Last year I reported our adventures on our 2200 mile family road trip from PA to Orlando Florida (Disney Grand Floridian). That trip we had the X5 save us from a near collision with the automatic evasion feature.
This year we stayed 2 weeks at the Grand Floridian doing all the Disney adventures. I am pleased to report we had no issues or close calls. Washington DC roads are crap but I think the road construction in Orlando’s i4 is even worse.
(Pic of clean BMW leaving home)
The X5 50i M-Sport was a dream once again. This year I didn’t have one issue or need to reboot the iDrive with its latest firmware. In fact we had the GPS running the entire time and it performed perfectly. It kept us notified of all the road work and traffic accidents in real time. It was even spot on accurate with its reports.
I owned the left lane south of Virginia on i95 south all the way to Florida. Locked the ACC in at 85mph with quick blast up to 100mph+ often when roads were clear and open. Zero drama and practically boring at triple digits. The automatic steering was perfectly designed for these long stretches of open high way and held the center of the Lane with out any ping-ponging or jerking. It really does alleviate a lot of fatigue.
The power delivery is addictive and makes 85mph feel like 40mph when doing it for hours on end. It’s a Autobahn cruiser for sure. I had to blast around or away from some trouble makers and the V8TT leaves them all way behind you. Some tried to keep up but after awhile didn’t have the endurance and fell back. Weather conditions were better this year with mainly rain in the north east and sun down south. Last year I only had 250 miles on the odometer. This year my engine was broke in with 2500 miles on the odometer and had its first oil change before leaving. The engine felt a touch stronger and smoother. MPG were great for how we were driving. My wife even drove around cars at 90mph in Ecco mode and she thought it was plenty fast. I took it out of Ecco mode for her and she became a Predator hunting and overtaking any car in front of her.
We mainly drove in “comfort“ and “adaptive“. Sport + was activated a few times and really felt alive and more aggressive to the point it was overkill performance for a car loaded down with luggage. The acceleration was so sharp it threw around the luggage and kids stuff too much. The beast unleashed was not always what you wanted on trips like this.
This year I came prepared to have a clean car in Florida. I used waterless car wash spray and lots of microfiber towels at our stop in Georgia. I was out at 6am in the parking lot of our hotel detailing the Carbon Black X5 and when I was done it looked show ready. The other old guys packing up their cars had to come over and comment how stunning the X5 looked and asked about if it was new/price/etc... It was very nice and every one was kind.
(Pic at “South of the Border” SC.
You can’t make pics like these up)
When we pulled into the front of the Grand Floridian, the valet parking attendances all came over to check it out and comment if I just washed it as most vehicles are filthy by the time they check in. Comments from “Damn that is sweet” to “we haven’t seen many of these yet”.
Car spotting reports: There was one X7 40i in our parking lot and my X5 50i M-Sport. Not too many BMW’s this year. Only one 911 and a few older Audi Q5/Q7’s. A few Tesla’s are alway there. Everything else was minivan,Escalades, RX450, etc.... I did notice by keeping my vehicle clean and parking away, most vehicles would park around me but not directly next to me.
You really get to know a car on long trips like this. Long stretches of highway from freezing to 90 degrees. City driving with crappy road conditions, bugs, pot holes, construction, etc... This is truly cross country exploring with unknown variables along the way. The BMW once again solidified the best luxury vehicle we have ever taken on this same trip. Comfort of the seats with the Merino leather and massage is next level comfort. Climate controls were set it once and forget it. Heated and cooled seats automatically turned on as per climate rules.
I used the BMW Connected app a lot checking on my vehicle via Remote 3D view.
Selecting individual camera views from the 3D view was also very helpful.
Morning sunrise via rear camera.
