BMW F15 X5 first impressions
- Thread starter wobbles
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wobbles
Well-Known Member
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
I purposely drove over to PML Alexandra during lunch time, to enjoy their free kwofee (MB next door started charging) and free air-con - and also just to be closer to that fat Sapphire Black whale of mine. The exterior had to be black, I guess, to go with the "Bleak is beeg and bed" (that's how a South African would say it anyway); "Once you've had Black, you can never go back"; "Black is best" theme.
Too bad, they told me my fat black pig isn't anywhere near PML's parking lot. Apparently, it's being washed and prepped and polished for the big reveal, some miles away at some warehouse in Tuas.
Whale. Pig. Kurobuta. I'm starting to like this fatty already.
I promise I'll put the piccies up as soon as I get my chubby grubby fingers on the Fat One.
I purposely drove over to PML Alexandra during lunch time, to enjoy their free kwofee (MB next door started charging) and free air-con - and also just to be closer to that fat Sapphire Black whale of mine. The exterior had to be black, I guess, to go with the "Bleak is beeg and bed" (that's how a South African would say it anyway); "Once you've had Black, you can never go back"; "Black is best" theme.
Too bad, they told me my fat black pig isn't anywhere near PML's parking lot. Apparently, it's being washed and prepped and polished for the big reveal, some miles away at some warehouse in Tuas.
Whale. Pig. Kurobuta. I'm starting to like this fatty already.
I promise I'll put the piccies up as soon as I get my chubby grubby fingers on the Fat One.
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Wobbles
Congrats on the new X5. Despite my misgivings of the current E70 I have read fairly good reports /users review of the new version. Enjoy the ride and it wld be great if you do take some times to give us some feedbacks once you have had the chance to ran it for a while. Sad thing though is I have let go my and got back to a saloon. Was a quick decision after having to do 4 visits in the mths of April/May for some recurring issues. Love how the car drive though and I am kind of "taking a rain cheque " on it (for an SUV in the future) for now. Looking forward to your feedbacks.
wt_know;1100930 said:
Wobbles
Congrats on the new X5. Despite my misgivings of the current E70 I have read fairly good reports /users review of the new version. Enjoy the ride and it wld be great if you do take some times to give us some feedbacks once you have had the chance to ran it for a while. Sad thing though is I have let go my and got back to a saloon. Was a quick decision after having to do 4 visits in the mths of April/May for some recurring issues. Love how the car drive though and I am kind of "taking a rain cheque " on it (for an SUV in the future) for now. Looking forward to your feedbacks.
Welch
Well-Known Member
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Congrats Wobbles on your purchase. I am glad you went for the X5 instead of the XC90.
IMHO, I think X5 in black has a bad ass / gansta image whereas XC90 looks like soccer mums bus!
Cool ride for a cool dude....enjoy it.....
wobbles;1100917 said:
Congrats Wobbles on your purchase. I am glad you went for the X5 instead of the XC90.
IMHO, I think X5 in black has a bad ass / gansta image whereas XC90 looks like soccer mums bus!
Cool ride for a cool dude....enjoy it.....
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Wobbles
Firstly as I have indicated before (probably a little biased from having driven a saloon all my life except for the 2 yrs + with the X5), the overall comfort was not great esp for the back passengers. The fit and finish of the E70 is also lacking with many rattling noise from the seats, headrest and the boot (different parts). The back seat is practically a hard bench as such and can be quite jarring over some surfaces despite running on non RFTs. It did not help the fact I live and drive mainly in the city with the increasingly poor road conditions (except maybe the new MCE)! These are niggles but the 4-5 visits I made was re (mileage then 34K):
1.Changed of battery twice (some electrical drainage issue). First replacement simply peter out
2.Loud engine noise (fan belt changed and then timing belt on another visit)
3.Post the above, rattling at the front (due to engine mount crack)
4,Twrd end of May, a friend standing next to my car (with engine running) felt stream of hot air blowing out from the bonnet! Turned out the rubber seal (semi circle in the inner half the bonnet) broke and was hanging loose allowing the hot air to escape more than usual.
5 PML requested that I similarly changed the mounting for No 4 but by then I have decided to let it go. The fact that all these happened within a couple of weeks was probably one straws too many.
Frankly I was not quite surprised by the above as I have read quite a bit from UK and US forums that one can expect the above when E70 hits the 40-50K range. Mine was lower though. But I guess it cld be a case of mine is one that "got away" as a friend's car was better.
But certainly the quality of the new one looks to be much better. The seat are now the comfort version even for back passengers and I believe BMW US noted that they have improved the overall ride comfort esp the one with air suspension option. Irrespective I am sure you will enjoy the car as I did. Manoeuvrability for such a big and tall SUV was great even in tight traffics and of course the power delivery was rather immediate with the smooth 8 speeds box.
Cheers!
wobbles;1100977 said:
Wobbles
Firstly as I have indicated before (probably a little biased from having driven a saloon all my life except for the 2 yrs + with the X5), the overall comfort was not great esp for the back passengers. The fit and finish of the E70 is also lacking with many rattling noise from the seats, headrest and the boot (different parts). The back seat is practically a hard bench as such and can be quite jarring over some surfaces despite running on non RFTs. It did not help the fact I live and drive mainly in the city with the increasingly poor road conditions (except maybe the new MCE)! These are niggles but the 4-5 visits I made was re (mileage then 34K):
1.Changed of battery twice (some electrical drainage issue). First replacement simply peter out
2.Loud engine noise (fan belt changed and then timing belt on another visit)
3.Post the above, rattling at the front (due to engine mount crack)
4,Twrd end of May, a friend standing next to my car (with engine running) felt stream of hot air blowing out from the bonnet! Turned out the rubber seal (semi circle in the inner half the bonnet) broke and was hanging loose allowing the hot air to escape more than usual.
5 PML requested that I similarly changed the mounting for No 4 but by then I have decided to let it go. The fact that all these happened within a couple of weeks was probably one straws too many.
Frankly I was not quite surprised by the above as I have read quite a bit from UK and US forums that one can expect the above when E70 hits the 40-50K range. Mine was lower though. But I guess it cld be a case of mine is one that "got away" as a friend's car was better.
But certainly the quality of the new one looks to be much better. The seat are now the comfort version even for back passengers and I believe BMW US noted that they have improved the overall ride comfort esp the one with air suspension option. Irrespective I am sure you will enjoy the car as I did. Manoeuvrability for such a big and tall SUV was great even in tight traffics and of course the power delivery was rather immediate with the smooth 8 speeds box.
Cheers!
wobbles
Well-Known Member
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Hi JF,
Many thanks for taking the time & trouble to list out the gremlins with your old E70. I was actually in the market for an E70 prior to biting the proverbial bullet for the F15, but - luckily as it may seem in this case - I was too late, and PML had sold out all of their old E70s before the F15's launch earlier in the year.
I'm coming from the opposite direction - my daily commute is the F13, and my weekend cruiser is (the wifey's) F02: both good cars in their own right, but alas, not without their idiosyncracies. I'm also a super lousy mileage clocker - wifey's F02 is nearly 3 & a half years old, and she's only put 24,000 on the clock, and mine's just past the 2 year mark, and I've just edged past 21,000 clicks. I can't imagine how severely underutilized the big, fat, black Kurobuta Pig (that's what I'm come to call the F15, haha) will be, when she joins the garage in a week's time.
I just came back from test driving the xDrive35i for the first time today - prior to parting with my hard earned smackaroos, I'd only test driven the 30d & the M50d: again, wonderful machines in their own right, but the deal-breaker being Malaysia's lack of Euro 5 compatible diesel availability (OK, OK, I admit, I bought into the BMW stealership's propaganda). And the drive reminded me why I was pining for the X5 in the first place.
Unparalleled, commanding view of the road. This feeling that you tower over every other car - rightly or wrongly, it clads your testicles in a sheath of titanium. I didn't turn the Harman Kardon system on, and to my satisfaction, I noted very little wind noise, and hardly any cabin noise - even from the run-flats (although I must admit, the tester was shod in 19-inchers - as would my Black Pig be, for now).
Build quality - at least in the 4 times I've taken the F15s out for an extended test drive (today's was another jaunt up Viligante Drive and down South Buona Vista's twisties) - was heaps better than what I've experienced in the E70 (I previously had an E70 on an extended loaner as part of the 7 series privilege program). No loose rattles (yet), no squeaks (for now) and no creaks (at the present).
Oh, I'm sure those will surface - my long suffering sales executive already tried to moderate my expectations: this is, after all, an SUV, not a premium limousine. But, thus far, the impressions I've had of the F15 have been positive - and that's already a good start.
Time will tell whether my enthusiasm is misplaced, or well warranted. But for now, I'm just happy that wifey actually said "yes" to the fat pigger.
Good luck with your sedan hunt - and may you find as much safe fun on the roads behind the wheel of whatever your chosen chariot as I know I will have in mine!
JF;1101027 said:
Hi JF,
Many thanks for taking the time & trouble to list out the gremlins with your old E70. I was actually in the market for an E70 prior to biting the proverbial bullet for the F15, but - luckily as it may seem in this case - I was too late, and PML had sold out all of their old E70s before the F15's launch earlier in the year.
I'm coming from the opposite direction - my daily commute is the F13, and my weekend cruiser is (the wifey's) F02: both good cars in their own right, but alas, not without their idiosyncracies. I'm also a super lousy mileage clocker - wifey's F02 is nearly 3 & a half years old, and she's only put 24,000 on the clock, and mine's just past the 2 year mark, and I've just edged past 21,000 clicks. I can't imagine how severely underutilized the big, fat, black Kurobuta Pig (that's what I'm come to call the F15, haha) will be, when she joins the garage in a week's time.
I just came back from test driving the xDrive35i for the first time today - prior to parting with my hard earned smackaroos, I'd only test driven the 30d & the M50d: again, wonderful machines in their own right, but the deal-breaker being Malaysia's lack of Euro 5 compatible diesel availability (OK, OK, I admit, I bought into the BMW stealership's propaganda). And the drive reminded me why I was pining for the X5 in the first place.
Unparalleled, commanding view of the road. This feeling that you tower over every other car - rightly or wrongly, it clads your testicles in a sheath of titanium. I didn't turn the Harman Kardon system on, and to my satisfaction, I noted very little wind noise, and hardly any cabin noise - even from the run-flats (although I must admit, the tester was shod in 19-inchers - as would my Black Pig be, for now).
Build quality - at least in the 4 times I've taken the F15s out for an extended test drive (today's was another jaunt up Viligante Drive and down South Buona Vista's twisties) - was heaps better than what I've experienced in the E70 (I previously had an E70 on an extended loaner as part of the 7 series privilege program). No loose rattles (yet), no squeaks (for now) and no creaks (at the present).
Oh, I'm sure those will surface - my long suffering sales executive already tried to moderate my expectations: this is, after all, an SUV, not a premium limousine. But, thus far, the impressions I've had of the F15 have been positive - and that's already a good start.
Time will tell whether my enthusiasm is misplaced, or well warranted. But for now, I'm just happy that wifey actually said "yes" to the fat pigger.
Good luck with your sedan hunt - and may you find as much safe fun on the roads behind the wheel of whatever your chosen chariot as I know I will have in mine!
wobbles
Well-Known Member
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Hi bro wt_know! We test drove the Macan S & Macan Turbo 2 weeks back - and the power was freaking awesome. But, at the end of the day, I needed a 7-seater: hence both the Cayenne (there was a Platinum Edition pre-facelift going for about the same price as the X5 - about $380K) as well as the Macan were not really in the running for consideration. A real pity, but it just goes to show: you can't have your cake (power, raw power) and eat it too (the need for 7-seats).
wt_know;1101036 said:
Hi bro wt_know! We test drove the Macan S & Macan Turbo 2 weeks back - and the power was freaking awesome. But, at the end of the day, I needed a 7-seater: hence both the Cayenne (there was a Platinum Edition pre-facelift going for about the same price as the X5 - about $380K) as well as the Macan were not really in the running for consideration. A real pity, but it just goes to show: you can't have your cake (power, raw power) and eat it too (the need for 7-seats).
Re: BMW F15 X5 first impressions
Wobbles
Thanks and thanks for another write-up of which Neil Humphrey of TST wld have been proud to call his own. I am sure the guys here enjoy it as well. I know I am!. Despite letting go my E70 (my first BMW) I do get a chance still ( not an easy one) to drive my better-half's E92 (if she is in a generous mood)and who is an ABMW fan. So I will be hanging around this forum still to keep up with BMW's users reviews ects and not forgetting of course your F15 update!!. No offence meant but for now back to a bit of "uncle" drive (quoting my son) of the family other car i.e. S class which was a little underutilised till now. Thinking of trading it in for the 7 series (once kena bite.....) .. Well enjoy an excellent and safe ride with your new shining black Kurobuta Pig. Cheers.
wobbles;1101041 said:
Wobbles
Thanks and thanks for another write-up of which Neil Humphrey of TST wld have been proud to call his own. I am sure the guys here enjoy it as well. I know I am!. Despite letting go my E70 (my first BMW) I do get a chance still ( not an easy one) to drive my better-half's E92 (if she is in a generous mood)and who is an ABMW fan. So I will be hanging around this forum still to keep up with BMW's users reviews ects and not forgetting of course your F15 update!!. No offence meant but for now back to a bit of "uncle" drive (quoting my son) of the family other car i.e. S class which was a little underutilised till now. Thinking of trading it in for the 7 series (once kena bite.....) .. Well enjoy an excellent and safe ride with your new shining black Kurobuta Pig. Cheers.
