BMW X5 3.0 Diesel 1995

The Car: A black BMW X5 3.0 Exclusive Automatic Diesel with cream leather interior. Date of review: March 23 2006. Reviewer: DJC, Birmingham

BMW DEALERSHIPS

First of all, I must declare that I got so frustrated with the local BMW dealership, that I ordered my BMW X5 direct from BMW.

My local BMW dealer is Sytner BMW in Solihull. (824-828 Stratford Road, Shirley , Solihull, B90 4BQ,
0121 733 3444).Now it's a pet peeve of mine that when you call a car dealership, there is never anyone available to take your call. Never.

It was no different when I called Sytner on three occasions - they simply wanted my name and telephone number, presumably so they could check that the enquiry is genuine - a sort of pre-sales qualificiation.

So, I decided that I'd just drop in on the dealership in person, as I don't want follow-up calls, no matter how interested I am in a car.

I visited the dealership on three occasions. The first was a weekend, with my and three children. We walked around the showroom, we sat in several cars. The sales staff, although not particularly busy, ignored us completely,

The second time, I went alone, during the week when most people are at work. The showroom was deserted apart from three sales people who... ignored me.

The third time, I went in with my wife, again during the week when it's quiet. Again, we were ignored. Maybe we didn't look like we'd pass their finance check or something. This time though, instead of rolling up in our two year old Renault Espace, we used the Mercedes E Class that we were test driving. Maybe their cars sell themselves?

I concluded that they didn't need my money, so I went to Rydale Central at 20 Parade, Birmingham, B1 3QJ (0121 234 6000) and they were just as bad. My wife and I spent 20 minutes in that showroom and didn't get so much as an "hello!"

We leased our X5 direct from BMW for a year  -afterall, we hadn't test driven one - the sales lady at Sytners (when I rang them later) explained that they didn't have new X5's to test drive, because they wanted to order cars for their customers rather than themselves. Strange, but true.

The Car

I picked my car up from Oxford and was cheerfully shown all of the exciting new controls - like how to get my phone to work with the hands-free, how to adjust the seats and set the memory etc.

It came with a full tank of diesel and I set off happily up the M40 towards home.

All went well. There were no strange rattles or squeaks. It felt very high off the ground and the first thing I noticed was that people don't let you out of side roads when you have a monster of a car like this!

Courtesy goes out of the window. I felt hated. I don't think that's too strong a word.

As expected, the car was faultless. Compared to my old Renault, it's whisper quiet and extremely fast. It's certainly the fastest car I've ever had, though there is a slight delay sometimes when you press on the accelorator from a standstill, which is bit disconcerting when you're in a rush to pop into the small break in the traffic!

The inside is extremely comfortable and the cream leather on the seats looks a treat. It doesn't stay pristine looking for long though.

It's now March and although it's only done 3500 miles, the drivers seat is starting to look a bit grubby.

BMW do have a leather polish that would clean it up nicely, but it comes with BMW prices, so I'll give that a miss.

There is plenty of room in the back for three adults and each passenger gets their own full seat belt, which is handy when you have three kids of varying ages.

The boot, though it looks large, is less roomy than you might think at first. Even with the rear seats down, I was a bit disappointed at the versatility of the arrangement,  but after an Espace, everything is small!

Seating position will never be a problem for the driver, as the seat is electrically adjustable in just about every porition. It's an incredibly comfortable car.

One of my concerns about getting the X5, was that my kids get travel sick. We once test drove a Landrover Discovery and they lasted 6 minutes because of the roll of the car.

The BMW X5 is as stable as a rock. There is no roll on the cornering and you always feel safe, whatever the road conditions.

Insurance wasn't too bad at about £500 for a fully comprehensive policy, but all of the insurers insisted that I fitted a tracker - at an extra £600 including the annual subscription, but it does make you feel a bit more secure.

Would I get another? I think I could be tempted, but I do get bored very quickly with cars, which is why I took only a 12 month lease.

Good points: Comfort, styling, room for passengers, legroom, headroom, speed.

Bad points: Greenies HATE this car. So do most other road users. Fuel economy isn't great!

Since the budget on 22 March, the Chancellor has added an extra £40 to the roads tax for these cars. So, for £40 extra, you can now drive with a free conscience - I pay my tax, I'll drive what the hell I like :)