BMW X5 review (27/03/2014)

IT IS said that the older you get the quicker time passes you by and that certainly has not been lost on yours truly as the years dash past.

It was something of a shock to the system to note recently that it is 15 years since BMW first shook up the 4x4 market with the truly revolutionary X5.

Before its arrival in 1999, apart from the Range Rover, there was absolutely nothing sophisticated about the genre, but since then the rush to copy — or at least claim some of the massive market share the X5 claimed for itself — the BMW machine seemed to be unduly rushed, if understandable.

What BMW did was to bring the 4x4 to the masses and disassemble the previously accepted thinking that all-wheel-drive cars were only for farmers (Toyota Land Cruisers), land owners (Land Rovers) crusties (elderly Land Rovers) and Americans (Jeeps). The German take on things started a 4x4 revolution that saw the term Sports Utility Vehicle (although BMW tweaked it to Sports Activity Vehicle) being introduced to the automotive vernacular.

What they did — with some genius — was to create a big 4x4 that handled like a car and which could be confidently driven by anyone.

Thanks to their inventiveness, SUVs (and SAVs) now inhabit pretty much every single motoring segment out there — from the supermini upwards.

The X5 was — and continues to be — a high water mark in terms of achievement. The Munich outfit took on a niche market, taking what was once the constituency of the few and turning it into an appealing mass market tool that was at once desirable and really good to drive.

Built in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the X5 was a massive hit in America where it has sold more than 30,000 units every year but one since it was launched.

Of course BMW has had to take on board the criticism of many traditionalists who felt their machine was not a true 4x4 in the accepted sense.

However — and in an very ironic twist — it was a company which BMW once owned (and learned much from about making expensive cars) that was the one which was to present the biggest challenge to their mighty X5.

BMW sold Land Rover to Ford at the turn of the Millennium and despite heavy investment they soon got sick of it and in 2008 they hived it off to the massive Tata conglomerate. Tata has in turn gone on to turn the Land Rover and Range Rover brands into the biggest single competitor to BMW’s expanding ‘X’ range of cars.

That being the case, BMW has reacted with understandable thoroughness to the competition coming at it and the third generation X5 is now bigger and better in almost every regard than ever before. That makes it a very serious machine indeed.

BMW has tweaked the look of the car and if you liked either of the previous two then you’re not going to be disappointed. Evolution rather than revolution is the watchword here, but even so you’d have to say that the design team has done pretty well to smarten the car up considerably without losing any of its inherent appeal.

And, when you haul yourself into the cabin — you do have to climb in — you find it adorned with a mind-boggling level of luxury features and practicality enhanced in a number of ways — including the 40:20:40 split rear seats and the automatic split rear tailgate. A seven seat option also exists, as does the option of an electrically folding tow bar.

All of that is mighty impressive, but even the look, the luxury, the comfort and the practicality pale into comparison when you, firstly, come to consider the power onoffer and the manner in which it is transmitted to the road and, secondly, how a car the size of a truck handles like a car.

The tester was fitted with BMW’s excellent three litre turbodiesel and this is a fantastic powerplant. It outputs 190 kW (258 bhp), has a whopping 560 Nm of torque between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm, will accelerate to 100 kph from standstill in just 6.9 seconds and top speed is limited to 250 kph. On top of that it will

also return a consumption figure of 6.2 l/100 km (over 45 mpg), something almost unimaginable not so long ago.

Quite frankly, this is a monster; but it’s a really good monster and one which will not be unduly fazed by anything any owner throws at it. OK, so its off-road capabilities might not be up to equivalent Land or Range Rovers, but that is not necessarily something that will bother too many potential owners.

The thing that possibly makes this the ultimate soft-roader is the manner with which it goes about its business, be it tanking up and down motorways, or dashing from point to point across country. It is effortlessly at home, whichever way you choose, although it must be said that its sheer bulk does not make it the most urban-friendly tool out there.

But, for a thing of its size, the agility it demonstrates is truly impressive and the confidence that ability provides the person behind the wheel is undeniable.

I do have to admit that if I were in the market for such a machine, the X5 would certainly be near the top of the list. I might still not buy one, especially having recently experienced what’s on offer from Land Rover, but it would be a very close call.

The X5 had always been a landmark car and even now in its third iteration, nothing has changed in that regard.

The Cost: from €78,600; €101,045 as tested.

The Engine: There are several choices available, but if you want an engine that gives you a flexible variety of sheer speed, savage torque and decent economy, the three litre six cylinder turbodiesel will provide you with a brilliant experience.

The Specification: As is always the case these days, the ability to personalise your car to almost the nth degree is available here. But once you get excited about adding stuff on, you better make sure your wallet is bulging.

The Overall Verdict: The original king of the species is still very close to the top of the pile, but others have made huge strides and the X5 probably now has more credible competition than ever

before.