xiTouring

After no longer being able hold my breath wishing for an F61 in the States, last week I traded in my 2006 530xiT for a 2015 E350 4Matic wagon with 10K miles and an extended CPO warranty.

I absolutely love this car! The gas mileage is better than the xiT and Distronic Plus rocks! My biggest concern was would I get used to the handling but it's not an issue. I feel totally in control and safe in this new wagon.

I placed in the classified section a warning triangle which is unique to the wagon (SOLD) as well as some car car products and a USB charger should any be interested.

I enjoyed my 530xiT despite all the common issues including the tailgate harness, fried electronics due to the sunroof drain, etc.. Also the dealer service was second to none.

Happy motoring let's hope BMW reconsiders their line up of X this, GT that and brings another wagon to the states.

Take care.

Lotus99

Interesting that you find its handling pretty good and on par with your E61 wagon. When I had to say goodbye to ours, I was looking at another wagon to replace it with, and given the scarcity of the 2010 535's (what I had), I briefly considered getting one of those. Except everyone I talked to, some of which had driven the E350 even, said its handling and sportiness wasn't anywhere near the 535's... I wish I had test driven one to know for myself.

gman6262

Once I get to 200,000 km on my 2010 - I'll be looking at the same option if BMW doesn't satisfy us with the 2017 5 series touring....

Lotus99

Yeah, the lack of nice wagon options made me go with the X3 35, with M Sport package, which I have to say has been pretty impressive. And with sport springs installed on it that dropped it just over an inch, it looks much better and handles better as well, so I'm not totally disappointed. If you really want to go crazy with it, you can even get KW V2 coilovers for it, which will drop it up to 2" IIRC, and I'm sure the handling will be night and day.

And with the X3 M coming soon I've heard, that'll be a really nice option IMO, given how it's highly unlikely wagons will come back to NA.

Surprisingly, notwithstanding their excess weight vs. wagons, the X cars are able to handle quite well especially with all the handling gadgets BMW has given them. So I've got a new respect for these SUV's. The X6M for example, believe it or not, managed to go around Willow Springs at an amazingly fast time. You'll be shocked to see which cars it beat. It's currently #24 on the list:

Willow Springs lap times - FastestLaps.com

xiTouring

I traded my xiT with 135,000 miles. We test drove the X5 however the higher center of gravity, higher rear liftover, two part taligate lid and reduced cargo area all made it a non starter for us. In fact I think the E350 holds more than the xiT.

Lotus99

Once I had ruled out the E350 because of handling, it came down to the X3 vs X5. I didn't even bother test driving the X5, partly because of these factors you also mentioned (higher rear liftover, two part taligate lid and reduced cargo area), but mainly because I figured I didn't want to drive a 5000 pound pig of a car. I knew its handling wouldn't be anywhere near as good as the X3's. The X3 pretty much weighs the same as the 535 did, in the low 4000's.