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We did a lot of research before we invested in our new SUV. Everything we read led us to the BMW X5 and after driving it for 6 months we couldn't be happier.
With 2 kids, we needed the room of an SUV but needed it to be easy to handle as well. I have to say that this car actually handles better than many cars I've driven. When I'm driving it, I never feel like I'm driving a huge boat or that I don't have 100% control over the car.
The interior is very spacious and gives you a great feeling. It gives you a lot more room than your typical car but doesn't feel cavernous like a van does. The seats are very comfortable, as you'd expect from this high end model.
The negative issues we have are things that we simply had to compromise on. For example, this really eats up a lot of gas. This is not surprise, as any SUV, unless you go the Hybrid route, is going to use a lot more gas than you think. Of course the price was quite high as well. We opted out of most of the additional and custom features which helped to keep it down. It is more expensive than other cars in its class but we feel that it's well worth the extra cost, and therefore a good overall value.
As parents, safety was of course very important to us as well. This SUV comes standard with all of the safety features we would have paid more for with other cars. It's important to me that I'm able to drive my car without feeling that my kids are in danger and this certainly gives me that piece of mind.