o you’re in the market for a large sport utility vehicle and you’ve got around six million pesos to spare. Then welcome to the world of German SUVs.
With that much disposable income, only an SUV with the kidney grille or the five point star emblem would do. They are right within your liquidity level and should give you all the status expected from premium German marquees. We’re talking about the five-door, five person-capacity SUVs, the Mercedes Benz M350 and the BMW X5.
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| BMW X5 | | You can take your of pick of four X5s available locally from authorized BMW dealers that will set you back from around 5 million pesos to close to 6 million pesos, including registration fees and insurance.
If a Benz makes your heart beat faster, you will have to get all your excitement from the single variant on offer from the authorized dealer of high end Benzes, Cats Motors.
Mercedes Benz M-Class
The M-Class has all the hallmarks of a Benz -- solidity, elegance, and styling cues to last a lifetime -- within classic large SUV dimensions: 5206 mm long, 1871 mm wide, and 14733 mm tall.
Exterior features include dual HID headlamps with active light system and washers; front and rear fog lamps; roof rails; rear and wiper and washer system.
Rich leather permeates the interior with calfskin covering the steering wheel, shift knobs and seats. The rear bench seat splits and folds 60/40 to provide some flexibility for hauling passenger and cargo. Aluminum and carbon fiber accentuate the rich and sporty atmosphere inside the M-350 cabin.
There’s also the obligatory moon roof for vehicles that cost in the high seven-figure digits.
Also obligatory are power steering, door locks, windows and mirrors; four-zone climate controls; stereo-CD player with eight speakers; electronically adjustable front seats with memory; keyless entry with alarm, central locking and immobilizer.
The M-Class 350 is powered by a gasoline powered 3.5-liter V6 that breathes through 24 valves controlled by double-overhead cams. The engine generates 272 brake horsepower at 6500 rpm and a hefty 530 Nm of torque from 2800 to 4800 rpm.
Power is transmitted to all four wheels via a 7-speed automatic transmission with cruise control.
Stopping power comes from vented discs on all four wheels. It rolls on fat 235/55 R17 size tires wrapped around cast alloy 17 x 8.0 jj rims.
The M-Class provides a very comfortable and stable ride with a suspension that features independent-Multi-Link, AIRMATIC system in front and rear.
Safety features include six airbags; AntiLock Brakes System (ABS); Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD); Brake Assist; Downhill Speed Regulator; Electronic Stability Program; Electronic Traction Control; corner and reverse parking sensors; ARCADE crash sensor with roll-over protection; and PRE-SAFE collision detection system.
Mercedes Benz offers a two-year unlimited mileage warranty on the M-Class 350.
BMW X5
The X5 is arguable the better looker among the two good-looking SUVs. It’s wider (2180 mm) and taller (1715) than the M-Class but much shorter (4667mm). Being shorter brings about its only shortcoming. It doesn’t have much room for luggage in the back.
There are four X5 variants on offer locally. The 3.0d SAV, 3.0d Executive, 3.0i SAV and 3.0i Executive.
The 3.0d SAV is the cheapest and the 3.0i Executive is the most expensive.
You can tell the 3.0d Executive from the 3.0d SAV because it has HID headlamps although it shares the same front and rear fog lamps; roof rails; rear wiper and washer; black door handles and lower front and rear bumpers.
The 3.0i Executive has dual HID headlamps and body-colored door handles and lower front and rear bumpers. It also rides on 255/55 R18 tires wrapped around light alloy 18 x 9 JJ rims. The other three all ride on similar 235/65 R17 tires wrapped around light alloy 17 x 8.5 JJ rims.
All four share the same wood and aluminum combination interior accents; leather steering wheel with multi-functional buttons. However, the 3.0d Executive has leather seats. The 3.0i Executive has both leather seats and sports leather steering wheel with multi-function buttons.
The X5 3.0d SAV and 3.0i Executive comes standard with power steering, door locks, windows and mirrors; airconditioning; audio system with CD/Cassette player, 6-CD changer, and six speakers; electronically adjustable driver’s seat with memory, on-board computer with service interval indicator; and keyless entry with alarm and immobilizer. The 3.0d Executive come with all these plus dual zone climate control, electronically adjustable front seats with memory.
The X5 3.0i Executive has all the standard features of the 3.0d SAV plus four zone climate control and side and rear window blinds.
All four X5 variants share the same suspension (independent MacPher
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