[Josh (PA)]

Driving / Use impressions:

I don't have a ton of seat time yet, but we have put 300 miles on it (mostly the drive back from VA in very poor conditions). So far, so good.

First, the power and drive train are good. The transmission (9sp) is worlds better than the programing in the x5. The start up lag in the X5 was my single biggest complaint with the SUV. The E450 has a very linear launch and is easy to modulate the 0 - 5 mph start. It makes a big difference.

The power is more than plenty for a car like this. Its significantly quicker than the N55 X5, which is our baseline and seems always available when needed. Merging is easy, and power up to ~90mph that I've gotten to so far has been effortless.

The ride is good. It is very isolated, but not wallowy. I've left the suspension in sport+ 100% of the time, and I wouldn't want it any softer. Steering is very light at low speeds, but stiffens up nicely at speed. There is little feedback, but this car doesn't pretend to be something it isn't. JST mentioned the E61 535 wagon as a good comp and I agree. That thing was a great highway eater. This car seems very similar.

The drive home from Sterling was a lot lower stress than the drive down in the X5. Part of that may have been the stress of the transaction, but a lot of it was the quality of the car.

I know its blasphemous, but I don't think the e63 would be better for our use of this car.

On the inside, the seats are good. The massage thing is kind of neat, kind of gimmicky. The dynamic side bolsters (when set to lower levels of aggression) are suprisingly nice.

The UI has its pros and cons. There are 3 different interface options to do the same thing, the i-drive-like wheel, the touchpad over the wheel and the thumbpad on the steering wheel. There are 2 different volume knobs. Even with that, no where in the car is a track forward or track back button... WTF.

The transmission control is a stalk on the right side of the steering console where the wiper controls are on the BMWs I've had for the last 20yrs. Lets just say I've shifted into drive a bunch of times while driving over the last two days when my windshield was wet. Luckily drive is in the down direction.

The digital dash is nice, but not nearly as configurable as you'd expect for a full digital console. There are 3 styles, but no difference in what is displayed in any of the styles.

It is the first car I've had with any autonomous driving features, including active cruise control. Active cruise is very nice. Active steering seems less so. It floats back and forth in the lane more than a driver does, and since you have to keep your hands on the steering wheel anyway, I fight it instead of just 'letting it happen.' Maybe on the long rides to the lake I'll find a more use for it, but so far no interest.

I am finding getting a new car is more of a PITA than it used to be. I used to love learning all the new features, programming all my settings (radio, bluetooth, garage door, addresses, seat settings, etc). Now I feel like I just don't have time. I am not looking forward to garage door programming, finding all the presets, etc. I guess I'm getting old.

Last comment, the X5 ride made a lot of my family car sick in the back seat due to the pogo springiness of the ride. Intial reports from my wife and son who tried out the back seat yesterday are very comfortable - no queezy feelings. The rear facing trunk seat is fun to have. Definitely not a large space, but the 2x a year where we want to take more than 5 ppl we can shove someone in the trunk legally and go someplace local.


I'll share more in the future when I get more experience, but I like it.