GOT RID

Well, this is my last post as I have just part exchanged the 911 targa for an ......X5 BMW!! How happy I am as well!, I grew to hate the porker because of its uncomfortable driving position, its high service costs, its occassional white smoke on start up (WTF!!! a 65K car!), point to point it may well be great..but on UK roads in traffic...nightmare...bring on the comments!!

You are well within your right to express your dissatisfaction with your experience of owning a 911 and no-one will criticise you for it. After all, everyone is different. :dont know: However, there's no excuse for getting a BMW X5 and it might have been better to have kept that quiet and just faded gracefully into the distance. I for one have added you to my ignore list, just in case you do hang around. uh:

Hi I feel compelled to reply to your post. Only because you have bought an X5 though. I would say that you have gone from the frying pan into the fire. Whenever I am behind an X5 or see one parked I always notice the huge amount of negative camber these cars/trucks carry at the rear. WTF is that about? How many sets of rear tyres must X5 drivers go through? Also they are heavily over tyred like many of these types of vehicle. All the best though! Berni

:bye: Bye then !

...with all that pace, style, low running costs and sheer class/status of the X5 ownership experience, how could anyone on 911UK be critical of you for ditching a 911. I am soooo jealous, as the X5 is my ultimate car....enjoy and :bye:

:floor: v. subtle, like it!

Have a work colleague who had an X5 and when we had the heavy snow it couldn't cope with his driveway so he couldn't even get into work in it. Big mistake publicising this fact - I'd have rather just gone sick! :grin: In fact X5 is becoming a bit of a rarity around my way as most blonde ladies moved onto black RRS for dropping the kids off/shopping etc. X6 seems the new beast - except I cant work it out - such a large car that only has 4 seats. :nooo: On a positive note I do like an elevated driving position (reminds me of my old Bedford Luton van). Get some street cred back and buy a Caterham or similiar to keep for the weekend. :bye: (PS: Hope you haven't posted this on PH as there will be some spleen venting, gnashing of teeth and some (perhaps underserving) p1ss taking of a stratospheric level)

Each to their own - enjoy your X5.... I have to say though I have found both my 911's have a great driving position and the servicing costs have been very resonable, even in comparison to my daily drivers....... :bye:

Did you actually contribute anything to this forum that was of value to anyone, if so and it helped great, but why not just go away quietly, you are as bad as the chancers who try to rip us off and insult our good nature, enjoy your gas guzzler. Mike

I'd agree the seats are crap but the driving positon is great. I like the X5 but it is not something I would part money for. I guess we can just put it down to the fact that you are into the premium car image rather than driving satisfaction & enjoyment. Good luck with the super high running costs of your X5.

Each to their own, fair play for admitting (on a Porsche forum) that you didn't get on too well with your 911 and for changing it for something that you do like. FWIW I agree the driving position takes some getting used to (the first one I test drove I just could not get comfortable in), and if you are sat in traffic in it all day and not using it properly I can see why you would want to change it - a 911 is a car that needs to be really driven to fully 'get' the whole Porsche experience; I'm still surprised how docile it is under normal driving. I'm sure sitting in traffic all day in an X5 will be more comfortable (wouldn't be my choice - Audi RS4 for me I think if I wanted a more 'normal' 4/5-seater), and I think you will have a shock when you service it, but the important thing is that you are happy with it, doesn't matter what anyone else says... :thumb:

Best of luck with your new BMW they are a great car, supremely well engineered and capable of well beyond 200,000 miles. I can understand your disenchantment with your 996. The unreliability issues in particular are just not acceptable and remind me of the state of the British car industry in the 1970's. For too long we accepted the crap that Austin, Triumph, Rover etc produced and defended an ailing car industry. There was a 911 UK trip to Le Mans recently and at least two 996's had very serious (and expensive ) engine failures and had to be recovered. At the time I was surprised at the lack of open discussion on these boards about these serious and unacceptable reliability issues. As the years roll on it is becoming clear that water cooled Porsche's are quite simply bad cars. Burying our heads in the sand and flaming anybody that dares to stand up and give an honest opinion is not really the way to go if Porsche owners are to ever have any influence on changing Porsche quality issues for the better.

Everyone has a choice, and I can see why you've made yours. A close friend has the erm 4.8? Sport version X5 - he's powerslid the thing with me as passenger (on a private road - really) and it is an impressive piece of kit - defies physics there's no doubt. HOWEVER, defying physics comes at a cost. Suspension components last a VERY short mileage, and getting at the joints/bushes is very difficult = long labour costs. General design of the car is very poor - Sat-nav issues meant a NEW DASHBOARD.... one switch breaking meant a NEW PANEL OF ALL THE SWITCHES, etc etc. - it's cost him a fortune in servicing/repairs, and depreciation is eye-watering. He can't wait to get rid - honestly! If he didn't have a Maserati 3200GT, I'm sure he would gladly have swopped with your 996 :grin: I URGENTLY SUGGEST you take up BMWs warranty!!!! Good luck!

I seem to remeber Clarkson reviewing the X5 on Top Gear, and saying they get stuck in a puddle. :floor:

Everyone I have spoken to reckons the x5 is s**t. Still, if it makes you happy...... Just be careful where you take it.