Gotchya .

She's not mine, it belongs to one of my many cousins. He took delivery about a month ago, but since this is his daily driver, he couldn't give it to me until this weekend.

To start things off, this is the machine that got me into German cars. My cousin was one of the first in my family to get the previous generation X5. He had a 2000 3.0i and later got the facelifted 3.0i.

Anyway, I've grown to love the styling and look of the new X5 since it premiered. I didn't like the front when it first came out, but I've always loved the interior and the back, mostly because it reminded me of the old X5. So, it's official now, I love the new X5 .

This 3.0SI is good enough for me. It had enough firepower for city driving and highway cruising. I felt very comfortable and confident to overtake cars and 18 wheelers on the highway. You just mash the gas pedal a little and it goes. On city streets, the suspension does a great job.

Steering is very responsive and direct. Love how the wheel fits in my hand and there's even a place for my thumbs at 10 and 2 o' clock.

The new gear shifter is a joy to use. From the way it looks to the way it operates and feels when holding it, I just love it. At first I got confused when I used it in manual mode. I was trying to down shift, but I was actually up shifting. They should have kept the old way, UP for up shifting and DOWN for down shifting. I guess, I gotta get used to it.

I-Drive is so easy to use, I don't understand what people are complaining about when they say it's hard. I used both the controller and voice commands. If only they had a "back" button next to the menu button though.

By the way, I kept getting this yellow "LIMIT" circular icon for some reason. Anyone know what it is.

That's about it from me. I'm not that good at car reviews, but at least I tried.

Now, I need to come up with more excuses so I could borrow it again .

Pictures? What pictures? I didn't take any....