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Straightline (blogs.edmunds.com) has great BMW X5 news, photos, videos and more
Thursday, Apr 16
2009 Shanghai Auto Show Starts Monday
The 2009 Shanghai Auto Show will not only have several production cars bound for the U.S. like the 2010 Porsche Panamera and 2010 BMW X5 M, it will showcase China's growing home market brands like Geely, Chery and Great Wall. 2009 Shanghai Auto Show
Wednesday, Apr 8
2009 New York Auto Show: 2010 BMW X6 M
The engine is the story on the X6 M, as the Motorsport engineers started with the block of the 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine in the current BMW 750i and made modifications from there. The turbos are twin-scroll on the M-tuned V8, and there's an innovative two-piece exhaust m...
Friday, Mar 20
2008 BMW X5: Our Favorite Caption
Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! (smilez) Oldham flees to Mexico before the CHP can nail him for doing 90MPH in the Edmunds LT Smart (deagle13) Honey, can we just stop and ask for directions?! (cruiserhead1) I told iDrive 'no freeways' and it routed me here. (vwthing1)
Friday, Mar 13
Old Cars Out, New Cars In: Bye-bye R8, C300, X5 and Grand Caravan
Gone are the BMW X5, Audi R8 and Dodge Grand Caravan. There will be no more blogs on these cars, but look for an in depth wrap-up on each in the next few weeks, just like the one we published on our Mercedes C300 today. All three are already missed. The X5 and R8 were staff favorites, and the minivan p...
Tuesday, Mar 10
2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD: Why Isn't This a Porsche Cayenne?
Things should have turned out better for the FX. It arrived just at the correct time to take its rightful place as Nissan's premier luxury vehicle in place of the stodgy Q45 sedan. It had Nissan's hot-rod FM platform, just like the G35 sedan. It had a stonking V8. Most of all, it put aside the fanta...
Friday, Feb 27
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Now That's Snug
The two folding mini-buckets in the way-back are simply not very useful. But what about kids, you say? Well, there are no Latch attachments for the third row which would mean you'd have to use the old-school belts. And beside, we think some of our child-safety seats are bigger than the X5's th...
Thursday, Feb 26
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Lite Brite
As you'd probably suspect, the X5's lights are automatic, self-leveling HIDs. They're standard on all X5s, even the six-cylinder models. They're bright enough in the low setting that I rarely need to use the high-beams which scorch the surrounding shrubbery with lumens. The only optiona...
Wednesday, Feb 25
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Steering the Steer
Somehow we've managed to go through almost a year in a BMW without really ever talking much about the steering system. Compared to almost any steering system in anything with a remote resemblance to a sport-utility vehicle, the X5's is fantastic.
Tuesday, Feb 24
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Park?! Are you kidding me?!
Open the door on the 2008 BMW X5 when the car is in drive and the transmission slams itself into park. PARK! WHILE MOVING! It's upsetting and confusing when this happens at a 2mph roll as the X5 is being used to collect orange cones murdered during slalom testing. It's scary and just plain wrong...
Monday, Feb 23
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: The Button Never Pushed
Look, I know that it doesn't really cost BMW anything for the lines of computer code that applies the brakes automatically and frequently enough to keep this beast crawling down inclines. Seems like the one good thing BMW might have gotten out of it's unfortunate and costly days owning Lan...
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Manual Control of the Automatic Climate Control
Look, sometimes you want 72 and sometimes you want 72, if you know what I mean. Could I just manually adjust the fan and get much of the same benefit. Yes, but why should I. I drive a $70,000 BMW. Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,310 miles
Thursday, Feb 19
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Free Oil and Doughnuts, $6.44 for the Doohickey
The X5 just got back from its second, and last, oil change during its stay with us. It took one hour -- exactly the amount of time the service guy estimated when we made the appointment. It cost us nothing, as is the way with new BMWs. We also had the rear-wiper nut cover -- which our service man, Ric...
Wednesday, Feb 18
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: The Early, Early, Early Warning System
Look, I like to plan for the future as much as the next guy, assuming the next guy doesn't really like to plan for the future. But I just got a warning from the BMW X5 long-termer that it would like an oil change. But okay, better early than late, right? So we've got an appointment to get new goo and f...
Tuesday, Feb 17
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: iDrive My Wife Crazy
See, I thought, iDrive isn't that difficult to operate. If I can act as the help line for it, how bad could it be? The time has come, BMW. I can defend you no longer. It is time for Gen II iDrive to make its way through the lineup. --Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit
Friday, Feb 13
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Sweet Hotel Chicago
Despite the widespread availability of airplane flights between Detroit and Chicago on which I could fly to the Chicago Auto Show, I make an annual habit of tempting the weather gods and hitting I-94 for a little bonding time with whatever I car I happen to be driving in early February.
Tuesday, Feb 10
2009 Infiniti FX50 vs. 2008 BMW X5
Oh, you want proof. Then check out our recent road test of a 2008 BMW X6. That truck wore the optional meats. Huge all-season Dunlops. SP Sport Max. 275/40R20 front and 315/30R20 rear. And it smoked the Infiniti in every dynamic track test except acceleration. It stopped from 60 mph in just 111 ft., b...
Monday, Feb 9
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Oil, oil, oil
The BMW X5 let me know over the weekend that it was a little thirsty for a quart of Castrol's finest 5w-30 synthetic. When I turned the engine off Sunday, the little Aladdin's oil lamp warning appeared in the driver information center, accompanied as always by a "dongggggggg."
Monday, Feb 2
BMW 335d and X5 xDrive35d: Protected from Brain Fade During Refueling
BMW wants to ensure the warmest possible reception for the 2009 BMW 335d and 2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d, so the company has made it impossible for you to make the number one most aggravating mistake: accidentally refueling your diesel vehicle with gasoline.
Friday, Jan 30
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: The Brawny Lad
Everything about this vehicle is brawny, thick, heavy or solid, including its heavy-duty as-tested price of $68,520. And at more than 5,000 pounds of solid German/American goodness, the perception of high weight is reality. But it's almost shocking how easily the X5's V8 moves this two-...
Monday, Jan 26
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Screwed!
Remember when we wrote that the long-term X5's right rear tire was down 10 pounds of air pressure? This would have been moments after Editor in Chief Oldham arrived in Detroit after two-thousand-and-whatever miles. Right, well, turns out somewhere along the way (my guess is Indiana), th...
Saturday, Jan 24
2008 smart fortwo, BMW X5, Audi R8: FMVSS 102 Transmission Shift Position Sequence
The section that pertains to our question is S3.1.1: (S3.1, of course, being titled Automatic Transmissions.) "Location of transmission shift positions on passenger cars. A neutral position shall be located between forward drive and reverse drive positions." And S3.1.1.1: "Transmission sh...
Friday, Jan 23
2008 BMW X5: Day Three: Des Moines, IA to Detroit
Several times traffic slowed to a crawl. And very often I was cruising with the X5's six-speed transmission in 4th or 5th gear so I would be able to use engine braking and not just the brakes, should I need to slow or stop. I also counted 18 cars and trucks off in the ditch, ranging from four-wheel...
Thursday, Jan 22
2008 BMW X5: Day Two: Grand Junction, CO to Des Moines, IA
Day Two of the Great X5 Santa Monica-to-Detroit Road Trip started with the white stuff. I awoke at the Grand Junction Holiday Inn Express to find the BMW X5 covered in a dusting of snow. Nothing severe, but enough had stuck to the roads that I quickly appreciated the X5's all-wheel drive and st...
Tuesday, Jan 20
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: The Soiled Pants Edition
There are many things to like about the X5 such as its exterior design, size and handling. There are a couple of things to love about the X5 such as its stonking V8 power. And there is at least one thing to hate about the X5: Its standard pant-dirtying rocker panels.
Sunday, Dec 28
LA to Detroit: BMW X5, Audi A4 Avant or Suzuki SX4?
But which one of our cars should I take? Right now the short list is our 2008 BMW X5, our 2009 Audi A4 Avant, which is on summer tires, and the brand new all-wheel drive 2009 Suzuki SX4 Crossover Sport that will be introduced to this blog in a couple of weeks.
Friday, Dec 19
2009 Infiniti FX50: Welcome to the IL Fleet
Fact is, this FX has plenty of new hardware and software for us to evaluate over the next year, including its new 5.0-liter V8 engine, its new 7-speed automatic transmission and its new around view monitor system (pictured), which is unique to Infiniti. Plus, ever since our G35 S sedan left u...
Monday, Sep 29
2008 BMW X5: Transmission for the Birds
X5 good. X5's transmission bad. There's a lot to like about our long-term 2008 BMW X5 4.8i, but its 6-speed automatic transmission is not one of them. And after this past weekend of head butting with the damn thing I need to vent. Got all that? Bottom line: X5 good. X5's transmission bad.
Tuesday, Sep 23
2008 BMW X5 4.8i: Fuel Economy Update
Many tankfuls of premium unleaded have come and gone in the life of our long-term BMW X5 since we last reported its fuel economy. We've managed a couple tanks in the mid-18s, and a couple way down in the 10-11 mpg range. Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 16,825 miles
