As the title states, I’m looking for input from Discovery owners who may have owned or considered BMW X5’s before going the LR Discovery route.

I’ve owned several X5’s with my 2019 the only new generation model. I’m considering a used 2019 Discovery with 13,000 miles on it. Records don’t show any maintenance issues. The previous owner just didn’t drive it a lot. It’s for sale on a Porsche dealer lot and was bought on the sister LR lot new where all the maintenance was done. Not sure why they aren’t selling it from the LR lot as a certified vehicle unless it’s a cost issue (again, nothing in that maintenance history or Carfax shows any reason it couldn’t be certified).

So, why am I looking at a Disco 5? I’ve recently owned Ram 2500 PowerWagons (overkill for my relatively tame overland and around lake trails; 10-11 mpg on unleaded plus plus not great for the highway miles I drive), a 4Runner TRD Pro (not a great highway cruiser; great off-road), older Land Cruisers, and FJ Cruisers (maybe the best of them all, but not enough seating for my family needs). The Disco seems ideal for room, refinement/ability on and off rd, and towing as needed. And the 2019+ seem to be more reliable than past editions with updated safety and comfort features.

So, what say you? Thanks in advance for your guidance!

 

1. Did you like driving the 2019 Discovery 5? X5 drives very differently.

2. Consider buying extended warranty through Land Rover dealership for peace of mind. You may need to shop around to different dealers for best price.

I have a 2020 Land Rover Discovery 5 and absolutely love it. I bought a CPO from Land Rover.

Go to Land Rover USA website and search their CPO inventory. Good luck!

 

I personally find the ride quality of BMW’s to be much too firm and the same goes for the seats. However the D5 is very traditional SUV in that it’s like driving a truck, albeit an extremely quiet and comfortable one.
practicality is unrivaled unless you for a a Suburban or something.
For long term reliability I don’t think there’s much in it, but quality control out of the factory door is in BMW’s favor.
Don’t consider a warranty. Absolutely get a warranty. Don’t even entertain the idea of skipping that.

 

I was considering a land rover disco 5,Audi Q7 and X5 I ended up choosing a D5 because I loved the offroad capability and the interior it drives more like a truck compared to a BMW and you must get warranty mine came with a 7yr warranty factory from the dealer.


2019 Land Rover Discovery TD6 HSE Luxury - Loire Blue with Vintage Tan

 

You'll get a biased view on here - but yes it's a great truck. I've had it 3 years and been delighted with it.
Sounds like plenty of warranty left. Ask them about CPO through the LR shop - but you may find just getting a 3rd party extended warranty is more economic.

 

A similar question was posted a few weeks back (albeit vs an Audi Q7, which at least in terms of looks, has nothing against the X5 ). Might want to check it out.

https://landroverforums.com/forum/ne...covery-105361/

I came into the Disco world four years ago after six years in diesel E70 X5s (full disclosure this is my wife's car). Very different animals, but as much as I loved the X5, the Disco has brought more joy to us. Nevertheless, as @BritCars said, you'll get a biased view here. Ultimately it's all about what you value more. In our case a couple things tip the balance towards the Disco: space, offroad capability and tech & user friendliness (bear in mind E70 X5s were stuck in the old infamous BMW iDrive world).

Best of lucks!

 

Hey now, I'm still here reading. Looks and styling are all very subjective. Honestly I preferred my sporty Mercedes wagon to the Q7 or many of the SUVs. I changed more to get a slightly larger vehicle and the option of the 3rd row seat as we added another dog to the family so more capacity on family trips. I think in general a lot of the SUVs out there can leave stuff to be desired. The way the Q7 drove was nice, the bigger engine gave me all the response I could ask for and things were laid out well inside.

What had me looking to bail in just 2 years was prior to covid, my regular commute was congested and my Q7 would burn oil between services. I would have to come in for them to top off the oil and sometimes more than once. The dealer claimed that was normal yet not all Q7s had the issue. When covid hit and people got off the road, I still did my same commute with less oil burn issues so maybe stop and go caused this. Then I had other odd issues (driver's carpet constantly was bubbling out and happened 5 times including after whole carpet was replaced, many modules were replaced, etc). I know others with Q7s that have not had any issues. I decided I got a lemon so move on.

I can say the Q7 (quattro) did better in the snow and my steep driveway than the Mercedes 4MATIC did. So part of my replacement search has been around that factor and reality that my road does not always get plowed. II want the ability to make it from work to my kids and back home.

I have not made a decision yet and had been considering ordering a Discovery. I am finding the local dealer not the best to get straight answers out of though and most of the dealers in the area just seem to make this all not a great process. When I test drove the Discovery again (had test driven some level back in 2018) it seemed to handle better than what I remember. So maybe the Q7 moved me more in the middle and the shift to the Discovery was not as drastic as when I test drove it while driving the sporty Mercedes wagon. Maybe it had to do with either the wheel size/etc of whatever I test drove in 2018. I did feel better about the option of a Discovery. In 2018 I went into that process actually wanting a Disco 5 and the test drive and dealer put me off so I continued searching and eventually landed on a Q7. Recently, I looked at a BMW X3 to add a smaller car for a new driver in the family and that vehicle is not for my kid or me. We disliked it despite being so well ranked and we started with it as the target. I even considered a Discovery Sport but ended up with a Mercedes GLC based on good visibility, no tip in throttle lag, just easy to drive with good controls and features. Yes I do believe it will not do well on my steep driveway but on those days it can stay home but it also will not need to go down the steep incline.

But glad to hear people still love their Discoveries.

 

Bit of a late reply, but here goes. I was a long-time BMW owner and test drove a X5 for 24 hours before ordering my Disco. It was a fairly easy decision, with the D5 driving better, having more space and feeling more luxurious plus much better equipped around a similar price. This was in the UK and X5 30d vs D5 SDV6.

8 months on and the D5 was about to be rejected for a sensor issue. Now the X7 was available and I borrowed one for 24 hours. That was a tougher decision as the X7 had the D5 beaten on second row space and had a great boot/trunk too. Of course, up front, pretty much identical to a well specced X5. I agonised for days over X7 or another D5. In the end, D5 won through for character, luxury and feeling like a real SUV/truck. Had I picked the X7 it would have been for tech, second row space and reliability.