[xlover]

So this is really a full on BMW marketing thing now... longer tease on reveal, showing the cars testing in the camo wrap but otherwise finalized, then a final reveal closer to launch without the wrap....

i dont hate it, interesting idea

[raysspl]

Totally diggin' all these prototype release vids! Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Audi - well done!

[goj]

Originally Posted by Influence

Not "The Ultimate Driving Machine" but "Sheer Driving Pleasure."

I wonder if this is the start of a new marketing scheme for BMW. Frankly, BMWs have not been "The Ultimate Driving Machine" for some time now.

Seems like they're getting back to the ultimate driving machine if you've read/watched any recent auto journal/publication

[BMW MG M3]

Looks pretty rugged, love it.

[mundo74]

I think this will be a worthy successor to the e70. got a few loaner f15s and the driving dynamics sucked compared to my e70 sport. I like the looks so far as it seems to have the presence the e70 had but kinda lost in the f15. A 385 hp b58 would be nice.

[Flying Ace]

so the South African testing consists of what? -

-Withstanding small caliber arms fire?
-Being able to do a j-turn from stationary to mimic a carjacking?

[stefan]

Originally Posted by ThugzZ BunnY

Did you miss the part about testing in Sweden?

no I did not.

[SCOTT26]

Originally Posted by goj

Seems like they're getting back to the ultimate driving machine if you've read/watched any recent auto journal/publication

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" is the marketing term used in English speaking markets like the US,Australia and the U.K. As three examples.
However the universal international term for BMWs philosophy is
"Sheer Driving Pleasure" or "Freude Am Fahren"

The X5 is a model that will be marketed under the new Luxury term "Bayerische Motoren Werke"

[goj]

Originally Posted by SCOTT26

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" is the marketing term used in English speaking markets like the US,Australia and the U.K. As three examples.
However the universal international term for BMWs philosophy is
"Sheer Driving Pleasure" or "Freude Am Fahren"

The X5 is a model that will be marketed under the new Luxury term "Bayerische Motoren Werke"

I am aware, I was more commenting that BMW seems to be making good drivers cars again in the segments where we want them to.

[SCOTT26]

BMW dropped "The Ultimate Driving Machine" and replaced with "Sheer Driving Pleasure" ahead of the launch of the E65 7er in 2001. When global marketing programmes discovered that enthusiasts were not the client for the 7er model.
The new term was to reflect the new era of mating driving,technology advances and connectivity such as the then all new iDrive feature.

[antzcrashing]

Grill is enormous. Grill is stupid

[MiamiFan13]

Originally Posted by goj

Seems like they're getting back to the ultimate driving machine if you've read/watched any recent auto journal/publication

I must have missed the part where the manual transmissions were coming back to the 5, 6, & new 8 series.

[vympel777]

Crossing my fingers on a new 3.0 engine. Please bmw make a new freaking engine already. My f15 is almost no difference from my previous e70. I love them both but new model = better performance that's just my personal opinion. F15 was not that case. Many are saying that f15 is ugly others love it however, G05 grills look shocking massive. Even in a wrap i dont like it. The car looks stupid funny it kills the entire design but i guess still looks better than benz.

[KSERGEI-BY]

Originally Posted by vympel777

Crossing my fingers on a new 3.0 engine. Please bmw make a new freaking engine already. My f15 is almost no difference from my previous e70. I love them both but new model = better performance that's just my personal opinion. F15 was not that case. Many are saying that f15 is ugly others love it however, G05 grills look shocking massive. Even in a wrap i dont like it. The car looks stupid funny it kills the entire design but i guess still looks better than benz.

Actually..... B57 and B58 are the brand new R6 3.0 engines.

[DeeKay]

Originally Posted by goj

God it would be so fun to thrash around off road in a SUV like this and not care what it does to the car

One of the reasons why I still think Clarkson and the boys (now on The Grand Tour) has the best jobs in the world - Test all the cars on the limit and never really think of the cars well being like us mere mortals. I would barely dare to go for a lap on the Nurburgring if I crossed the path

[Patrik]

Originally Posted by stefan

no I did not.

You do realise that the temperatures drop frequently under -30, even -40 degrees celsius here (the Nordics) right? Caters most of the world's cold driving needs. It's not like Canada is the only country in the world where it gets a little cold

Regarding the car, looking really good! They even got the hood shutline right on this one

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Patrik

You do realise that the temperatures drop frequently under -30, even -40 degrees celsius here (the Nordics) right? Caters most of the world's cold driving needs. It's not like Canada is the only country in the world where it gets a little cold

Regarding the car, looking really good! They even got the hood shutline right on this one

Not to get in a war about who has it colder but Sweden enjoys pretty mild winters with the odd dip into the -20 maybe even the occasional -30 at northern latitudes. Stockholm for example rarely drops below -10.

This pales in comparison to the *sustained* -30, -40 brutality of central Canada. This is a near and dear issue to me, having had many poorly designed BMW parts fail in these conditions (including CCV, cooling systems, etc. The CCV being interesting because it fails due to sustained cold weather; buildup of vapour causes the valve failure). And if Sweden is where they are testing this stuff, especially if they are anywhere near the coast or major cities, I'd argue it's not good enough for Canadian or northern US plains regions in the winter.

While showing minimums, comparing this to the sustained intervals of cold tells you just how brutal areas like Canada or Russia can get in the winter months without having normalizing effect of the sea which northern Europe benefits from.

Why is this important? Well here we have BMW claiming to test in what sounds like horrific conditions "the arctic circle" but... in reality where you are in the world impacts what temperatures you experience at the arctic circle. And some future customers are interested in this for winter driving particularly given this vehicle's pedigree. We aren't talking about a Z4 here.

edit: as another interesting tidbit, Toyota tests their 4runner, Rav4 in Ontario during -40*C--these two vehicles while nowhere as fun as an X5 are known to be reliable in our winters.

[Patrik]

Originally Posted by stefan

Not to get in a war about who has it colder but Sweden enjoys pretty mild winters with the odd dip into the -20 maybe even the occasional -30 at northern latitudes. Stockholm for example rarely drops below -10.

This pales in comparison to the *sustained* -30, -40 brutality of central Canada. This is a near and dear issue to me, having had many poorly designed BMW parts fail in these conditions (including CCV, cooling systems, etc. The CCV being interesting because it fails due to sustained cold weather; buildup of vapour causes the valve failure). And if Sweden is where they are testing this stuff, especially if they are anywhere near the coast or major cities, I'd argue it's not good enough for Canadian or northern US plains regions in the winter.

While showing minimums, comparing this to the sustained intervals of cold tells you just how brutal areas like Canada or Russia can get in the winter months without having normalizing effect of the sea which northern Europe benefits from.

Why is this important? Well here we have BMW claiming to test in what sounds like horrific conditions "the arctic circle" but... in reality where you are in the world impacts what temperatures you experience at the arctic circle. And some future customers are interested in this for winter driving particularly given this vehicle's pedigree. We aren't talking about a Z4 here.

edit: as another interesting tidbit, Toyota tests their 4runner, Rav4 in Ontario during -40*C--these two vehicles while nowhere as fun as an X5 are known to be reliable in our winters.

Why compare southern Sweden to northern Canada? Car companies have their winter test areas in Lapland, not the south. Just proves you have little idea in what you’re talking about, so I won’t go any further

[stefan]

Patrik The coldest part of Sweden is at least 10deg average warmer than the coldest part of Canada. That's why. It seems you are failing to understand the geographical differences between the regions. This DOES impact winter testing and winter reliability. Let's compare two northern towns in both countries. In Kiruna, the average low for January is -18. By March is has already gone up to -14. In Yellowknife, it's -27 in January and -22 in March. You haven't taken topography (i.e., massive plains with rocky mountains on one coast versus flat and sea-influenced) into consideration.

My point is this. An X5 driven in Swedish winters hasn't had appropriate testing for Canadas long, sustained, brutal temperatures. This means road conditions (salt, ice, etc.) have a longer time to impact components. Being a good 10*C colder everywhere during winter, rubber parts will be substantially more brittle as well. Just because Sweden hosts part of the arctic circle doesn't make it more harsh of an environment. We get many more breakdowns in winter here as a result. I think this would be useful to consider when we're talking about an X5.

[Powaup]

Awesome pics

[vympel777]

Originally Posted by KSERGEI-BY

Actually..... B57 and B58 are the brand new R6 3.0 engines.

Well i was talking about most common 3.0 gas engine in f15 models.

[DCG]

BMW it's time to get back into the Dakar Rally!