Comments on: BMW X5 xDrive35d Review

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:31:20 +0000

Great article. I am very interested in this vehicle as a replacement/upgrade for my Honda Pilot. The deal breaker? The two piece rear hatch. It forces me to lift things up and over the bottom piece because with the bottom one in the open position it makes it almost impossible to reach anything far into the rear of the vehicle. For a small person with shorter arms it is not a good design. Put the 8 speed transmission and a one piece rear hatch in this X5 Xdrive D and I am a buyer.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:54:20 +0000

Steve, I think the diesel tax credit expired at end of 2010. Call any BMW dealer to confirm.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:52:46 +0000

Having driven diesels since 1979, I am very disappointed in the overall mileage my wife’s 2011 BMW X-5 diesel gets. We keep meticulous records. For the first 10K miles, she averaged 23.1 mpg city/highway avg.; for the next 15K miles, 24.0 mpg city/highway, barely a 5% increase as the engine broke in. Anybody have any ideas?

By: steve

steve — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:31:26 +0000

Is there still a tax credit? And are we still looking at a 600 mile distance per tankfull?

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:48:39 +0000

I researched and ordered an ’11 with delivery this past July 1st. We optioned it to our taste and the $4500 eco credit off the sticker helped defray some of the cost. I love the engine with plenty of torque off the line. Cruising at 80 is no problem and I have found that if I keep it at around 70mph, I get 27 mpg. Range is close to 600 miles. There have been more diesel stations popping up and availability is not a problem. Closing in on 10,000 miles with no problem.
On a side note, I have read that a new diesel engine is in the works. It will have 345 horses with over 500lbs/ft of torque. It will be a triturbo and is scheduled to be introduced in Frankfurt later this year. The Q7 is slightly bigger but does not have the power or the steering response. I would definitely but another, only with performance center delivery.

By: Darren

Darren — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:41:26 +0000

When BMW re tuned the CPU my mileage dropped from average 24 to 21.8.
The X5 ran out of urea additive at 10k miles and service not due till 15k miles when it was to be refilled. Other then that it runs and drives great like a car. Very comfortable on long drives and don’t have to stop for fuel with long range.

By: Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:52:06 +0000

Does anyone know if or when BMW North America will replace the twin turbo diesel motor with the single twin scroll turbo diesel motor as with the 535d?

By: Diesel Economics 200: 40% Take Rate for 2010 - The Diesel Driver

Diesel Economics 200: 40% Take Rate for 2010 - The Diesel Driver — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:47:06 +0000

[...] In April 2010, for example, the BMW 335d outsold the 335i by a ratio of 6 to 5. In May 2010, the BMW X5 xDrive35d outsold the X5 xDrive30i by a ratio of 6 to 1. The 335d outsold the 335i again in June, this time by [...]

By: The Return of Diesel in America - The Diesel Driver

The Return of Diesel in America - The Diesel Driver — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:35:24 +0000

[...] of diesel-powered cars. Today, Audi offers the A3 TDI 2.0 and the Q7 TDI; BMW has the 335d and the X5 xDrive35d, Volkswagen has four models, the Golf TDI, Jetta TDI, Jetta SportWagen TDI, and Touareg TDI; and [...]

By: Steve James

Steve James — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:39:17 +0000

Another great article, Jonathan. I’m looking at the X5 xDrive35d for my wife and I’ve had the chance to drive the car relatively extensively over the last couple of weeks. Based on my tests, I absolutely agree with your assessment and your conclusions.

if BMW’s aim was to deliver the performance of the V8 with the economy of the I6, I have to say they have delivered. The twin turbo diesel is a simply tremendous engine, delivering a monstrous surge of seemingly never-ending torque. It remains absolutely composed and refined at freeway speeds – it is no noisier than (and I suspect actually quieter than) the X5 gasoline engines. Couple this performance and refinement with the usual BMW attributes – quality ride and handling – and you’ve got a great package. It’s definitely made the cut and will probably be one of the two cars on our shortlist. As I said before, it really is a great blend of the best attributes of the I6 and V8 powered X5′s.

The only three things that may count against it are that the interior is (arguably) a little austere, that filling up with diesel is a little more challenging given the still fairly limited availability of filling stations that also offer diesel and that the car needs a lot of options before the spec is one you would want to live with. Obviously, the interior is far from poor – overall quality is clearly high – it’s just a little bland, and the leather is a little too hard. My wife perhaps places more of a premium on these things than I, but I see her point. On the second point, the nearest diesel filling station is a drive away from where we live. Not a deal breaker, and offset to a great extent given the extended time between fill-ups. To the third, BMWs have always needed to be optioned to get the spec to where you would want it to be. The base car is fairly sparsely equipped, and you’ll need to add 10K to 15K to the base price for a decently equipped car.

That said, the X5 xDrive 35d is fantastic. By and large, it lives up to the hype – and there’s decent chance we’ll have one on our driveway at some point!

One final comment is that supply is still very tight – these cars will probably hold their value fairly well. As a comparison, we looked at a pre-owned Audi Q7 TDI yesterday. At around a year old and with 6K on the clock, it was actually priced just a couple of thousand below new… Pretty sure there would be quite a bit of room for negotiation there, but I can’t imagine a BMW or Audi dealer pricing a pre-owned gasoline engined X5 or Q7 so close the price of a new car.