- First Name
- David
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2021
- Threads
- 35
- Messages
- 715
- Reaction score
- 871
- Location
- Portland, OR
- Vehicle(s)
- 2004 BMW e46
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
After 20 long months since my reservation, my 4dr Bronco Badlands arrived at the dealer yesterday, and I picked her up today. Even though she is a "she" I am still going to call her the Jolly Green Giant, because all I wanted to say when I got her home was "Ho, Ho, Ho"!.
Love the green, it really is spectacular, and looks very different from most pictures I have seen. Much more of an emerald green color.
I had to give up the Safari bar (and consequently the HD bumper) and the PPF to get her sooner. What was really strange is that there was a Wildtrak being delivered at the same dealership today and it had the Safari bar. Go figure.
Some initial plusses and minuses.
Plusses:
1. The manual is GREAT! Super smooth clutch and great feel between the gates with the shifter. Even coming from a 6-speed BMW, I really like it. Dunno if I can really row the gears as fast as I can on the bimmer, but that is not the goal of this vehicle. For the driving I did with her today, I had a mile-wide grin shifting through the gears
2. The sound system is very nice. I dunno how much better the LUX system is, but I was very pleased with what came in the HIGH package
3. Love the marine grade vinyl, but I already knew this from the test day Ford held last year in Portland
4. The heated seats were worth every penny after being forced to upgrade from BD to BL
5. The armrest is a perfect height/location for me to easily shift all day long.
6. The feel of the leather wrapped steering wheel is excellent, as is the gear shift knob.
7. Love the upgraded rims. Really wanted the steelies on the BD, and didn't care for the stock rims on the BL. Glad I upgraded. The black gloss rims are gorgeous. I hope I don't cry too much when they get dinged up off-roading for fishing and hunting. At least I won't have to worry about curb rash. I haven't had a car with sidewalls this tall ever
8. The fact they pulled the temperature digits off the dial from the 2021 model is no big deal, when you turn the temp knob the center screen shows you the temp you are dialing in. Actually it works great, and you see the set temp in the corners of the LCD as well after you set it. I was kinda bummed when I saw the thread about it, but what Ford did is an improvement IMHO.
9. The backup and side view cameras are AWESOME.
10. The side lights are pretty cool. Will be great when coming back to the car after fishing/hunting and being able to illuminate a large area when packing up gear.
11. Being high up gives great road visibility. Big difference from my BMW Side visibility is actually pretty good. Rear visibility is marginal. The backup camera will be much appreciated there.
Minuses:
1. Gotta get side steps. It is a big step to get into the rig. My wife can barely get into the passenger seat. Thankfully there are some vendors who now sell steps that attach to the rock sliders. I really don't want to have to pull them off, just to be able to put on side steps.
2. The cabin is noisier than I expected. Not super bad, but no quiet either. Time will tell if I get used to the ambient noise. I never was able to test drive a MIC top, only the soft top. I also got the sound deadener in the headliner but still noisier than expected
3. The plastic on the dash is hard and slippery. Even though there are shallow "bins" on the top of the dash, stuff does not stay in them even in mild driving. Gonna get some sticky pads from Amazon to line the bins to keep stuff from sliding around
4. No USB power on the upper dashboard is a bummer (and I wasn't going to go LUX just to get that), just seems cheesy not to have it when you have a Go-Pro mount up there already
5. Ford put a cigarette lighter adapter in the center console instead of a USB-A or USB-C connector. Seems really odd. So now I have to buy a USB plug that goes into it to power my smart phone (I would rather have the cable start there, vs the center console where there is a USB A and USB-C plug.)
6. The digital dashboard sucks. Not really my cup of tea. It is functional. I just am old school and like physical gauges. The vertical bar tachometer is stupid, haven't figured out if there is a more normal looking tach option
7. No user manual. Really? Yes, I got the mini manuals, but again maybe I am old school but I really like a real paper manual, I guess I will just need to download the PDF and print it out.
8. I did figure out how to show the fuel mileage on the drivers dashboard. I never saw it go over 15.9 MPG, not once so far. Yikes!
9. The gas tank door does not lock. Especially with jackasses stealing gas these days, I am a little worried about someone being able to easily siphon gas out of my car.
10. (NEW) after a day of driving, the sound of the engine is kinda whimpy IMO. Was never expecting a V8 growl, but it would have been nice if the motor sounded more beefy. I'll get over it
11, (NEW) the fog lights are a bit too high off the ground IMO. Again, can't be fixed as the Bronco is so tall, but from my experience last night and this morning, they may not be as useful as fog lights in a normal passenger vehicle where the fog lights are 12" off the road.
Immediate upgrades:
1. She is going in for PPF next week. There is a Xpel installer in town that will do the factory coverage for $325 (the Ford price was $295)
2. Getting the shock sensor upgrade and LED for the alarm system
3. Finding some sort of cover system for the cargo area. I would like to be able to keep stuff back there, but want to keep it covered. I haven't found anything yet, but I am sure someone will figure out a system.
4. Find a cover for the key fob
5. Get wheel locks
6. The wife is really open to overlanding/car camping with this, so I might be able to the the roof rack 2 person tent! and I saw that they have a shower stall that installs on the side (not sure if that can work in tandem with the Yakima tent, but will be awesome if it does.
7. Leverage the knowledge of the folks on this forum to find the best side steps that work with the rock sliders.
Overall, super happy. The minuses above don't detract from my joy of finally having the Bronco. It was just a summary of first opinions as a new owner compared to what I was expecting once you really get into the vehicle. I'll learn to live with the dashboard and print out a manual. The side steps are a must. The gas mileage is what it is and it I knew it wasn't going to be great.
Just so happy to be a real Bronco owner!
Love the green, it really is spectacular, and looks very different from most pictures I have seen. Much more of an emerald green color.
I had to give up the Safari bar (and consequently the HD bumper) and the PPF to get her sooner. What was really strange is that there was a Wildtrak being delivered at the same dealership today and it had the Safari bar. Go figure.
Some initial plusses and minuses.
Plusses:
1. The manual is GREAT! Super smooth clutch and great feel between the gates with the shifter. Even coming from a 6-speed BMW, I really like it. Dunno if I can really row the gears as fast as I can on the bimmer, but that is not the goal of this vehicle. For the driving I did with her today, I had a mile-wide grin shifting through the gears
2. The sound system is very nice. I dunno how much better the LUX system is, but I was very pleased with what came in the HIGH package
3. Love the marine grade vinyl, but I already knew this from the test day Ford held last year in Portland
4. The heated seats were worth every penny after being forced to upgrade from BD to BL
5. The armrest is a perfect height/location for me to easily shift all day long.
6. The feel of the leather wrapped steering wheel is excellent, as is the gear shift knob.
7. Love the upgraded rims. Really wanted the steelies on the BD, and didn't care for the stock rims on the BL. Glad I upgraded. The black gloss rims are gorgeous. I hope I don't cry too much when they get dinged up off-roading for fishing and hunting. At least I won't have to worry about curb rash. I haven't had a car with sidewalls this tall ever
8. The fact they pulled the temperature digits off the dial from the 2021 model is no big deal, when you turn the temp knob the center screen shows you the temp you are dialing in. Actually it works great, and you see the set temp in the corners of the LCD as well after you set it. I was kinda bummed when I saw the thread about it, but what Ford did is an improvement IMHO.
9. The backup and side view cameras are AWESOME.
10. The side lights are pretty cool. Will be great when coming back to the car after fishing/hunting and being able to illuminate a large area when packing up gear.
11. Being high up gives great road visibility. Big difference from my BMW
Side visibility is actually pretty good. Rear visibility is marginal. The backup camera will be much appreciated there.Minuses:
1. Gotta get side steps. It is a big step to get into the rig. My wife can barely get into the passenger seat. Thankfully there are some vendors who now sell steps that attach to the rock sliders. I really don't want to have to pull them off, just to be able to put on side steps.
2. The cabin is noisier than I expected. Not super bad, but no quiet either. Time will tell if I get used to the ambient noise. I never was able to test drive a MIC top, only the soft top. I also got the sound deadener in the headliner but still noisier than expected
3. The plastic on the dash is hard and slippery. Even though there are shallow "bins" on the top of the dash, stuff does not stay in them even in mild driving. Gonna get some sticky pads from Amazon to line the bins to keep stuff from sliding around
4. No USB power on the upper dashboard is a bummer (and I wasn't going to go LUX just to get that), just seems cheesy not to have it when you have a Go-Pro mount up there already
5. Ford put a cigarette lighter adapter in the center console instead of a USB-A or USB-C connector. Seems really odd. So now I have to buy a USB plug that goes into it to power my smart phone (I would rather have the cable start there, vs the center console where there is a USB A and USB-C plug.)
6. The digital dashboard sucks. Not really my cup of tea. It is functional. I just am old school and like physical gauges. The vertical bar tachometer is stupid, haven't figured out if there is a more normal looking tach option
7. No user manual. Really? Yes, I got the mini manuals, but again maybe I am old school but I really like a real paper manual, I guess I will just need to download the PDF and print it out.
8. I did figure out how to show the fuel mileage on the drivers dashboard. I never saw it go over 15.9 MPG, not once so far. Yikes!
9. The gas tank door does not lock. Especially with jackasses stealing gas these days, I am a little worried about someone being able to easily siphon gas out of my car.
10. (NEW) after a day of driving, the sound of the engine is kinda whimpy IMO. Was never expecting a V8 growl, but it would have been nice if the motor sounded more beefy. I'll get over it
11, (NEW) the fog lights are a bit too high off the ground IMO. Again, can't be fixed as the Bronco is so tall, but from my experience last night and this morning, they may not be as useful as fog lights in a normal passenger vehicle where the fog lights are 12" off the road.
Immediate upgrades:
1. She is going in for PPF next week. There is a Xpel installer in town that will do the factory coverage for $325 (the Ford price was $295)
2. Getting the shock sensor upgrade and LED for the alarm system
3. Finding some sort of cover system for the cargo area. I would like to be able to keep stuff back there, but want to keep it covered. I haven't found anything yet, but I am sure someone will figure out a system.
4. Find a cover for the key fob
5. Get wheel locks
6. The wife is really open to overlanding/car camping with this, so I might be able to the the roof rack 2 person tent! and I saw that they have a shower stall that installs on the side (not sure if that can work in tandem with the Yakima tent, but will be awesome if it does.
7. Leverage the knowledge of the folks on this forum to find the best side steps that work with the rock sliders.
Overall, super happy. The minuses above don't detract from my joy of finally having the Bronco. It was just a summary of first opinions as a new owner compared to what I was expecting once you really get into the vehicle. I'll learn to live with the dashboard and print out a manual. The side steps are a must. The gas mileage is what it is and it I knew it wasn't going to be great.
Just so happy to be a real Bronco owner!
Sponsored
Last edited:
I can’t name the Bronco “Fiona”because my wife has already given that name to her 20th anniversary gift (something else fairly big and pretty, but not green).
I understand
