BMW teased me with new X5 loaner while in for airbag recall
Posted By RichC on February 8, 2018
One realizes just how old in the tooth their cars technology is when taking a car in for service and driving something new.
This past week, BMW customer service pulled a few strings to get both airbags into my local dealer in order to do a one stop service of my 2010 BMW X5 35d. Since this recall is relatively time consuming, 
they sent me back to work with a new 2018 BMW X5 loaner. Wow … a few changes immediately were noticed. An amazing heads up display was perfectly visible on the windshield (photo above – note centerline of road) and incorporates the GPS "posted speed limit" to the left of the current speed. The SUV also has "Americanized" power steering, a complaint by many who find the heavy power steering on older BMWs too much to handle – personally I’m use to the "heavy feel" but the new lock to lock easy spin was impressive.
Another initially annoying feature quickly notable is the lane departure steering wheel vibration. Probably a great safety feature along with the blind side detection, but it also vibrates when changing lanes, etc. (could be tweakable?) The interior seems top notch as the leather is soft and billion way adjustable seat enjoyable. I was amazed how tight the SUV handled on the bumpy roads … solid handling without body roll, yet potholes and bumps were soft and quiet. Well done.
All in all it was a tease to drive a new X5 that feels much smaller than it is … but I still like my diesel.
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