BMW X Models 2005 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published its latest round of safety recalls, with models from Ford, Mazda, BMW, Kia, Audi, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini affected.

Manufacturers including BMW, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), Peugeot and Citroen have issued recalls via the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

While Australian VW owners continue to wait to find out if their cars are affected, should BMW buyers be worried too?

New Honda Jazz sets new benchmark for rear view cameras: $14,990.

Once again, not much to see but it will be an excuse for a value boost......and probably some extra technology and economy improvement. 

The twin-turbo V8 in the muscular new mid-sizer is stretching the friendship with the back tyres in the fifth-generation M5 and there are concerns about customer reaction in snow-belt countries around the world. An all-wheel drive upgrade is the logical solution and BMW M chiefs from Munich admit they are considering the move. "We are thinking about it," says Max Ahme, M5 project leader. "If you are increasing the power more and more, maybe you need it." The basic powerplant in the M5 is the same 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 already used in the M versions of BMW's full-sized SUVs, the X5 and X6, but is tweaked to unleash 412 kiloWatts of power and 680 Newton-metres of torque. "The block is the same, but the cylinder heads are new. The inlet track is new, it has double Vanos (variable valve timing) and more revs. So, more power," says Ahme. He refuses to go into much detail but it's clear that BMW M is making a serious assessment of its first all-wheel drive passenger car. "It's a good idea, but it would add 120 kilograms to the car and it's all over the front axle," says Ahme. Other companies have made all-wheel drive conversions successful, including Ferrari with the lightweight system fitted to its new FF supercar. Ahme admits BMW has had an FF in its workshop, although he believes the system would not be suitable for an M5. "We have looked at this car. We do some swaps with Ferrari." But Ahme is totally black-on-white on one potential stretch of the M5, into a new Touring wagon. "This will not happen," he says. There have been three M5 Touring models in the past but the sales record of the car is not good, and numbers dropped dramatically in the previous-generation car. "It does not make any sense. Just look at the numbers," says Ahme.

The upcoming 520i, priced from $77,900 instead of the previous $82,000 for a 520d, comes after an earlier move on the 3 Series down under. BMW Australia says its objective is to provide better value, as well as a 'stepped' approach to equipment levels that mirrors bottom-end brands from Hyundai and Kia to Holden and Ford. It began the change with the 3 Series and is now moving on the Five with a claim of up to $7000 worth of extra value - most of it in standard equipment - on the 520i. There is also said to be more punch from the engine, which is a new 2.0-litre four with TwinPower turbo good for 135 kiloWatts and 270 Newton-metres of torque. "We've got power up, value up and fuel consumption down. Everyone is happy," says BMW spokesman, Piers Scott. A new four-cylinder 528i - replacing the previous six-pack - is also part of the 5 Series change, with more equipment in the 535i and 535d that means up to $7000 of extra value. Scott says the value boost comes thanks to the engine change but does not deny BMW's stronger emphasis on value at a time when it is taking a battering from Mercedes-Benz and Audi on both sides. "It's really just the fact that this is a brand-new engine that's available to us. That accounts for the 520 and the 528i," he says. "The other changes are to get a logical ladder into the price structure. "The jump from the 520i - which snuggles under the Luxury Car Tax threshold thanks to economy of 6.4 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of  149 grams/kilometre - to the 528i manes 180 kiloWatts and 350 Newton- metres, even though the four-cylinder basics are the same. The 528i is priced from $98,200, helped by also qualifying as a low-emission model under the LCT rules. Prices of the 535i and 535d now start at $115,600 and $120,900 respectively, with the diesel engine now boasting 230 kiloWatts and an eight per cent economy boost, with the 535i also getting a 0.7 litres/100km economy improvement. BMW Australia now also includes stop-start technology on all Fives except the 550i, with its new Active Safety package - closing the windows and sunroof, electro-mechanical belt tensioning and a crash- optimised position for the passenger-seat backrest - also part of the deal.

Although the car has some links with the first-generation car, the newcomer borrows visual cues from the latest X models, gains more useable interior space and enhanced performance with a new range of engines. BMW Australia spokesman, Piers Scott, says the newcomer is expected to arrive into local showrooms early next year.  Initially two engines will be available at launch in Europe, a 135kW 2.0-litre turbo-diesel and 225kW 3.0-litre petrol six, both adopting BMW's "efficient dynamics'' principles. However, Scott believes that once the car arrives here, more engine variants will be available.  "But are really not in a position to confirm which variants they will be,'' he says.  However, the company does plan other turbo-diesel and petrol engines and a hybrid version, which could also make it to Australia if right-hand drive hybrids are available. Apart from new engines, some higher performance models will get a new eight-speed automatic.  Like BMW's sedan range, the new off-roader will get auto stop/start for the first time in conjunction with the six-cylinder engine as well as the eight-speed auto. BMW's xDrive four-wheel drive technology is standard across the range with a "performance control'' function available.  The car gets newly conceived suspension technology, electric power steering and for the first time in an X model, variable sports steering, which will be optional in some markets. It will also be the first X model with optional damper control and dynamic drive control.  The all-wheel drive splits torque 40:60 front-to-rear thanks to an electronically controlled multi-disc diff and a host of other techno features. The MacPherson front struts have been redeveloped along with the multi-link rear suspension, while an optional electronic damping control adapts to the road and driver inputs. Normal, Sport and Sport-Plus modes are mounted next to the gear selector. The Sport controls sharpen throttle response, transmission shifts, steering assist, DSC settings and suspension firmness. The "performance control'' feature shuffles 80 per cent of the torque to the rear under steady acceleration.  Inside the cabin gets new materials and added versatility with a 40/20/40-split rear seat. With the seats folded, the maximum luggage capacity is 1600 litres.  A range of BMW ConnectedDrive options will be available, including head-up display, internet access, reversing camera with top view. Follow the Carsguide blog on Twitter  

It has confirmed early details of its new X6 and believes it will create a new path as 4WDs move deeper into the crossover world between existing car classes. BMW is convinced there are plenty of potential customers for a vehicle that will look and drive like a prestige car but still sit high in traffic and move away from the existing family wagon styling. “The X6 is a new concept. This is the most refined coupe SUV you will find in the world,” BMW Australia managing director Guenther Seemann says. “This is a real coupe. It will be coming at the beginning of next year.” The man who heads the X6 program, former BMW motorsport engineer Albert Biermann, has been in Australia for the introduction of the X5 and confirms Seemann's glowing praise. “This is something very different ... but still an X car,” he says. BMW is expected to preview the X6 late this year or early next year, most likely at the Detroit motor show in January, once it has fired its new M3 V8 super coupe into action. The X6 will be built at the BMW factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the success-story X5 is also built. “I believe it will not compete with the X5 because it is a four-door, four-seater,” Seeman says. “Some 6 Series and Porsche 911 customers may want to drive a different car and this could be the X6. “Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport are the kind of cars that will compete.” Seemann says BMW will renew its vehicle line-up by 2011, hinting at new premium models beyond the X6.

But, most of all, they always drive fast. Really fast.Driving at the speed limit will incur the wrath of fellow road users, who see road signs more as decoration than anything else. But they will help you see the error of your ways by sitting on your tail and flashing their lights as you dawdle along the open road at the prescribed 120km/h.So it was a pleasure to enter the Kruger National Park in the country's north-east, where the speed limit of 40km/h for most of its 3000km of roads is strictly adhered to for one important reason; go any faster, and your chances of spotting wild animals are just about nil.We entered the park at Malelane Gate, the closest to our departure point of Johannesburg – or, more commonly, Jo'burg, Joeys or Jozi – 400km away.We had picked up the four-wheel-drive X5 3.0d after a warning not to swan around too much in the Beemer, because it made us a higher carjacking risk – and we were left to discover its joys for ourselves.From front seats that are completely adjustable and remember each driver's settings to self-locking doors, the wagon lacked nothing bar the satellite tracking transponder mandatory in private Jo'burg cars if you want any chance of getting car insurance.I ALSO opened the bonnet to have a look at the car's straight-six diesel engine, didn't recognise anything, and closed it fairly quickly.So, having loaded the relatively small cargo space with as many clothes and groceries as it could carry, we put ourselves in the capable hands of the GPS and let it take us to the open road past block after block of high walls topped with electric fencing bearing "armed response" plates.The N4 national highway to the Kruger is excellent – as are most major roads here – but soon the desire to try the X5 on something other than a tarred highway was gnawing at me, so we turned off to tackle the 1:8 Wonderkloof Pass.The trip to the 1234m summit included some deep pits of red sand left by roadworks, but the BMW made them fun rather than dangerous.There are 12 main camps, six satellite camps, five bushveld camps and a scattering of privately operated concession lodges in the Kruger, and all vary vastly in terms of size, standard and price.Not all camps have all amenities, but most have a shop of some description and offer a choice of self-contained units or cheaper huts and the use of a communal kitchen.We booked our three-night trip five months before leaving Australia, and the park was so booked up we were given the choice of two nights atBerg-en-Dal and a night at Biyamiti, or looking at one of the horrifically expensive resorts that border the park.How expensive? Our family of four's three nights' accommodation cost about $450 all-up -- that's what it costs a person, a night at neighbouring Mala Mala.Though the river was dry, there was a waterhole towards the admin/shop part of the camp and we could see the occasional parched buck walking past.On our second night, my wife and eldest daughter went on a night game drive with a ranger. Our four-year-old daughter was too little, so we were having a little braai of our own when we spotted a white rhino ambling through the scrub on the bank.It was magnificent.We hit the roads again as soon as the gates opened at sunrise.The X5 was powerful and fast cruising on the open bitumen, but it performed even better crawling along dirt roads.It was comfortable, had excellent visibility, was whisper-quiet (very important if you don't want to scare the game) and the airconditioning took no time to cool us down when the heat became too oppressive.But, best of all, the sun-roof opened very wide and very long. It was perfect for up to three people to stand up in to take photographs.Our seven-year-old discovered she could kneel on the between-seats console and travel with her head and shoulders sticking out, while holding on to the roof-bars. It was perfectly safe when we were crawling along.We spent our first day exploring, and saw giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, warthog and impala buck. We started out a little late on the second day, after the lads manning the petrol bowsers demanded a half-hour initiation into the wonders of the X5.They loved it, but couldn't conceive of a car costing 600,000 grand ($130,000 & it costs $81,700 here).We needed to transfer to Biyamiti Bushveld Camp, but realised we'd be travelling the same roads that had been devoid of much game the day before. So we left the park, hit the high-speed N4 to Komatipoort and entered the park again in the east.The Crocodile Bridge camp, where we re-entered, is reminiscent of darkest Africa, and scattered with rondavels – one-roomed round huts with conical, thatched roofs.It's in acacia and mopane bush savanna country, very near the Mozambique border. The only people in the park who aren't wildlife lovers are Mozambican refugees trying to run the gauntlet of predators to the relative safety and wealth of crime-ridden South Africa as quickly as possible.These refugees have been blamed for making the park a much more dangerous place because the big cats have discovered humans are much easier to catch than, say, antelope.THE game along these eastern roads was plentiful. We managed to spot kudu, zebra, buffalo, more impala and a pair of cheetah, which is incredibly rare.We decided to make the most of our last day, travelling farther north than we had thus far and leaving via the Numbi Gate near Pretoriuskop camp, where we finally saw our only elephants of the trip. Had Rach not been standing with her head through the sunroof, we wouldn't have seen them above the scrub.The moment we left the park the GPS started working again, so we programmed a course for the big smoke and inched the needle up to 120km/h again.The trip back was uneventful, bar one unnerving incident.I'd hit a cruising speed of 140km/h when some blokes in a BMW 3-Series sedan decided to tail-gate. I slowed down to 100 and pulled into the slow lane; they did the same. I sped up to 170 in the fast lane; they did the same.I started to get a bit worried, but slowly it dawned on me that they were slipstreaming – a perfectly innocuous but stupid and dangerous practice.As I said: South Africans have some strange driving habits.