BMW X5 ownership - why ?

[Nigel-YZ1]

Up to last year I worked next to two companies, one had a pair of Q7's, the other ran skip trucks. Put together I have never seen worse displays of aggression, stupidity and illegality. Then my boss would drive past in his Merc with no seat belt on, chatting on the mobile.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I'd never regard the X5 as a 4x4 though. Just a big heavy lump which is marginally better i the snow and ice than BMW's RWD cars. Anyone who thinks that the 4wd system in them is actually useful in slippery conditions is mistaken. It is an unfulfilled promise IMO

I think you might have taken my post the wrong way. I'm not trying to defend the X5 (I'm no fan), I intended to say that simply having 4x4 isn't enough, you also need to know how to use it (which includes knowing to put appropriate tyres on) for it to have any worth, but most people who buy that type of vehicle don't because they have bought into the hype and think it makes them invincible.

As an example, I used to work in the accident managment department of a fleet management company. Every time it snowed the first two calls of the day would always be about a client's Discovery or Impreza being upside down in a ditch because the drivers thought 4x4 meant they could carry on at undiminished speed.

 

[LarryDuff]

It's a statement of Look at me! I'm rich enough to drive this!

Driven by tossers.

 

[fossyant]

Friends had the 4.0 Petrol X5 - eventually sold it as it was a choice of eat or fuel the thing ! Plus things kept going wrong with it.

Another Friend's wife has ordered one of the new Range Rover Evoque's as a company car - she's 50 and only just passed her test

 

[GrasB]

I think you might have taken my post the wrong way. I'm not trying to defend the X5 (I'm no fan), I intended to say that simply having 4x4 isn't enough, you also need to know how to use it (which includes knowing to put appropriate tyres on) for it to have any worth, but most people who buy that type of vehicle don't because they have bought into the hype and think it makes them invincible.

AWD may give you say 50% more traction when accelerating/braking but 50% of virtually nothing is still not much. I'd still prefer to have that extra 50% traction, especially for braking.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

AWD may give you say 50% more traction when accelerating/braking but 50% of virtually nothing is still not much. I'd still prefer to have that extra 50% traction, especially for braking.

Ah, therein lies the problem. 4x4 gives you extra traction but does next to nothing for your braking. You gain in terms of engine braking (say for crawling down a hill) but if you have to hit the brakes ABS will have more effect in slowing you down and most cars now have that.
That is what caught out the fleet drivers in their Discoverys/Imprezas.

 

[tyred]

X5 owners need their 4WD. Have you seen the puddles in the golf course car park?

 

[Linford]

Ah, therein lies the problem. 4x4 gives you extra traction but does next to nothing for your braking. You gain in terms of engine braking (say for crawling down a hill) but if you have to hit the brakes ABS will have more effect in slowing you down and most cars now have that.
That is what caught out the fleet drivers in their Discoverys/Imprezas.

I have A/T's on my Shogun, and with the Diff locks on, and in low range, the car is far more sure footed either climbing or descending than any ABS'd road car I've ever driven on either mud or ice and it doesn't have ABS.

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter how much traction in accelerating or braking you have if you don't respect the mass of the vehicle.

Did anyone watch Top Gear last night when they tested the Ferarri and Bentley 4WD cars on studded tyres on a frozen lake in Sweden (might have been Norway though)
The bottom line is that by far the best on a slippery surface there was actually the Range Rover which the film crew used as they can lock the diffs to guarantee grip at any speed as that engine braking is subject to the forces as well as the engine power.

 

[GrasB]

Ah, therein lies the problem. 4x4 gives you extra traction but does next to nothing for your braking. You gain in terms of engine braking (say for crawling down a hill) but if you have to hit the brakes ABS will have more effect in slowing you down and most cars now have that.
That is what caught out the fleet drivers in their Discoverys/Imprezas.

Actually ABS is more-or-less useless in icy conditions. ALB isn't but it's still fairly ineffectual compared to an AWD system & a driver who knows how to use it to gain a fair amount of traction.

See above!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

It's a statement of Look at me! I'm rich enough to drive this!

Driven by tossers.

Top marks for originality!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I have A/T's on my Shogun, and with the Diff locks on, and in low range, the car is far more sure footed either climbing or descending than any ABS'd road car I've ever driven on either mud or ice and it doesn't have ABS.

My point exactly. With the diffs locked and in low range you can just let it crawl down the slope under engine braking and you keep your foot off the brake pedal while doing this coz you know it would just slide.
Where "lifestyle" 4x4 owners get into trouble is just hitting the brakes assuming that as they have 4x4 they have more grip. For these people ABS would be more help but even then it's not perfect. I've witnessed ABS equipped vehicles sliding hopelessly off the road with all wheels locked.

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter how much traction in accelerating or braking you have if you don't respect the mass of the vehicle.

Agree completely and many people really don't have a clue about this.

 

[Linford]

Top marks for originality!

I got the feeling it might have been little man syndrome. The whole driving style was very aggressive and he must have tailgated half a dozen cars to get them out of his way.

 

[LarryDuff]

Top marks for originality!

Thanks, I appreciate it.

 

[Chrisz]

Don't forget - most of these "Lifestyle" SUVs/4X4s are fitted with sexy, super wide road (sports) tyres - completely useless in the snow! Narrower winter-specific tyres or cross-country tyres, although noisier, not as "sporty" or sexy lookig, actually do the job much better.

 

[Globalti]

A garage once lent us a BMW 3 series as a courtesy car, we had to drive around in it all day - the shame, the shame; it was too embarrassing.

My loud, boorish boss drives a Q7, he gets around 10,000 miles from a set of tyres, which cost £250 a pop.