New Owner 2012 X5 335d

[malexander77]

Just wanted to say howdy. I am a long time lurker first time poster here. We recently sold my wife's 2005 X3 3.0si and purchased a new 2012 BMW X5 335d. We had spent the last 4 months looking and test driving everything from the Ford Flex to the Kia Sportage. At the end of the day my wife went for the X5. While it's price point was significantly steeper than the competition, the diesel engine and the BMW ride and handling are what sold her. The car is the 2013 Bronze color with 18" run flats. It is "fully loaded" with all the bells and whistles. The diesel is absolutely amazing. We only have 100 miles on the vehicle and driving around town in stop and go traffic the vehicle is averaging a solid 23 MPG. On the freeway we have seen as high as 27MPG for extended periods driving with the cruise control on at 70mph. There is an initial turbo lag, however I suspect that will change as the vehicle becomes acclimated to my wife's driving habits. I will keep you guys posted as the vehicle is broken in and we get more miles on it. I expect the fuel economy to increase as the vehicle settles in. I must say I am a bit envious of the Mrs. right now I drive a 2007 Ford Lariat and it is a great truck. I wanted to pick up a BMW 335d for myself and I told my wife if she didn't make a decision soon that I would be the one to trade up. Regardless I still see the 335d on the horizon for me. I have heard contradicting rumors that BMW will discontinue the deisle model cars for the US in the coming year. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

[malexander77]

After the first week with the new ride we are super excited about the vehicle. We went 480 miles on 20.1 gallons of Diesel. This was 40% highway and 60% in town driving. The best mileage to date has been 27 MPG at 70 with the cruise control. The vehicle maintained this average for just over 50 miles before we made it home. The initial turbo lag around town is still there, but I suspect this is just the diesel. The vehicle goes like train though when you get into it. The kids are super comfortable and I appreciate the multiple options for adjusting the driver and passenger seats in this car. The sound system and blue tooth connectivity is excellent and the iDrive has been flawless. The backup camera is pretty handy but I still have to look over my shoulder. The navigation is pretty lame. I can pull up direction on my android ten times faster than you can with the iDrive. If you could speak your destination to the iDrive that would be swell. You may be able to, however we have yet to figure it out. That's all for now, great ride and I would certainly recommend this to anyone considering the purchase!

[White94RX]

Nice to here a satisfied owner on this forum. Most of the time it's complaints and problems!

[eschantra]

Nice to here a satisfied owner on this forum. Most of the time it's complaints and problems!

LOL so true. OP, grats on the purchase!

[malexander77]

Nice to here a satisfied owner on this forum. Most of the time it's complaints and problems!

When we bought our first BMW 4 years ago we heard the same bit from family and friends about maintenance and headaches associated with the car. Keep in mind none of them have actually owned a BMW and not many of them have driven one. We purchased a 2005 X3 with 31k on the odometer. We opted for the extended warranty and my wife put another 44K on the vehicle before we sold it for the X5. The vehicle never left my wife and kids stranded and the warranty covered some major repairs including the all wheel drive pump and the manifold gasket. The 3.0L i6 has been my favorite engine for years and the X3 drove and performed far better than its competitors. As they X5 is new, we have 4 years and 50K miles of no worries there.

[slowlanemcvane]

Most people get on the internet to complain about stuff, not to praise it. That's why you hear more horror stories on the internet and from friends and relatives than you ever hear praising the vehicle.

Congrats on the purchase. In a couple of years my wife and I will be looking into trading her 2002 X5 3.0i for the 35d. Glad to hear that the ride is nice and that the gas mileage is good!

[malexander77]

Most people get on the internet to complain about stuff, not to praise it. That's why you hear more horror stories on the internet and from friends and relatives than you ever hear praising the vehicle.

Congrats on the purchase. In a couple of years my wife and I will be looking into trading her 2002 X5 3.0i for the 35d. Glad to hear that the ride is nice and that the gas mileage is good!

I was giggling reading your "custom" signature. As for posting and whatnot I am actually an active member on a Ford Forum. They have a pretty good member base over there, some very knowledgeable folks too that have saved me tons of money. On occasion there are those that rant and I cant hardly fault them. When something we depend on and pay for tanks on us, it can be very frustrating. Manufacturers not owning up to their defects makes it even more frustrating. As far as I am concerned every manufacturer has their idiosyncrasies when it comes to engineering and design. For example the 2004-2005 ford 5.4L 3v motors are notorious for ejecting spark plugs when you are cruising down the highway. If you bought an early model 2007 CTS-V you were lucky to keep the differential intact. Yesterday the clerk at Auto zone told me newer Ford vehicles were switching from spark plugs to glow plugs. I laughed in his face and told him I felt sorry for the guy in front of me he was giving mechanical advice too and I hoped I never found him under the hood of my car. I think his name was Clown Pants McGuilicutty or something to that effect.

[Crusher47]

Most people get on the internet to complain about stuff, not to praise it. That's why you hear more horror stories on the internet and from friends and relatives than you ever hear praising the vehicle.

Congrats on the purchase. In a couple of years my wife and I will be looking into trading her 2002 X5 3.0i for the 35d. Glad to hear that the ride is nice and that the gas mileage is good!

Let me know when your ready to trade in the X5... my wife really wants one

[ddsski]

You now own the best thing BMW makes in the year 2012.

[malexander77]

Tank 2 - 468 miles on 19.82 gallons of gas for a combined city/hwy average of 23.61 MPG. Being a diesel I am curious as to whether or not the fuel mileage improves similar to gas motors after a few miles. The initial turbo lag combined with BMWs stupid acceleration delay kinda sucks, even in sport mode with traction control disabled something is delaying the response. We flashed my wifes X3 this went away. Not sure if that is an option as this vehicle is key-less. If anyone has a link to a manual reset similar to the previous gen that would be great.

[Fargo13]

.....We flashed my wifes X3 this went away.

"Flashed my wifes X3" ?

What does that mean?

[malexander77]

My wife was complaining about the shift patterns in the the vehicle after a recent service appointment.There is a post on the Bimmerfest forum by DDone from November 11, 2009 that explains the procedure. I cant post the link because I am a newb here.

Resetting the Adaptive Driver Memory for the Automatic Transmission
Over time the ECU in the trans learns your driving style and that is what it keeps in memory. The throttle is "Drive By Wire" and adapts and personalizes to your particular driving style. However, there is a way to set the ECU back to factory default. I have done this with my 07 328 and it works fine. I've done this with several Mercedes. The only difference with a push button to start/stop engine system is that you must use the start button instead of turning the key to it's first position and again to simulate the off position.
DO NOT REMOVE THE KEY DURING THIS PROCEDURE
Here it is; How to do a TBA: Throttle Body Adaptation reset.
Resetting the Adaptive Driver Memory for the transmission.

Works with any car that has Driver Adaptive Electronic Controlled Transmission.

1. Get in your car, it doesn't matter if you close the door or not.
2. Turn the key to the on (not start) position, the position just before the starter turns over. BMW: press start button – foot off brake - all idiot lights on.
3. Press the gas pedal to the floor with the key in the "on" position. BMW: All idiot lights on.
4. Hold the pedal to the floor for five seconds, then turn the key back to the "off position". BMW: foot off brake press start button - all idiot lights now off (don't remove the key), then release the gas pedal.
5. Wait a full 2 minutes for a full electronic alignment. Don't remove the key.
6. Start engine, drive the car, notice the difference.

[MMM46]

Just wanted to say howdy. I am a long time lurker first time poster here. We recently sold my wife's 2005 X3 3.0si and purchased a new 2012 BMW X5 335d. We had spent the last 4 months looking and test driving everything from the Ford Flex to the Kia Sportage. At the end of the day my wife went for the X5. While it's price point was significantly steeper than the competition, the diesel engine and the BMW ride and handling are what sold her. The car is the 2013 Bronze color with 18" run flats. It is "fully loaded" with all the bells and whistles. The diesel is absolutely amazing. We only have 100 miles on the vehicle and driving around town in stop and go traffic the vehicle is averaging a solid 23 MPG. On the freeway we have seen as high as 27MPG for extended periods driving with the cruise control on at 70mph. There is an initial turbo lag, however I suspect that will change as the vehicle becomes acclimated to my wife's driving habits. I will keep you guys posted as the vehicle is broken in and we get more miles on it. I expect the fuel economy to increase as the vehicle settles in. I must say I am a bit envious of the Mrs. right now I drive a 2007 Ford Lariat and it is a great truck. I wanted to pick up a BMW 335d for myself and I told my wife if she didn't make a decision soon that I would be the one to trade up. Regardless I still see the 335d on the horizon for me. I have heard contradicting rumors that BMW will discontinue the deisle model cars for the US in the coming year. Can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

Sound like you enjoy your new "truck" (my girlfriend doesn't like me to refer to it as a truck). I just ordered mine two days ago and will be counting down the days till it gets here. Although I will be sad to see my '07 335i (with Dinan s2) go, I needed something that could hold the dogs and possibly a baby next year and be modern and comfortable on road trips and still get decent gas milage. I also needed something that can tow my race car as I have an old '97 Mountaneer that I keep for this purpose that I need to get rid of.

Being a BMW/Mini/Mazda person, I briefly looked at some other reviews for similiar vehicles (Audi, Merc, and LR) but ended up going for the X5d... of course. In a similiar price range is the M3 that I want to get but I'm waiting a year or two to see what the new on

I had to order as I coun't find one with the exact options that I wanted as I wanted everything but adaptave cruise control, 3rd row seats, what I consider a useless technology package, 20" wheels, and suprisingly running boards (which I thought I wanted until I compared two side-by-side and thought the lines looked cleaner without). Everything else is checked (besides the leather dash which while awesome and initially on my list was dropped as the molded one actually looks pretty cool).

I like earth colors like the bronze and the cinnamon interior but in the end the clean-ness of the silver with the oyster and bamboo interior won out.

Now I wait...

On a side note, if anyone wants to give me more than what the dealer is for my 335i, it is for sale in the appropriate section.