[Jgc650i]

Just back from a 1,300 mile road trip for business purposes and decided to take my X5 to blow through the break in miles and enjoy the car. Finally got a chance to really test the tech, including all the modes of the Driving Assistance Pro package.

I know some have mentioned some concerns with the system’s performance, but for me it worked flawlessly. I did not experience any unreasonable wandering or bouncing between the lane markers. It was steady and mostly dead center in the lane throughout, even as it steered through curves and lane diversions. I went through several construction zones and thought for sure the system would struggle with all the cones, marker inconsistencies, barriers, etc. and to my surprise it handled almost all of them perfectly. The automatic lane change worked well too. I noticed in another thread a couple folks thought the acceleration with the ACC was too slow. I was in Adaptive driving mode for pretty much the entire trip, and the ACC’s acceleration was crisp and responsive (I do have a 50i, so maybe that makes a difference too).

Had a couple chances to try out the Extended Traffic Jam Assist while stuck in stop and go traffic both in DC and Baltimore. It worked great! In fact, it worked so great at one point I zoned out a bit while the car was driving itself and didn’t notice the flow of traffic had increased past the 40 MPH limit until someone behind me flashed me to get my attention and get me moving faster. . . oops!

Mileage and range were impressive for a brand new 8-cylnder engine not yet broken in. I averaged 20.9 MPG over 1,296 miles almost entirely in Adaptive mode, and a roughly 75/25 split between highway miles and city driving. Went through one full tank that was entirely highway driving for the full run and got 22.7 MPG on that leg.

The drive itself was extremely comfortable. A/C worked great in full auto mode and the massage seats made the longer driving stints very relaxing. . . no lower backache or sore tissue. Infotainment had no hiccups or faults. All-in-all a great trip all around. I love this car more and more every day!

[X54TH]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing. Waiting to get mine back today. Looking forward to testing all those features.

[edtreo]

Originally Posted by Jgc650i

I know some have mentioned some concerns with the system’s performance, but for me it worked flawlessly. I did not experience any unreasonable wandering or bouncing between the lane markers. It was steady and mostly dead center in the lane throughout, even as it steered through curves and lane diversions. I went through several construction zones and thought for sure the system would struggle with all the cones, marker inconsistencies, barriers, etc. and to my surprise it handled almost all of them perfectly. The automatic lane change worked well too. I noticed in another thread a couple folks thought the acceleration with the ACC was too slow. I was in Adaptive driving mode for pretty much the entire trip, and the ACC’s acceleration was crisp and responsive (I do have a 50i, so maybe that makes a difference too).

Had a couple chances to try out the Extended Traffic Jam Assist while stuck in stop and go traffic both in DC and Baltimore. It worked great! In fact, it worked so great at one point I zoned out a bit while the car was driving itself and didn’t notice the flow of traffic had increased past the 40 MPH limit until someone behind me flashed me to get my attention and get me moving faster. . . oops!

Thanks for the great review. Did you have the steering intervention turn on?

[Jgc650i]

Yes, I keep it set to Reduced and it works fine for me.

[jersey john]

Very helpful write up. I have not been sure about he massaging seats but it may be something to consider.

I personally love ACC. had it in my Volvo XC60s when I was there. Love it in my wife's Atlas as well. Refreshing to hear that any buggy issues weren't experienced in your model.