Started by trying to buy an RDX for the wife and ended up with a stupid vehicle.

Started by 565, April 30, 2022, 06:32:56 AM

AutobahnSHO

Quote from: giant_mtb on May 01, 2022, 12:41:49 PM
USB adapters are fine and exist, but it just creates another potential point of failure.

And are very very easily replaced.


My wife "had to have" a backup camera. But that actually makes sense.
Will

cawimmer430

You planet-killing SUV-driving maniac! HOW DARE YOU!!!!

*Greta Mode Off*



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Soup DeVille

Quote from: AutobahnSHO on May 03, 2022, 12:26:08 PM
And are very very easily replaced.


My wife "had to have" a backup camera. But that actually makes sense.

All vehicles made after 2018 are required to have them.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator

NomisR


565

Quote from: Lebowski on April 30, 2022, 09:55:29 PM
Looks nice.

Why are heated rear seats a priority?  Kids are in car seats until they are 37 years old anyway, nowadays.

No clue.  She decided that was one of the features she wanted to have.  If I were to guess it's because her brothers MDX has them and thus she thinks a luxury SUV should have it.

Soup DeVille

Quote from: 565 on May 03, 2022, 03:57:25 PM
No clue.  She decided that was one of the features she wanted to have.  If I were to guess it's because her brothers MDX has them and thus she thinks a luxury SUV should have it.

Yep. No winning that argument.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator

NomisR

Quote from: 565 on May 03, 2022, 03:57:25 PM
No clue.  She decided that was one of the features she wanted to have.  If I were to guess it's because her brothers MDX has them and thus she thinks a luxury SUV should have it.

It doesn't have to make sense to us I guess.  When my wife got her car, her original criteria was a roomy 3rd row, which I suggested a Minivan, but she doesn't want a minivan, so I was suggesting a bunch of competitors to the Honda Pilot which she concluded that there would've been no reason for us to replace the Pilot with those car because there was no improvement or change, it would've been replacing the car for the sake of replacing which I agreed 100%.  Then she narrowed it down to Lexus only because she wanted a luxury brand but she didn't want an Acura because she drove a Honda vehicle all her life (Civic, Element, RDX and Pilot), and she didn't want a German due to the cost of repair, and Lexus are suppose to be reliable.  She started at the RX450h which had the 3rd row but the 3rd row was tiny so we crossed it off, she finally decided on the GX and started looking at youtube videos on offroading and overlanding.  I figured, it's not a loss for me since I gain an offroad vehicle to drive.  But then she decided that she only want the mid range model with a Mark Levinson audio, so it took me forever to hunt one down with a good price so here we are today with her wanting me to find a way to add surround camera, crawl control and MTS to the damn thing.. :facepalm:

Soup DeVille

Quote from: NomisR on May 03, 2022, 06:30:42 PM
It doesn't have to make sense to us I guess.  When my wife got her car, her original criteria was a roomy 3rd row, which I suggested a Minivan, but she doesn't want a minivan, so I was suggesting a bunch of competitors to the Honda Pilot which she concluded that there would've been no reason for us to replace the Pilot with those car because there was no improvement or change, it would've been replacing the car for the sake of replacing which I agreed 100%.  Then she narrowed it down to Lexus only because she wanted a luxury brand but she didn't want an Acura because she drove a Honda vehicle all her life (Civic, Element, RDX and Pilot), and she didn't want a German due to the cost of repair, and Lexus are suppose to be reliable.  She started at the RX450h which had the 3rd row but the 3rd row was tiny so we crossed it off, she finally decided on the GX and started looking at youtube videos on offroading and overlanding.  I figured, it's not a loss for me since I gain an offroad vehicle to drive.  But then she decided that she only want the mid range model with a Mark Levinson audio, so it took me forever to hunt one down with a good price so here we are today with her wanting me to find a way to add surround camera, crawl control and MTS to the damn thing.. :facepalm:

Crawl control is for hacks. There's nothing it does that works any better than what even a semi-experienced off road driver can do. MTS can be handy, but again its more of a crutch for bad driving.

The 4Runner has both. It can't do anything the Land Cruiser couldn't do, which had neither.
Maybe we need to start off small. I mean, they don't let you fuck the glumpers at Glumpees without a level 4 FuckPass, do they?

1975 Honda CB750, 1986 Rebel Rascal (sailing dinghy), 2015 Mini Cooper, 2020 Winnebago 31H (E450), 2021 Toyota 4Runner, 2022 Lincoln Aviator


NomisR

Quote from: Soup DeVille on May 03, 2022, 07:13:50 PM
Crawl control is for hacks. There's nothing it does that works any better than what even a semi-experienced off road driver can do. MTS can be handy, but again its more of a crutch for bad driving.

The 4Runner has both. It can't do anything the Land Cruiser couldn't do, which had neither.

Yeah, that's what I told her, I haven't gotten stuck yet without it including the sand, but then again, I never got stuck in the sand with the Pilot either.  What I do need to do is a front bumper mod because the clearance is really sketchy with the GX.

565

Well break in is complete. Well sorta.  I did the break in service at 1200 miles for oil change and diff change.  Now the manual says only to do up to 155mph for short periods such as passing until 3100 miles.
I've definitely kept by the book.

This X3M has absolutely blown me away.  I figured I'd love the drive train and tolerate the rest of the vehicle, but I've actually been floored by how much I love it.

Driving it around with everything in normal, it just feels like a normal SUV with a stiffer ride.  My wife has been commuting daily with it without issues.  Press the preset M1 and M2 buttons and this thing is just a beast everywhere.  It's a beast on the highway, it's a beast on the backroads.  I can see myself getting into tons of trouble with this thing.  It's just goes from so civil to Savage with the press of a button.

I've had time to consider the ride.  I will say it's definitely firm.  The springs I'd say are stiffer than the blackwing, but the damper is softer on the comfort setting than the softest setting on the blackwing.  The vehicle will get a bit bouncy on comfort.

I think magazines tend to feed off each other's impressions on things like ride and steering feel.  My wife needed a C section just recently to deliver our daughter.  The take home vehicle was the X3M (too much stuff for Blackwing).  The next day we had to make another trip and we took the blackwing because I told her the softer ride will be better on her belly.  She told me flat out there is absolutely no difference in ride comfort between the two.   It's something I've felt secretly for some time but figured all the magazines cannot be wrong.  She's never read a car magazine, just spent time in both vehicles and told it like it is.

Anyway the blackwing will clear break in soon so it will be a better comparison but currently I can't help but wonder of a G80 M3 comp xdrive would have been a better choice for my car.

veeman

The Cadillac sport sedans are a rare bird sighting though... They make peoples' head turns, in a good way. 

AutobahnSHO

Will

565


AutobahnSHO

Will

565

Well this weekend we did some highway driving and it's the first time we had a longer highway trip where we didn't have to stop because the baby was crying or something else.

The trip computer has been very accurate for gas mileage calculations.  Over the life of the vehicle now at about 4500 miles she's done 18.9 MPG, which includes alot of my wife's all local 1 mile commute, a ton of idling to warm it up in the winter and a lot of idling while we change or feed the baby on road trips to the grand parents.

Today I just used the level 2 autonomous system for the whole 70 mile drive.  I set it to 80 and speeds probably ranged from 60 to 80 depending on the cars are in front.   It's probably not the most efficient system for driving.  The radar guided cruise is a total nazi about maintaining the selected gap and will put on the brakes in situations I'd probably just coast.  When a slower car moves out or the lane in front, the system will punch it hard enough to drop 3 gears, hit 4500rpm and be well into boost .
When we first got the car it would wake up the wife and have her thinking I was racing someone, but she's used to it now. We joke that even the radar guided cruise drives like a BMW M driver (or any BMW driver).  I wonder if it was set so aggressively on purpose or if the system was calibrated for a x3 30i and they just didn't bother to change it for any of the other powertrains.  We had a full tank of gas and it was my wife, baby and I and all of the stuff baby needed for a weekend.

Anyway despite all that the car returned 26.5mpg.  I was very surprised.  The far exceeded the EPA estimate of I think 20 highway.  Car and Driver got 26mpg on their 75mph highway driving loop and I can attest that this is accurate.

MrH

Wow, pretty impressive.

I wouldn't be surprised if you can change the aggressiveness of the radar cruise in the settings.  Most cars feature that.  Even my Outback does.

It's sad you're getting 26.5 mpg.  The Outback gets 25-26 mpg on the highway too, but it only makes 260 hp vs 473 hp :cry:
2023 Ford Lightning Lariat ER
2019 Acura RDX SH-AWD
2023 BRZ Limited

Previous: '02 Mazda Protege5, '08 Mazda Miata, '05 Toyota Tacoma, '09 Honda Element, '13 Subaru BRZ, '14 Hyundai Genesis R-Spec 5.0, '15 Toyota 4Runner SR5, '18 Honda Accord EX-L 2.0t, '01 Honda S2000, '20 Subaru Outback XT, '23 Chevy Bolt EUV

AutobahnSHO

Will

Eye of the Tiger

2008 TUNDRA (Truck Ultra-wideband Never-say-die Daddy Rottweiler Awesome)

565

Quote from: MrH on September 04, 2022, 09:56:39 AM
It's sad you're getting 26.5 mpg.  The Outback gets 25-26 mpg on the highway too, but it only makes 260 hp vs 473 hp :cry:

Actually the comp is 503  :rockon:, but in typical BMW fashion it's underrated.  Dyno puts it around 560 or so.  It feels like a rocket ship, when the boost hits it feels faster than the 668hp Blackwing.

565

X3M year in review.  I did a similar post for the Blackwing where I compared how they drive.

Predictably the Blackwing wins on driver involvement.  However I still remain very much in love with the X3M.  The X3M is at 8000 miles now.  I mentioned that the Blackwing never stops reminding you of what it is capable of.  The X3M is M3 Comp Xdrive on stilts when you want it to be, but normal X3 when you need it to be.  This is the first time I've owned an SUV myself.  I grew up with a 1998 Pathfinder, but it's different when you are the adult packing stuff in compared to being the kid just going along for the ride.  I thought I would be most impressed with the M comp part, but the X3 part is just as impressive.  The X3M impressed me by hauling the baby stroller, baby stuff, and all 4 of its winter tires and wheels one weekend.  My wife insisted on a compact SUV over a sedan.  I always thought the format wasn't going to be much better than an sedan for space.  I now see why the compact SUV has bascially taken over the market that family sedans once dominated.  It is just a much more practical layout.  It results in more flexible cargo space, more back seat space due to the more upright seating position, and a smaller overall length.

The cabin of the X3 is beautifully built and there are thoughtful practical touches everywhere.  Idrive 7 is great.  Now with winter 20 inch rims and winter tires, the ride is downright cushy (and it honestly was very livable before).  Once the errands are done and the baby is dropped off, the X3M turns back into an absolute beast with a quick press of the M1 or M2 buttons.  The S58 engine is just a ridiculous powerplant and the ZF 8 speed is its perfect match.  Where the Blackwing is balanced and confident in its stable personality,  the X3M is unhinged and insane in its split personality. The Blackwing is charming and talented at 8/10ths or 2/10th (let's be real I can't drive the Blackwing at 10/10ths). The X3M competition is a demure domestic servant while the baby is on board, axe murderer when no one else is there to witness. 




CALL_911

Can't comment on the M aspect, but the X3 may be the perfect DD size and form factor. My mom has a vanilla variant 2.0T X3 and I adore it. My car (340i) is certainly more fun when it's nice out, but the X3 is easier to live with and more comfortable. I didn't buy the virtues of the CUV form factor but it has changed my mind.


2004 S2000
2016 340xi