2007 BMW X5 - I'm a BMW Technology Fan

By Brian Pasch

The 2007 BMW has really cool technology that makes the BMW driving experience even better.  I purchased my new 2007 BMW X5 from Circle BMW and when the delivery specialist went over the car with me I was salivating.

It took 2 minutes to connect my Blackberry to the X5's integrated phone system that is compatible with Bluetooth phones. The old days of clumsy connectors and duplicate programming of phone dialing lists is over!  I love the fact that I can keep my Bluetooth enabled Blackberry in my pocket and use the car to dial out numbers or accept calls.

2007 BMW X5 Rear Camera System

To make it safer to operate the 2007 X5 in reverse gear, the 2007 X5 has a rear mounted camera which automatically pops up a clear picture of what is behind the car.  The screen works great during the day but I find the night navigational guides a bit confusing.  The rear mounted camera is paired with a rear object sensor that chimes if you are close to hitting any solid object in your path.

2007 BMW X5 I-Drive Controller

The heart of the BMW X5's technology packages is the easy to use I-Drive controller.  It took be a little while to get use to the control knob but once I got the hang of it, it is similar to using a multi-function mouse.  The I-Drive knob works by either pushing it down, turning the knob left/right or sliding the knob at 12, 3, 6 or 9 o'clock.  The menu system on the built-in LCD screen works very well with this controller.  The I-Drive controls operate the radio, CD player, navigation system, phone system and the X5's reporting screens.

Eight Programmable buttons allow you to put your most common tasks on presets.  These presets can be from any feature of the car.  Preset 31 can be a common phone number.  Preset #2 can be a navigation destination that you use often.  The ideas behind the design is that depending on how you use technology, these buttons can make the operation of the car safer when driving.