BMW X5 xDrive48i SE 5dr Auto [Dynamic] (2008)

X5 Se - I have become disappointed

I say that I've become disappointed because it's important to stress that we were initially really impressed with our BMW X5. We had eyes wide open about the generally poor fuel economy so I can't say I've lost faith over that. What has become disappointing is a range of things to do with the overall 'driving experience' as they say.

Firstly, my husband and I convinced ourselves we would get used to the iDrive thingy but it's really not clicking for us. We're not the youngest chickens in the coop but I think it would be complicated anyway. Meanwhile we've had various problems with the GPS unit that's built into the car, not all that reliable, and we ended up getting a 'Tomtom' unit instead.

I haven't tried the fancy stereo connections but my son has when he borrows the car, and he tells me it doesn't work well. The other clever gadget is the display that is supposed to guide you into a parking space at the back. That display let me tell you is not very useful even when there's plenty of light, but try it in the dark and you might as well just revert to good old fashioned mirrors. The only trouble with that is that the BMW X5 seems to be designed assuming that you'll be using their parking display, so the visibility is not fantastic. It's huge as well so judging distances isn't easy at all.

I said that we knew the petrol costs would be high. We knew also that the insurance costs would be high, and high indeed they are, even for two 'mature' drivers like us, so watch out for that. We did know about the high petrol costs, but of course we didn't know that cost would go up so high in the three years since we bought it.

Another disappointment is just how poor it is when you get off the beaten track. Again we are a little older and so we may be a little more sensitive to this sort of thing but really our bones felt shaken after going along some country tracks. We take it very easy on country roads now and generally tend to avoid them where possible, which is sad as we lose out on some nice views.

I think I'm getting overly negative now. We will be glad to see the back of our BMW X5 but that's not to say these problems would definitely bother someone else. Give it a try but do bear in mind these things.