I woke up earlier than the rooster thanks to jet lag and hung out locked at BMW Manhattan on a sunny Monday morning in early November. Inside the windows I could glimpse a Monte Carlo blue X5M standing and shining. I am finally let in by a very nice gentleman with perfect American service. When we jump in the car and he begins the sentence that he will give me a brief overview of the car, I have already located the start button and the car whizzes into action closely followed by the voice of the gentleman from BMW, -Oh, so I see you all ready no tis car ! Shortly after, I roll along 6 avenue and let Jay-Z and Alica Key's latest song, Empire State of Mind, flow out of the speakers at maximum volume.

It's not the first time I've been allowed to

t use cars in the USA and New York and most recently a year ago with the test of the VW Passat CC which could be read in CS Hemma. Driving in New York is a lot about taking things for granted. Because if you don't, you're practically guaranteed to be run over by a yellow taxi. And to deal with when you know that you are breeding 550 happy horses under the hood is not difficult at all. You kind of aim and shoot where you want, this car goes better than the Diascovery ferry when launched. To understand exactly what these 680 newton meters of torque really do, I went out to a deserted road in Coney Island to test the Launch control. After a bit of manual reading and button pressing, I manage to get a launch. And like the steepest hill on the Balder roller coaster at Liseberg, my stomach heaves from the g-force. I haven't experienced this strong rollercoaster effect since I tested a worst snowmobile from Yamaha at full speed over open ice on a frozen lake. Crazy to say the least!

Driving comfort is impeccable in an X5M, there is no question about that. You sit in a comfortable armchair with all controls easily accessible. The now slightly modified iDriven control makes it easy to operate all settings in the Navigator and on the car. 

If you're going to drive the X5M, you have to be prepared for serious alcoholism from gasoline, because this guy drinks worse than the worst a-layer outside the company!