The X5 has always been a lightening rod for loyal BMW enthusiasts. An SUV (or SAV or crossover depending on who you talk to) it went AWD when BMW’s were about rear wheel drive. It’s catered to utility and high seating positions when BMW’s were suppose to be about driver involvement. And it was big. The current six cylinder X5 weighs in at 4982. The 48i model with the naturally aspirated V8 (soon to be repaced with a twin turbo unit) pounds the pavement to the tune of 5335 lbs. To put that in perspective that is more than double the 2227 lbs typically listed for the early 70’s BMW 2002tii. While not a natural comparison but it’s worth noting at the very least that the BMW X5 has strayed more than any other vehicle in BMW’s current fleet from the origins of the sports sedan that made the brand the ultimate driving machine.
Yet the X5 is astonishing in what it can do, how it feels and yes, how it performs. And no where in the range is this more evident than with the new X5 35d. The 35d is the first X5 diesel to be sold in the US and uses the same 3.0L twin turbo diesel found in the 335d we tested last month. The results aren’t surprising on the surface. The 35d is endowed with 425 ft lbs of effortless torque. Yet on the highway we saw around 30 mpg with a careful right foot. It’s the kind of effeciency I’m used to with my 2004 330i ZHP yet with more power and almost double the torque. Oh and another 2,000 lbs.
One of the hallmarks of the BimmerFile have always been the reviews. Written from an enthusiast’s perspective but not afraid to pull any punches, they epitomize the site more than anything else on it. And now we have our summer review season upon us. We’ve already gotten two under our belts with the 335d and 750i being reviewed a few weeks back. Next up will be the X5 35d, X6 35i and the all new Z4 35i.
The 5 Series has always occupied an important role for BMW. For years it has straddled the line between sports and luxury sedan. On one side the 3 Series’ shape and weight allow it to be overtly sporty (if optioned correctly). On the other the 7 Series is unashamedly luxurious. The 5er has historically straddled both concepts and has gone on to become (in some forms) what many call the best sports sedan on the planet.
We know from experience the current 5er (even in its base 528i form) can hit the same high notes of its predecessors. However as any BMW enthusiast knows, it’s all in how you option the car. So here’s the question, what happens if a base 528i is saddled with both the automatic transmission and all-wheel drive options. Can it conceivably live up to the tradition of great 5 Series sports sedans and truly lay claim to the term “Ultimate Driving Machine”?
What would you call the perfect car? No we’re talking about the perfect sports car, GT, supercar or even sports sedan. We’re talking about a car that can do it all. Transport four comfortably, exude luxury and always have a little more performance than is actually necessary. A car that does all you ask without letting you know it can do a lot more. Of every car I’ve ever driven it’s the large German saloons that best live up to this ideal. Cars like the 70’s era Mercedes 300SEL with the mythical 6.3L V8 have demonstrated what a car could be without shouting. In the BMW world it was the first 750 in the late 80’s with BMW’s first V12 that one could argue set the tone for future 7 Series.
These cars have presence on the road that is hard to match. The 2009 750i carries on that tradition of effortless performance, subtle flamboyance and incredible technology. It also creates a unique on-road experience that makes you look at the act of automotive transportation a little differently. It makes other cars look inconsequential and SUVs look ridiculous.
In my mind there are four pillars that really encapsulate the 7 Series experience. The most dominate in the 750i is the 4.4L twin turbo V8. It’s an incredible engine not only in its packaging (both turbos somehow reside within the “V” of the engine) but also in it’s power and relative efficiency. In the city under relatively aggressive driving (transmission in SD mode) the 750i routinely returned just under 20 mpg. That number may not sound that impressive but considering the fact that the engine has to motivate 4564 lbs of car it’s actually quite good . The M3 sedan we tested last year barely got 19 mpg on the highway and didn’t get near 15 mpg in the city. Of course it’s hard to compare the two engines but the numbers are so close it’s too tempting to not. The 750i’s engine puts out a little less power (400 hp) but a whole lot more torque at 450 ft lbs (vs 295 ft lbs). And there are even reports that BMW is being quite conservative with those numbers. After spending a week with the car I’d believe it.
As an American, the idea of clean powerful diesel engines being available in a BMW had been a dream and nothing more until the recent launch of the Advanced Diesels. If it wasn’t the sulfur in our diesel, it was our supposed distaste for all things diesel stemming from some ill-concieved products by the domestic automakers 30 years ago. The idea of diesel is still a compelling one if you look at the numbers.
Powerful and sporty yet efficient. That’s the promise of diesel and more specifically of the BMW 335d. The numbers are all there. 37mpg on the highway and 425 foot pounds of torque. It’s astonishing if you consider what the current petrol BMW engines do in regards to efficiency and performance. It gets even more eye-opening when you think about BMW’s previous inline six engines from just a few years ago.
The 335d is the pinnacle (for the time being) of BMW’s diesel range. The inline six cylinder engine features two sequential turbos that propel the car to 0-60 is 6.0 seconds (that’s BMW’s official conservative figure) and an electronically limited top speed of 150 mph. But the key to the experience is the 425ft lbs of torque available from 1750-2250 rpm. What is torque and how does it compare to horsepower? There are lots of technical answers to that question (you can read one here) but the difference is obvious behind the wheel of the 335d. When you hit the accelerator in a 335i, the car surges forward with all the pomp and circumstance you’d expect from 300 hp. It pull’s hard and the engine lets you know it. When you hit the accelerator in the 335d, it doesn’t so much pull as it feels as if it was pushed by the very hand of God. And there’s nothing stressing or straining about it. The 335d simply consumes tarmac effortlessly until you realize you’re doing double the legal speed limit.
It’s early Saturday morning. Spring in Chicago. The kind of hour that an auto enthusiast looks at as the golden hour. The roads are clear and the weather is back from the brink of a wretched Chicago winter.
And I have a red BMW parked in my garage. Yes the MINI is gone and I’m back to rear wheel drive with a propeller on the hood. I wouldn’t call the car “just” a BMW, yet it doesn’t quite justify a real M badge (despite the peppering of that letter throughout the car by the company). It’s not single purpose driven like the Z4 M that I’ve lusted after for years, or the perfect urban runabout like a stock manual transmission Cooper would be. Instead it might just be the best all around automobile I’ve ever owned.
Every so often the right people inside a car company get just the right amount of freedom, time and budget to create something out of nothing. The BMW 330i ZHP was born out of these circumstances. It was 2001. The new E46 M3 had just hit the market and the critics were buzzing with glowing reviews and sales were off to a robust start. Yet the public (specifically the US market) was quietly asking where the four door version of this latest M3 was. The previous iteration (the E36 M3) had one, why not this new car? Where was the answer to the four door Audi S4 or the Mercedes C32? Why was BMW simply ceding this market?
As it turns out the accountants in Munich simply looked at the market for the four door, the tooling and engineers costs associated with bringing it to market and said no thanks. And that should have been the end of the story. But a few enthusiasts deep within BMW knew better. So they went about creating a hybrid of sorts. An Alpina tuned, M engineered and BMW individual designed creation that would turn out to be one of the best sport sedans ever released by BMW.
While the BMW brand is our main focus (and passion) here at BimmerFile, we love the idea of competition. Competition in building the best car leads to innovations and improvements we as enthusiasts drool over. Each brand has its purpose and each brand has its pluses and minuses. In general Audi was/is renowned for its interiors along with Quattro all wheel drive and BMW for its superior driving prowess. To many the interior makes or breaks a car, and to others it is the love of the drive; either way it is a personal call, though we love to drive!
Audi Q5
Audi has sat back and taken it all in for the past 5 plus years while the BMW X3 racked up sales in the compact luxury SUV market before recently launching the Q5. The Q5 joins a crowded class which now includes offerings from not only BMW but Mercedez, Acura, Infinity and Land Rover to name a few. With SUV sales in the tank due to the gas crisis last summer and the current state of the economy, the Q5 comes to market at what would seem the wrong time… but is it?
We here at BimmerFile have been fans of the 1 Series since its launch. It is one of the few cars that out of the box is ready for some time at the track and will not completely melt a giant hole in your wallet. That is not to say it is perfect; like most cars designed for the masses there are little things that could be tweaked to make the car even better and of course increase its sporting intentions. Some of those tweaks would discourage most buyers but not us enthusiasts.
We are not the only ones looking for a bit more performance and sport out of the current array of BMW models; the BMW Performance Parts division is right there with us in the quest for the true “Ultimate Driving Machine”.
I recently had the privilege of spending some seat time with Stephen Zoepf, Accessory Development Manager for BMW Performance Parts, and Matthew Russell of BMW Product and Technology Communications in a fully equipped BMW Performance 135i. Outside of being employees of the weiss mit blau they are true enthusiasts and you are likely to catch them out on a track somewhere in an E30 ///M3 or even 328i sport wagon in quest for the perfect line.
Over the course of the week we will be posting our exclusive candid interview about BMW Performance and some other ground breaking things BMW has in store for us in the not so distant future, but for now we will put our focus on the BMW Performance 135i.
How do you make a great car even better? Find its weaknesses and attack them from different angles. That is what BMW Performance has done to this 1 Series.
We recently had the opportunity to take a quick spin in the new F01 750i. A quick call to the local dealer revealed the new 7’s were in and freshly prepped that day. That’s all I needed, I grabbed a camera, my coat and headed for the door.
Okay so this should be pretty easy right? The R57 is the convertible version of the R56. So I can copy and paste any one of our many review of the R56, do a find and replace here and there and I’m done.
Wow that was easy. Now I can go back out and drive the thing. I’ve got one day left with the new 2009 version of the MINI Cooper S Convertible and I’m dying to get outside and put the top down. The sun is out, the temps are hovering near 60F, it’s Chicago in March and the lakefront beckons.
Yes the 2009 MCS Convertible (MCSc or R57 for short) is a chop top R56. But the culmination of this is much more than simply a roofless coupe. This new convertible truly has its own identity. For one the R56 platform just feel so much more right for this car than the previous iteration. The power delivery, the exhaust note and the more supple ride all just feel right in this car. Forget arguments about hard edge handling and raw edge performance. The R57 feels like a bigger leap over the previous drop-top than the R56 over the R50/R53 Cooper and Cooper S hardtops built from 2001-2006.
BimmerFile is dedicated to bringing you the most interesting news, links and reviews related to the BMW brand and it's vehicles.
We believe in the old school BMW ownership experience. We believe in garage nights with a six pack and some friends. We believe in 2002s, in E30 M3s and E34 540s with the 6 speed. We believe in progress in both design and engineering but we haven't lost sight of what made the brand and its products great all those years ago. And yes, we believe in the manual transmission.
We long for the days of the wave and for the days of roll-up windows. Yet we love the gadgets on the inside and the xenons on the outside.
In short, we can't get enough of BMWs. This is BimmerFile.
Sections: E70 X5, EfficientDynamics, Review Jun 18th, 2009 1 Comment 
