[Tenac]

Hi All, (Long Post Warning)

I have been lurking around a bit on the forum but never posting until now. The wife has been looking around at the SUV market and really loved the LR4 which is no longer being produced, so I talked her into driving almost every brand on the market. She drove MANY small-mid sized SUV/Crossover style from all brands that we have locally and finally said yes to one! Well two actually....

She is coming from 2013 Kia Optima (bare bones 18k new) to a BMW X3 M40i, which she loves to death already.... Me I came from 2015 F150, which was an awesome truck but way more than anything I ever used it for. I have been on farms almost all my life so a truck was just a natural pick for me until now (no longer on farms). I have the BMW X5 50i.

I have to give a shout out to our new local BMW dealer here in AZ, Arrowhead BMW. They are awesome to deal with zero pressure and gave me a great price for the truck. The Kia went to Carmax and believe it or not we got 6500 out of it with 110k miles.... Blew my mind I was going to ask private sale 4500.

We felt the deal was great for us and fits our budget and we got both of them the same day. Probably not the best deal out there but being our first BMW we might of missed out on a couple grand I would assume. We got just about 8.5k off sticker each but added the Wheel/tire and 6yr unlimited mile warranty to both.


Overall impression after a week of ownership:
Simply awesome to drive and fun. We are both extremely delighted in the vehicles and yes the new feeling clouds this for sure right away but looking forward to having them for a long time.
The X3 is stupid quick for an SUV...... So nimble and responsive, it just makes for a fine automobile. The X5 has all the power in the world from the V8 and might be a bit slower than the X3 but rides soooo smooth. Way better than my 4x4 truck .

Few questions to get opinion on a couple things. No I did not yet do a refined search on any of these topics.

1. Is the extended service contract really worth the cost? I know the brake add on was probably the best value but never owning a BMW, don't know much about the maintenance costs. Either way I can add it anytime according to the dealer.

2. Are the brake pad replacements on BMW's just as easy as many other brands? I find it simple to do things my-self when I can.

3. No sticky on tips and tricks yet? What gives


Here are some pics, both are pretty much the same with minor differences. Both white and black.

Didn't realize until the photo of all our toys, X5, X3, and X1 (Victory Motorcycle).

[dream54ing]

welcome! i'm also from AZ, just east of you in snob-dale. we ended up purchasing from Chapman, Chandler. they gave us a pretty sweet deal on a built, but still waiting for it to come in. almost 2 months wait because of the 3 row debacle, should be here any day now.... ours is pretty much similar to yours, but a 40i. with the $ saved we just loaded it with options. 50i is too much power for the wife. haha.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

welcome! i'm also from AZ, just east of you in snob-dale. we ended up purchasing from Chapman, Chandler. they gave us a pretty sweet deal on a built, but still waiting for it to come in. almost 2 months wait because of the 3 row debacle, should be here any day now.... ours is pretty much similar to yours, but a 40i. with the $ saved we just loaded it with options. 50i is too much power for the wife. haha.

Thanks, We never did make it down to Chandler but heard good things about that location. We were lucky to find what we wanted with out a build, and the wife has zero patience for something like that....

Only thing I was hoping to get would of been the M brakes for the 50i but looking at the 40i compared to my 50i my brakes are MUCH larger and not sure if the M sport brakes really would have made that much of a difference?

[VTENGR]

Originally Posted by Tenac

Thanks, We never did make it down to Chandler but heard good things about that location. We were lucky to find what we wanted with out a build, and the wife has zero patience for something like that....

Only thing I was hoping to get would of been the M brakes for the 50i but looking at the 40i compared to my 50i my brakes are MUCH larger and not sure if the M sport brakes really would have made that much of a difference?

Seems like the standard brakes on the 50i are the same size as the M-sport, so you're only gaining the blue calipers at that point.

[mynewx5]

Congrats! Looks like the X5 is Alpine White and the X3 is Mineral White?

[AndroidRobot]

Having owned both (currently, have the X5 50i) there are things that little X3 M40i can do which really surprised me. It's one hell of a fun SAV for sure!

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

welcome! i'm also from AZ, just east of you in snob-dale. we ended up purchasing from Chapman, Chandler. they gave us a pretty sweet deal on a built, but still waiting for it to come in. almost 2 months wait because of the 3 row debacle, should be here any day now.... ours is pretty much similar to yours, but a 40i. with the $ saved we just loaded it with options. 50i is too much power for the wife. haha.

Snobsdale you say? Sadly I'm from the same place, Northside sort of near Frank Llyod Wright, just a hair south

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by VTENGR

Seems like the standard brakes on the 50i are the same size as the M-sport, so you're only gaining the blue calipers at that point.

Ahh thanks for the input, makes me happy with what I have then. lol

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by mynewx5

Congrats! Looks like the X5 is Alpine White and the X3 is Mineral White?

Both actually Alpine White.

[thomas_Rp]

Congratulations on the rides!!

Can we now talk about the elephant in the room? How do you keep your garage so clean?

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by thomas_Rp

Congratulations on the rides!!

Can we now talk about the elephant in the room? How do you keep your garage so clean?

HAHA!!

Well couple factors here for this one.

Home is less than 6 months old so not much time to accumulate.
3 car garage with lots of storage and space.
A bit OCD to be honest, I sweep it twice a month at least. Everything has a place in my home....

[dream54ing]

Originally Posted by AndroidRobot

Snobsdale you say? Sadly I'm from the same place, Northside sort of near Frank Llyod Wright, just a hair south

Yep, i'm at Frank Lloyd Wright and Thunderbird... Literally 5 mins from Taliesin West, consequently i work for the youngest apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright

Originally Posted by Tenac

HAHA!!

Well couple factors here for this one.

Home is less than 6 months old so not much time to accumulate.
3 car garage with lots of storage and space.
A bit OCD to be honest, I sweep it twice a month at least. Everything has a place in my home....

I'm a bit of OCD as well, but garage looks like crap. Maybe it mixed in with a bit of hoarding. lol

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

Yep, i'm at Frank Lloyd Wright and Thunderbird... Literally 5 mins from Taliesin West, consequently i work for the youngest apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright

Congrats! I lived (still have family there) off 85th and Cactus or so, the one place with acre properties in Scottsdale and no HOA. Land is worth a small fortune now

[dream54ing]

Originally Posted by Tenac

Thanks, We never did make it down to Chandler but heard good things about that location. We were lucky to find what we wanted with out a build, and the wife has zero patience for something like that....

Only thing I was hoping to get would of been the M brakes for the 50i but looking at the 40i compared to my 50i my brakes are MUCH larger and not sure if the M sport brakes really would have made that much of a difference?

from what i've read, the M sports brakes is slightly bigger than the 50i brakes. cant confirm tho... we (I) got it for the looks

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

from what i've read, the M sports brakes is slightly bigger than the 50i brakes. cant confirm tho... we (I) got it for the looks

M Sport brakes on the 50i are the biggest, normal 50i brakes are bigger than 40i ones but all M Sport brakes are the same size on both SAV's (40i and 50i)

[dream54ing]

Originally Posted by AndroidRobot

M Sport brakes on the 50i are the biggest, normal 50i brakes are bigger than 40i ones but all M Sport brakes are the same size on both SAV's (40i and 50i)

so is the normal 50i brakes bigger/smaller than the m sports on the 40i? or same?

[AndroidRobot]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

so is the normal 50i brakes bigger/smaller than the m sports on the 40i? or same?

No, M Sports are identically sized on both models (Blue caliper)

Silver caliper stock brakes are bigger on the 50i vs 40i unless you get the 3rd row on a 40i then they're the same size as the normal 50i brakes

[Tenac]

Thanks all for the information about the brakes!!

Another question for anyone out there:

1. We are putting ceramic window tint around all the windows 90% we like how dark they already are but are wanting to do the pano sunroof (AZ summer). Has anyone done this and can it be done? Forgot to add the tint shop doing this has not done it before but they say sure and I am looking to just confirm.

[dream54ing]

Originally Posted by Tenac

Thanks all for the information about the brakes!!

Another question for anyone out there:

1. We are putting ceramic window tint around all the windows 90% we like how dark they already are but are wanting to do the pano sunroof (AZ summer). Has anyone done this and can it be done? Forgot to add the tint shop doing this has not done it before but they say sure and I am looking to just confirm.

We are doing our PPF wrap (Suntek) and window tint (Prestige or 3M Cristaline or Suntek) at Cactus Tint. They highly recommend doing the sunroof with the 3M/Prestige or anything with a higher heat and UV rating. Forgot the term. If your guy never done it before i would go else were that have experience.... Long story short, yes you should get it tinted, especially since we are in AZ or if you have the screen open most of the time.

[JBG]

I did my X3 panoroof with 3M Chrystaline. It was expensive, and am not sure it was worth it - but I’m in Maryland without the extreme heat you can experience in the summer in AZ. I don’t intend to get the X5 roof tinted.

[Tenac]

Originally Posted by dream54ing

We are doing our PPF wrap (Suntek) and window tint (Prestige or 3M Cristaline or Suntek) at Cactus Tint. They highly recommend doing the sunroof with the 3M/Prestige or anything with a higher heat and UV rating. Forgot the term. If your guy never done it before i would go else were that have experience.... Long story short, yes you should get it tinted, especially since we are in AZ or if you have the screen open most of the time.

Thanks for the input, and will gauge his ability on it before install.

[rlou]

Congrats! I also own all BMW vehicles, currently an X3 & 535i but the 535i will soon be replace by an X5. And I also have a Victory in the garage but it's a Jackpot