I have got an X5 4.8iS on demo for the week which I collected today. I used to own an X5 3.0i Sport which I loved at the time. Getting back behind the wheel I have to say that this car feels dated now in comparison to the rest of the refreshed model range in BMW's line up. The sat nav and bluetooth phone system is particulary old fashioned. This is the same system that was in the E39 I believe and I cannot see how people criticised i-drive and preffered this system. It is slow, cumbersome and the map display is poor. The phone book system and method of retrieving stored number is also slow and difficult to use. To me this system is potentially dangerous as you have to take your eyes off the road to press buttons and fiddle around with menu's to get to the screen you want to use.

The engine is fantastic though and the noise it makes somehow goes a long way to redeem the shortcomings in other areas.

 

Well it is up for a new model soon