Maybe I'm just jealous :P

[BushTuckerNed]

Why is there a post from the Shed Guy, buts its Bt's sig line pic etc............am i seeing things? ???

[dogbreath_48]

...to show off their wealth a bit??

Think you hit the nail on the head there. Same goes for road-going merc/BMW wagons. uuuugly! (hang on..all BMW's/Mercs are road going.... well, bar the unimog and g-wagen)

-Stu :)

[2 BRUTAL]

they had at least 2 of these in the DAKAR going fairly strong until a couple of big crash's finished at least 1 of them off, not sure if any finished tho, would be a good place to sort them out.

[GQANDGU]

they had at least 2 of these in the DAKAR going fairly strong until a couple of big crash's finished at least 1 of them off, not sure if any finished tho, would be a good place to sort them out.


Yeh, but we all know that NONE of the Factory entrants in the DAKAR are stock standard as you and I would buy them. Even the good old NISSANS were specailly built.

Why is there a post from the Shed Guy, buts its Bt's sig line pic etc............am i seeing things? ???


when somebody cancells their account, for whatever reason it uses the sig from the post above it..... looks weird

[2 BRUTAL]

they had at least 2 of these in the DAKAR going fairly strong until a couple of big crash's finished at least 1 of them off, not sure if any finished tho, would be a good place to sort them out.


Yeh, but we all know that NONE of the Factory entrants in the DAKAR are stock standard as you and I would buy them. Even the good old NISSANS were specailly built.

I think they were in production class or whatever there equivalent is which is close to factory spec but with all the safety gear, but yer i know what you mean, like the EVO 3 pajero's I'd love 1 of them.

I think they were in production class or whatever there equivalent is which is close to factory spec but with all the safety gear, but yer i know what you mean, like the EVO 3 pajero's I'd love 1 of them.


I don't fully understand the Dakar class system, but regardless of what was under the skin, the X5s used bodyshells visually identical to the production cars (they might have still been carbon-fibre for all I know). The Pajeros, Touaregs and Nissans all had custom bodies draped over space-frame steel chassis.

Engines have to be loosely production-based, so the X5 and Touareg used modified examples of their six- and five-cylinder diesels (respectively), while the Pajero and Nissan both had four-litre V6s.

But yeah, the X5s used in the Dakar are in a completely different league to the road-going version which, while a beautiful thing to commute in, is really only good for a little bit of beach and snow work.