On day three, from the heart of Iowa to Motown, I covered all 600 miles in a snowstorm. At some points, vision was down to a few car lengths and the interstate was pure white, especially in Michigan, where they seemed to have parked the plows. Damn budget cuts.
Several times traffic slowed to a crawl. And very often I was cruising with the X5's six-speed transmission in 4th or 5th gear so I would be able to use engine braking and not just the brakes, should I need to slow or stop. I also counted 18 cars and trucks off in the ditch, ranging from four-wheel-drive pickups to Peterbilts and one lone Porsche. And one time, deep in Michigan, a guy in an almost new Jag S-Type spun right in front of me. Miraculously he didn't hit anything, but I'm sure he had to change his panties.
Despite such contitions, I averaged 60.5 mph and 17.1 mpg. I also arrived at my hotel feeling like I could go another 400 miles. I was wired. Six-hundred miles in a snowstorm really forces you to be alert. I didn't even blink east of Chicago. I wolfed down a beer and a burger before my adrenaline simmered down.
This was a great trip in a great truck. If you haven't road-tripped in a while, get out there. And don't wimp out and take the southern route.
There are more day-three highlights and photos on the next page, and forgive me for all the behind-the-wheel shots; it was cold out there.
I was without an ice scraper. But the X5's wipers and defrosters had me on the road in about 10 minutes.
More proof I was in Des Moines. Seriously, this is to show the road conditions. Changing lanes was tough. If you were going to slide off in the ditch, it was probably during a lane change.
Things got worse in Detroit. When no black asphalt was peeking through the snow it was time to slow down a bit. Notice I have the X5 in 5th gear for engine braking.
The Giant Tire. This is when you know you're close to Detroit. It was once a Ferris wheel, built for the 1964-'65 New York World's Fair. It has sat along I-94 at the Uniroyal sales office in Allen Park, Michigan, ever since. By the way, I averaged 69.2 mph and 17.9 mpg for the entire three-day trip.
I arrived in Detroit around 9 p.m. Saturday night. The next morning I got this warning on the iDrive screen. And sure enough the right rear was 10 psi low. We pumped it up and it's been fine since. Hard to explain since I, of course, checked the tire pressures before leaving Santa Monica. I did, however, think it was cool that the X5 tells you which tire is low. Most cars don't do that.
-- Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
sgude says:
05:04 AM, 01/23/09
Screw that -- I'm taking the southern route.
dougtheeng says:
06:09 AM, 01/23/09
Those are some pretty good night shots considering you were driving and in bad light conditions.
s197gt says:
07:18 AM, 01/23/09
give me a BMW w/free gas and i'll take whatever route you want me to...
now, had you made the same route in the same conditions in the smart fortwo...
mlevere1992 says:
07:24 AM, 01/23/09
Scott,
I see that sign in Des Moines, every day when I go to work. The roads on that day really sucked. It looks like you didn't have too much traffic to contend with.
I really like the BMW X5. If I had the money, I probably would have gotten one. Instead I bought a Mazda CX9. I really like that SUV. You (Edmunds) have tested it and came to the same conclusions that I have.
I haven't been on a long road trip in a long time but now I have the itch to do it again. Maybe to Greensville, SC for BMWs Performance Driving School.
ahightower says:
07:44 AM, 01/23/09
"It was cool that the X5 tells you which tire is low."
True. And the graphic is pretty, but it would be even better if it could read out individual temperatures like many others do these days.
misterfusion says:
08:56 AM, 01/23/09
Great post, and you're absolutely right about how wired you get when taking a road trip in a snowstorm.
I once drove with my wife from Carlsbad, NM to Santa Fe in a snowstorm. Actually, we were traveling under the leading edge of the storm, so the road conditions were still passable -- but I didn't dare stop, for fear of the storm getting ahead and icing-up the roads.
Our rented 2004 Taurus did very well, but the stressful conditions and lack of rest stops took their toll: When we arrived at my mother's house, my stepdad said, "You guys look like you came here in a covered wagon."
sgude says:
09:31 AM, 01/23/09
Screw that -- I'm STILL taking the southern route. :-P
mlh says:
01:03 PM, 01/23/09
Why use engine braking on the slippery stuff when you have ABS?
desmolicious says:
01:53 PM, 01/23/09
The Chevy Cobalt loaner that I had a while back showed the actual pressures for all 4 tyres. Much better than just saying a tyre is low. I think it's cheaper than the BMW X5.
bimmerjay says:
01:54 PM, 01/23/09
Scott, in your pic showing the trans in 5th gear in manual mode, why is the little warning triangle lit?
robe457 says:
02:26 PM, 01/23/09
bimmerjay, im guessing its an upshift dummy light.
bimmerjay says:
03:40 PM, 01/23/09
"bimmerjay, im guessing its an upshift dummy light."
I don't think so - that warning triangle comes on with an accompanying message in the iDrive and center IP screens. The message can be cleared with the BC button on the left stalk but the warning triangle will stay lit. My guess is it could be the low outside temp which would trigger the yellow snowflake warning. I didn't think the triangle stayed lit for that though.
BMW Steptronics don't have an upshift warning in M unless you are driving for a long time at high RPM - like >4K and you're not in 5th or 6th gear already.
estreka says:
08:00 PM, 01/23/09
There is nothing tempting about the flats of Michigan, Kansas, Nebraska, or eastern Colorado. Or Nevada for that matter. Even northern TX is awfully flat.
I will say that strenuous winter driving really wears you out. I bet you were more tired than you thought.
DLu says:
08:04 AM, 01/24/09
Engine braking makes me nervous, specifically if the road turns and you take the foot off the gas too late when you've already started the turn. of course the weight distribution in the X5 is better than my car, because isn't that one of the maneuvers to turn understeer (obviously plentiful in my FWD) into oversteer or even a drift ...
you should try to drive in Boston during/right after a snow storm. hahaha you'll always have several times more idiots on the road than in the Midwest because it's so freaking crowded here. much more "interesting" driving here.
CycloneRcr says:
01:18 PM, 01/24/09
"This was a great trip in a great truck"
Oh, come on, don't call this great piece of machinery "a truck".
mrbenyong says:
01:55 AM, 01/26/09
I have the new one and the old one.... unfortunately i cant feel much of a connection with the new one because of the LACK of STEERING FEEL!
The new steering is as light as my Toyotas (rav4 and alphards) :(
technologically its fantastic tho... but driving it hard, i really dont dare to.
Anyone else feel the same about the steering? esp drivers who driven the old one?
roadburner says:
08:08 AM, 01/26/09
"Oh, come on, don't call this great piece of machinery "a truck"."
Why? When I've talked to BMW engineers that's what they call it.