To my surprise, Xi model of 5 series is doing extremely well..
Originally I thought people might hate the idea
that 5 has all-wheel drive system, but from
the sales figures provided by E60Speed,
it is amazing how well it is doing.

I am one of the proud owner of Xi series too.
:D

It makes sense to me that in areas with bad weather that the Xi would be very popular. Audi probably gets a big portion of its sales on quattro sedans for this very reason. I think it was a very good move on BMWs part to offer AWD. :cool:

My first choice is the Sports Package, however for these NJ winters I needed a vehicle that could get me through snow and not leave me scared to drive outside whenever it snowed like my previous 330i Sport did. I am happy that the XI came out in the 5 series, since I was also looking for a midsize sedan.

Me 2. :)

My saleman told me the Audi dealer down the road once often called them and said their A6 quattro got another would-be BMW owner. They haven't called since ... ... :twoup: :tease:

Yeah I think BMW is doing well with the xi sles and i'm glad. They should offer 550xi too...don't u guys think??? I would love to get my hands on one..... :thumbsup:

I agree. A 550ix with a full sport package would be great. Does BMW not offer AWD on the 550i due to hardware issues?

I know there has to be other 8 cylinder vehicle engines with AWD (except for SUV and trucks of course). So far the only 2 that come to mind are the Caddy STS and Audio A6/A8 Quattro line. There must be a good reason at this time, why there aren't many 8 Cylinder AWD vehicles offerred.

Hey I also wanted to ad that BMW was smart with the E60 Gen by giving it decent looking rims (even if not the Sports Package Rims, which are beautiful by the way).

I have an 2001 530i (non sport) and I do not like these rims and always wanted to just replace them. The sports package rims at that time looked great and still do on an E39. The stock 16" ones still don't look that good and doesn't do the car justice.

If the XI still had boring 16" rims, I would have thought twice about the look as well as choosing this model without the sports package option 18" rims, but again 18" rims / runflats defeats the entire purpose of your xi's capabilities in the winter snows.

I think it comes down to projected demand. BMW must assume that people who buy the more expensive, 8 cylinder engines will normally expect rear wheel drive.

Don't tell that to Bentley with their AWD Contenental and GT! :D