2008 BMW X5: Nothing in Particular

The rear tires looks narrower in the pic than their actual massive width.

I used to live in Newport Beach a few years ago. I know that exact bike path you took that picture from - I used to ride my bike there often. I lived on the east bluff, near MacArthur and the 73. I loved it there, but job changes required a move back east unfortunately.

I actually saw my first Maybach on that bike path - I was riding my bike, and one quietly drove past there, touring the Back Bay scenery. A few months later I saw the valet area of nearby Fashion Island shopping mall had TWO Maybachs parked there, along with a Ferrari 360 and 430. Yeah, it's a poor area...

Any chance I get, I will opt-out of any sunroof, especially a glass sun/moonroof. And big ones with fabric shade cloth are the worst, in my book.

I don't like the reduced headroom, I don't like the wind tweaking my remaining hair, and, more than anything, I don't like the sun beating down on me. If equipped, I only open them at night, in summer.

I'd rather keep the $1,000 they cost for wheels or performance tires (or gas), avoid the 40 pound weight penalty they represent (up high, where it does stability no good), live without fear of leaks or wind whistle and enjoy more headroom.

Sadly, you almost have to take a sunroof against your will to get other desireable options, in many cases. Heck, you can't even buy a Porsche GT3, a performance car, no less, without one in THIS country.

I love Newport Beach. Its residents? Not so much.

actualsize

Interesting difference of opinion.

I love my sunroof. It's open everyday it's not raining. Even though I'm 6'2", I have no problem with headroom in my Legacy. I like the wind blowing around my hair and living in Vancouver, I never miss a chance to have the sun shine on me.

Unless you are racing, I doubt you could notice a difference from the weight and even though my car is 18 years old, it doesn't leak or whistle.

I do understand you not wanting to take options you don't want just to get one you do. I don't like leather (makes you sweat in the summer, freeze in the winter and you slide around too much) or see a need for A/C (never did use it last summer) but you normally have to take them to get the upscale engine, sunroof or performance suspension.

You forgot to mention the Porsche/Audi/Bentley dealership, and what are quite possibly the largest Rolls Royce and Maserati showrooms nearby on Pacific Coast Highway. One of the only places you can walk up and put your fingerprints on a $400,000 car, and not get sniped.

Well firstwagon, I've always lived in or close to the desert, so sunshine on my shoulder makes me un-happy in my cars. It beats down something fierce in Phoenix and puts the hurt on, even through the glass.

And though I'm also 6'2", my preference is for small, tossable cars, so the headroom loss is always noticeable as I'm almost always grazing the headliner.

And yes, I used to buy my cars with racing in mind when I was a dedicated SCCA showroom stock competitor. One of the more annoying examples was my 1989 Civic Si. As now, the Si was the performance model, yet it came with a mandatory glass sunroof that made the car heavier--quite the opposite of the sporty image under which they marketed the car. It was the one to have to win that year, on paper at least, so I had to tolerate it. I'll put a picture of it up on my carspace--as soon as I find and scan the original, that is.

If that is Fletcher Jones Mercedes, it sells highest volume of mb cars in the world, not just amg, although that could be possible too