Why not an X5?
 

I purchased an Ml350 last week and am very happy with it. In fact i was so convinced to buy a mercedes that i didnt even bother to dive deep into other brands like Lexus, bmw etc.

Yesterday i was simply looking at the X5 website and noticed that they really have a higher value prop than an Ml 350. I am not regretting my decision at all but that got me thinking that why would a person buy a mercedes and not a bmw when the x5 offers much much more. Here are some examples
1. 4 yr free maintenance
2. Heads up display
3. Option to have a 3rd row seat
4. Surround view
5. Their bmw package subscription comes for 3 years as opposed to 6 months mbrace in MB. They also come with a 3 yr free traffic subscription
6. Bigger hard drive for music and navigation


With all these points can someone explain why would a consumer buy a Mercedes? I couldnt even find a single feature which the Mercedes had and the bmw did not

At a certain point, you buy what car drives your emotion.

You drive and compare different vehicles that you like, pick the finalists and go with what moves you at the time. An option list isn't the only reason to buy a car.

You were so convinced to get a Mercedes that you didn't even play the field and test drive all the other brands. That's emotion and that's why you bought the car. Now your logical side is starting to wonder. I'd stick with the grin you get because you got the Mercedes that you wanted.

It's definitely whatever style that motivates you. Personally I'm not motivated by the X5, I saw one today and I'm just not impressed with it.

Shouldn't the question be, Why didn't I look at all my options before buying?

Thanks guys. I definitely bought with emotion and am so happy i did. I think it's the best car i've bought. Maybe the point of the post was to give me a kick in the back to stop thinking about other cars when i already have the best with me

First - feature-to-feature the X5 is about $6K more

1. 4 yr free maintenance - with MB your maintenance is like $750 for 30K prepaid maintenance + front brake job - total is "less" that what BMW is adding in

2. Heads up display - have you used it, it's stupid compared to the clarity/info on the MB cluster for 2013 forward

3. Option to have a 3rd row seat - for midgets and dwarves with no legs !

4. Surround view - more interesting to think about - and more distracting when parking than you think - not a biggie

5. Their bmw package subscription comes for 3 years as opposed to 6 months mbrace in MB - toll-free roadside is free - the BMW support package is a bit slicker -

6. Bigger hard drive for music and navigation - Hard drive - sooo slow to burn - use a USB or SD card and burn on your PC

Simple it's a BMW and I'm not a ****

Heres the problem with X5s from my experience with them.
1). Choppy ride
2). Runflats
3). Terrible quality
4). Sluggish from get-go (transmission lag)
5). Gas-guzzler


Hence the reason I preferred my 2010 Ml350 and my new 2013 Ml350 bluetec.

I don't like the looks of the X5...inside or out and didn't consider it either.

7. Dual exhausts
8. Wider tires stock and ability to run wider going aftermarket

All the reasons you stated is the reason why I am selling my ML to go into an X5. The main thing I noticed with the W166 ML is that most of the stuff they added could of been added in the W164 model. Like panoramic sunroofs have been their for quite some time and are still not in the W166. Majority of the extra money your paying for the X5 is from the free maintenance (3-4K). If you add 3-4K into the initial price of the ML the prices between the ML and X5 are relatively close. The X5 is best-selling car in its class, with more than 1.3 million units sold since the launch of the first generation.

Boot space for me, the flat bed of the ML is so convenient and I prefer the single opening tailgate.

We have a 2010 Lexus 450h which I really like. We considered me taking that and my wife getting a new one, and then started looking to find all the options. Here's my experience a year ago:

1) Lexus 350/450h - Nothing different on the new ones, other than a heated steering wheel. That, and it's kinda like a soccer mom's car.

2) Lexus GX - Nice truck but I wasn't that impressed. It handles like the Queen Mary, wallowing on a suspension that is too soft and wobbly.

3) BMX X5 - Nice, but handles like a good sports car on a suspension that it too stiff for my liking. Drove home the old adage that "BMW is sporty with luxury added on top while MB is luxury with sportiness added on top. Found I prefer the latter.

(The above two shows I was looking for the Goldilocks answer - neither too hard nor too soft.)

4) Audi Q7 -It just felt weird. Like a really nice pair of shoes that for some reason don't feel quite right. The V6 was an absolute dog on the highway and I commented to the sales droid that my Lexus hybrid could run circles around it.

5) Mercedes ML-350 - 30 seconds behind the wheel and I was in love. The only questions were "what colors are available" and "how long will it take to order one?"

The new generation of X5 is coming out in a month or so and cannot wait to test drive it. If there is one thing I prefer BMW over Mercedes, it will be the BMW's turbo V6 and V8. Beside AMG, I really think Mercedes' engines can have better output, especially on the C, ML and R classes.

1- run flats
2- run flats
3-

The reason X5 has more features standard is because its an outgoing model thats been in production for 7 years,w166 is nrelatively new design that came out in 2012, x5 came out in 2007 or so. Resale of current X5 is going to be rough in 4 years.
2.Interior looks cheap.
3.rough ride
4. dated styling.
5. runflats

The only benefit I can see is you can probably get a good deal on a X5 right now considering the 2014 model will be out in a
few months.If you are set on trading in the ml for X5 I would highly advise to wait till the 2014 model. Base MSRP for all wheel drive x5 is 55K and personally i think its ugly:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....bmw-x5-628.jpg

Hello All,

I am new to this site, having placed an order for a MY2014 ML350 Bluetec 2 weeks ago. My wife and I live in Upstate New York, and I recently started a job that requires me to commute about 100 miles round-trip, 12 times per month. Because of the potential for really snowy weather in the winters, and the commute, we felt that it was important to get an all-wheel-drive vehicle. We are planning to start a family soon, and feel that we will likely need a decently sized vehicle for our dog and unborn children... Hence, we set out recently to comp-shop AWD SUVs. At the time, I was pretty sure that I wanted an Audi. I feel that Audi does a good job of appealing to "up and coming", somewhat affluent hipster crowd, which was where I thought I wanted to be. BMW does a great job with this as well, appealing as the "Ultimate Driving Machine", and with being generally considered in magazine comparisons to be the best driving cars.

I have always been a complete car nut and gear head, spending countless hours on the various manufacturers sites, building my dream ride, and then building it again a little differently the next day, always thinking of what it would be like to one day own the awesome machine I had always dreamt of. To that end, I spent numerous days building various Audis and BMWs on there websites, then the time came to actually make a purchase, and we went to the dealerships to test drive!!! I really felt like gas mileage was important to me, so I was drawn toward diesels (I have trust issues with hybrids at this point, and can't stand the noises, or lack thereof).
-We test drove the Audi Q5 diesel which seemed too small in the back. Also, the ride was somewhat harsh. I do like the way it looks though. -The Q7 is in dire need of an update, especially when comparing with the updated interiors of the A6.
-At BMW, we test drove an X3, the one with the 4-cylinder, which seemed really cheap on the inside. The drive was not "ultimate", as it actually felt really underpowered.
-The X5 also felt somewhat cheap inside (MSRP for the one we tested was >$70,000). The ride was harsh, not quiet at all inside. I know this is because of more "sport-tuned" suspension.

Overall, I was somewhat let down by my test drives so far... The Mercedes dealer is located right next to the BMW dealer, and although not really so much on my radar ( My wife originally felt like MBs are for old people) we decided to go try them out.

The GLK was first- My initial impression was that the interior felt far more premium than any of the other cars we had tried and the drive was nice, but overall, I felt like it may be too small for a family of 4 and a dog. Still, I was impressed.

Actually testing the M class was something of an afterthought, as when our salesperson/dealer asked us what we thought about the GLK, my reply was "I like it, but I think it's too small". He said, "why don't you try this one", and showed us the ML. I initially did not "love" the overall exterior aesthetic. It is not quite as "muscular" and "SUV" appearing as some of the other offerings. Still, I was willing to try it out.

-Neither my wife or I was expecting to like the car all that much, but approximately 2 miles into the test drive, we looked at each other and said "I really like it", which was not really the feeling we got with any of the other vehicles that day. It was buttery smooth and super quiet. The interior felt really high quality and premium. I did not like the Navigation and central control quite as much as the Audi's, but overall the Vehicle felt much better. This was a gas ML-350, as the dealer didn't have any diesels on the lot, but still, we thought that this could be the SUV for us.

Over the next week, I comped the Jeep Grand Cherokee (which will be coming in diesel very soon), which was too truck-like, not smooth enough over bumps, and maybe not quite premium enough in comparison for the price tag.
I also tried out a 2013 Range Rover Sport, which has a nice name and pedigree (maybe shoddy reliability), but gets embarrassing gas mileage. Volvos also get crap gas mileage, and admittedly I did not even test drive any of the XCs.

That said, we ordered an ML-350 Bluetec 2 weeks ago, and are super excited for delivery! It is Lunar Blue with Black interior. We got pretty much all the options we wanted except for MB-tex dash, as we were told it would push the build back several months, and frankly I'm too excited to wait.

In the end, the reason why I wrote this novel of a post, and decided to do it as a reply to "Why not an X5?" is because I can tell you "Why not an X5 for Me". It's because even though it is the "Ultimate Driving Machine", it just didn't feel right. The 2014 may be better, I don't know. Already, I know that I don't like the way BMW is placing the central control screen on a separate "popped-out" panel, which looks like an afterthought and incongruent with the rest of the dash (in contrast to Audi's, which actually retracts back into the dash, which is actually pretty cool). Other than that, maybe it's a great vehicle, but I won't know how good or bad it actually is unless I drive it.

I believe that a lot of the people out there driving their X3, X5, Q5, Q7, may be driving a MB instead, if only they had actually tried one.

-I have seen the light, and plan to spread the word...

I couldn't agree more with turley59. I, like his wife, had written MB off for "old people". Really? Who still puts in ashtrays as a standard feature?

I didn't love the reception I got from our local MB dealership and wasn't thrilled with the technology. That was about 1.5 years ago. Since then, I went on my serious hunt. I was going to leave no rock unturned. I also didn't love the exterior aesthetic, but wanted something quiet, comfortable and luxurious. I hadn't found anything that really fit the bill.

I was considering a Lincoln MKX, but it just didn't feel quite right to me...a bit cheap. Not the price tag....the finishes. So, I went to a used car dealership where we was committed to having me test drive a Porche, BMW, Lexus, MB and Audi all on one lot. It was EYE OPENING!!!

I was convinced I was going to want the Porche. NOT AT ALL after driving it. It was far to stiff, and didn't feel luxury to me, at all. I hated the ride and noise. The Lexus was totally boring - something I expect my Grandma to drive (I'm 33). The BMW was getting warmer, but I didn't like the styling, of the layout of the interior. I did appreciate the technology, but after driving a sports car (with heads up display) for the last 8 years, this wasn't the quiet, smooth, luxury ride I was after....not to mention the price.

Then, I got in and test drove a 2012 ML-350 (which I was CONVINCED was for blue hairs), but was going to be thorough anyway. WOW. It blew me away. The sound system was amazing. The lack of finger prints on the screen (Lincoln MKX touch screen) and the superior ride totally sold me. Had that very one been the correct interior color it would have been mine on the spot. BUT...I'm picky. I asked him to look for the color and package combo I was after & it was just too tall of an order, so I visited my local MB dealership again and the GM helped me place my 2014 ML-350 order in June. I take delivery of it within the week and I couldn't be more satisfied with the quality of the ride, safety, sound system, and luxury feel. 1000% the right decision for me.

Hope you've gotten over your doubts!

Thank you guys so much for sharing your thoughts. I did not have any doubt after my purchase but was super curious about why people don't buy an X5. This post helped me so much. For me personally, I wasn't a big fan of the exterior (hate the front grill) from the get go so it was a no brainer for me to eliminate it from my options. Thanks again everyone

I have had both. The e70 X5 is a much better driver's car and I have found BMW dealers far more transparent when it comes to getting numbers for a deal. I like the W166, but if the e70 had not been about to be replaced with a new X5, I would probably not have got the Merc.

The aesthetic is very different between the two. The X5, like the Q5, doesn't look like a typical SUV, it's more of a wagon SUV hybrid. Some like look of the X some can't stomach it. The ML has a much more traditional SUV look. Speaking of that, how did they get there from the previous lunchbox looking ML? Every time I see one of those I cringe....

I hated the interior feel of the X5 I drove. Boxy, angular, unattractive, harsh, and not very roomy. After that, the rest didn't matter.

I haven't made my purchase yet, but I also considered the X5 before going firmly in Mercedes' direction. There are two things that pushed me away - the gear shift lever and the split tailgate.

I really like the gear shift lever being out of the way. Now, I've never had a car like that, so this would be a first for both myself and my wife, but I simply like the layout of the Mercedes better. Additionally, the cup holders are in front of the gear shift lever, making the lever itself a bit in the way.

As for the split tailgate, were I to want an actual tailgate, I would buy a truck. It makes the process of loading up the back a bit harder, as you'd have to be taller to reach to the space behind the rear seats. My wife, being Vietnamese-American, is not the tallest of women, so it would be doubly hard for her to load up after going shopping (which she does every weekend).

Don't get me wrong - there's a lot to love about the X5, but even if it sounds a bit petty, the gear shift lever and the split tailgate are enough to steer me in a different direction.

X5 versus ML550
 

Was seriously considering buying the X5, but after looking at the exterior color choices I decided I can't pull the trigger on the purchase. I am now seriously considering the ML550 and will be ordering it this fall....GaryNJ

I have to say the 2014 X5 looks beautiful. The 10inch touchscreen/touch pad is rockin as well. Also can't wait to see the 2015 Cayenne after they refresh the exterior.

BMW's don't come with turn signals