Farewell to my 4.8is

[canamx5]

Originally Posted by asawadude

Cayenne Turbo S?

I beleive he said not a porsche!

[China Man]

Originally Posted by canamx5

I beleive he said not a porsche!

right, otherwise turbo S would have been my choice as well

[cue03]

Looking forward to hearing about your new ride.

Curtis

[Steved]

Originally Posted by China Man

good luck, Steve! My guess is you're picking up an ML63 AMG ???

That's correct. I just picked it up this evening, so cannot post any pictures. I was really sad to see my X5 go, it still looked (and sounded) great and it felt even worse leaving it on it's own at a MB dealership. Well I still have 3 other BMW's so I am in no way leaving the marque.

First impressions of the ML63 are positive and negative.

Firstly the negative;

- The X5 4.8is outhandles it. The X5 feels smaller and ultimately can be taken harder into a corner that has the ML feeling a little unsettled. The ML is also slight softer and feels heavier (although supposedly it isn't).

- I prefer the X5's steering which is nice and linear with perfect progressiveness. The ML's is a speed sensitive system that's very light at low speeds but then artificially heavy at higher speeds in the corners. When cornering hard it becomes heavy and doesn't want to follow the curve of the corner. That I don't like.

- Brakes are good, but the progressiveness of the pedal is not as good as the 4.8is. When I brake the first few inches of travel don't make much difference and I find myself braking harder and more abruptly. The 4.8is brakes are perfect.

OK, the positives;

- it's quick. It doesn't feel much quicker in the first few yards but once into the mid-range it would surge away from the 4.8is. It has 510bhp compared to the 360bhp of the 4.8is so that's no real surprise. I saw a test in a german magazine that had it running pretty close in terms of times with an M6, and I can believe it.

- the engine whilst not as loud on start-up as the 4.8is, is louder once it accelerates through the mid-range, it also changes tone and is more musical than the 4.8is as it pulls through the revs. This is definitely an engine that loves to be driven hard through tunnels. It's also much smoother than the 4.8is engine, so it feels more refined to drive. (which is almost a pity because I really liked the rebellious nature of the 4.8is). The ML63 is close, but a more cultured alternative.

- fuel economy is better than I expected. I'm getting around 16.5mpg compared to the 18mpg I used to get in my 4.8is, so it's not the gas guzzler that I feared. Certainly nowhere near as thirsty as the Cayenne Turbo.

I will need to drive it some more (in the daylight!) to form a better opinion. Thus far it's nice to have a change after 5 years of owning X5s, but I reckon BMW could build a better sports SUV and expect whatever BMW replace with 4.8is with to compete very ably with the ML63 despite having less power (I suspect).

I will take some pictures tomorrow and drive it some more, but it's a different kind of car to drive than the 4.8is, better in some ways but not in others.

[X5Jay]

Hey Steve - congrats on the bitter-sweet transition! I'm sure you'll really enjoy the ML - seems to be quite a machine. I'd love to take one for a spin myself at some point & I'm looking forward to your pics and lots more on your impressions. As others have noted, don't be a stranger. I've always enjoyed your informative posts...

[yeowzer]

PICS???? I test drove the ML63 and loved it.

[SiLvX5]

I'm very impressed with the ML63 too. V8 510hp NA don't forget us X5world!! and good luck Steved

[cue03]

Congrats on the new ride. Looking forward to pictures and more driving impressions against the 4.8is

[X5Flyboy]

Good luck with your new ride - I just hope it lives up to MB's claim MB has no electrical problems (anymore)

[Steved]

Here's a few pics.

I drove it some more today and I am starting to warm to it. Still miss my X5, but there are some compensations.

Performance is stupendous. Simply in another league from the 4.8is. But then that's not surprising given the extra 150 horses under the bonnet. It still doesn't sound quite as nice as the 4.8is on startup but it's louder and more musical through the gears.

Performance feels very similar to an M5/M6. Acceleration from standstill causes the blood to drain from your face and leave you light-headed, it just lunges towards the horizon and there's no discernable sign of it slowing down as it passes 100mph. It's got 7 gears, which are selectable via paddles on the underside of the steering and the changes are pretty quick when in manual mode.

I really don't like Mercedes' Command system even compared to BMW's i-Drive and I've never liked the single-stalk control which Mercedes uses for lights/wipers/indicators etc.

It's clearly better inside than the E53 X5, more space, more comfortable seats etc. On the ML63 you can adjust the side bolsters of the front seats to hug you close (just like in an M3/M5) and the cabin is quieter and more peaceful.

Handling is still not as composed as my 4.8is, although I can tackle most corners in the same manner. You're definitely sitting higher up in the ML63 and the extremeties of the front and sides are harder to judge.

I'm still getting very good fuel mileage, probably around 1-2mpg less than my 4.8is which really surprises me.

If what I hear about the new E70 X5 is true then whatever BMW finally develops to compete with the ML63 will most likely be at least as good. But for the time being I'm enjoying it and look forward to trying out more of its 510bhp.