<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSome initial thoughts then for the record. It is very easy to drive. That V8 means that although it can be getting on for three tonnes fully laden, the X5 wafts about effortlessly. The automatic box, despite obviously being an awful thing (as automatic ‘boxes intrinsically are), is at least less stressful in traffic. It is the same ‘box as we have in the 335d, and it could use the steering wheel paddles we have in the 335d for the same reasons (forcing it to change up rather than revving needlessly as it has plenty of torque).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Road presence: a controversial topic. SUVs are to some extent like nuclear weapons – once other people have them, everyone needs to have them. Maybe that’s not the best parallel. My point is that in a car, visibility is often blocked by SUVs and they can be intimidating. While I can see the benefits of forcing everyone out of SUVs into cars, in the absence of such draconian measures, and not forgetting that vans exist, hopping into an SUV levels the playing field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can put a lot of stuff in it. Not as much as a Transit, of course, but way more stuff than I can squeeze into either of the diesel estate cars. And the roofbox is compatible. A real mover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can put a lot of people in it. Three people across the back isn’t uncomfortable. Four burly adults have plenty of personal space on a long journey. Really useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Age related – it is easier for me to get into this car and extract myself from it than the diesel estate cars. Oof, my back, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cockpit feels like a special place. It has got more than a nostalgic whiff of M car about it: the variable red-line feels so E39 M5 it hurts. The DSP audio is right up my street, and that carbon effect steering trim excites me more than it should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd finally, it has built in child entertainment. This is perhaps the most bitter sweet thing about it. At no point during the purchase process did I intend this car to become a long-haul family wagon. It was supposed to be my Get Stuff Done tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nYet as the other cars don’t have this level of entertainment, I am now faced with explaining to an 8 year old and a 1.5 year old why they should stare out the window without a TV screen in return for me getting something called ‘better economy’ and permitting me to ‘drive past a petrol station without refuelling’. Wish me luck with that!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’d like to formally introduce my latest vehicle acquisition: a 2004 BMW X5 V8 4.8is. This story has its origin in July 2011, when I sold my M5. I miss that car. It looked like this, and had a big V8. The X5 looks like this, and has a big V8. Hmm, black grilles. Anyway, […] Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3687"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3798,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3687\/revisions\/3798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}