BMW X5 and X4: first impressions

Atty. Jerome G. Neri
The Scrutineer

I WAS at the X drive experience of BMW last Nov. 17. All the X BMW models were there. However, it was a lunch event, and the drive was from Autowelt BMW in Nivel to Lantaw in Busay. I only got the opportunity to drive the X5 and the X4. Because the drive was really short, I only got first impressions of the vehicles. Every time I test a car, my first priority is performance, so I set the car to sports+ mode and traction control off so I could see what these cars could do.

Going to Lantaw, I was driving the X5 30d. As soon as I saw an opening in the road, it was pedal to the metal, then I heard screams. All of my passengers started screaming as soon as they felt the massive amount of torque the X5 30d has. This turbo diesel engine felt like a V8.

After having some sort of power test, I wanted to try the handling. In front of me was an ideal corner to try out the handling, that I just lightly tapped on the brakes and attacked the corner, which resulted in another set of screaming from my passengers. What got them to scream this time were the G-forces the car generated. This vehicle can corner well, with a lot of driver confidence. Unfortunately, after that corner, I somewhat had to “behave” as I did not want to ruin the day of my passengers, who were also members of the media.

From Lantaw back to Autowelt, I had a go at the X4 30d, which is slightly smaller than the X5 30d. Of course, I had to check its performance. I did the same thing as the X5, and my passengers did the same thing, scream. During that one moment that I was able to push the X4 30d, I could feel that it was faster than the X5, most probably because it may be a lighter vehicle.

My first impressions of both cars are very positive as both have power and handling, the two most important factors I look for in a car. However, this test was very short and there are many other aspects of the car that I have not tested, and so I cannot really give an opinion on other aspects such as comfort, quietness, ergonomics and other features of the vehicles.

ELECTRIC CAR FROM CHINA. Another car that I have tested in the past weeks was a made-in-China electric car. This little car was just a tad smaller than the older Kia Picanto. It was air conditioned and it was said to do 60 to 70 kilometers per charge. It seemed OK on paper.

Driving the electric car, though, was a nightmare. The car was extremely slow: top speed was at 40kph. I was draining the batteries fast because my foot was at the floor most of the time. The only way one can drive economically is downhill.

Despite the car being very slow, it was very difficult to stop as the brakes were very weak that I had to stand on the brakes every time I had to slow down. The air con was only cold enough at night, but the problem is that at night the lights are only enough for other cars to see you, such that in an unlit road, you cannot see the road. An electric golf cart is better. A good friend of mine described this car best, calling it automotive heresy.

We should not judge electric cars based on this China made one. In fact many years ago, there was a display at Ayala promoting alternative fuels, and there was a 1990 Toyota Corolla that was converted to electric power with a proper electric conversion kit. After some asking around, I learned that this car is owned by a Cebuano engineer who uses the car as his everyday car up to today and is very happy with it that he already has two of them.

I did some research on the Internet and, yes, there are bolt-on electric car kits that even give better performance than when the car was gasoline powered. The kit costs about $8,000. The problem with the electric kits is that if we use affordable batteries, the range is very limited to somewhere around 50km per charge. There are modern batteries that increase the range to 160km per charge but cost around $10,000.

I hope in a few years prices of these kits and batteries would go down, as it would be nice to convert an old classic like a 1972 Toyota Sprinter into an electric vehicle.