BMW's New, Improved X5

With a new third-row seat and more powerful engines, the X5 is bigger and better than ever. Too bad about that i-Drive…

by Charles DuBow

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Great looks, terrific handling, impressive acceleration (on the 4.8i), three rows of seats

The Bad: A bit cramped, steep price, and the i-Drive

The Bottom Line: It's easy to see why it's BMW's second-best-selling model

Reader Reviews

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Up Front

More power or more money? That's the age-old dilemma that faces so many car buyers these days, and nowhere is it more keenly felt than when shopping for the BMW X5. That's because drivers need to choose between the less-expensive and under-powered 3.0si model with a V6 engine and the pricier, more powerful 4.8i version with a V8. The price difference is almost $10,000, and the V6 offers better fuel economy. What to do?

Well, a certain cross-section of the population will say that the right thing to do is not buy any fossil fuel-burning car at all and get a bike or a horse instead. Fine, that's cool. We love the planet, too, but don't think that this is a real option for most people. (Imagine taking your kids to hockey practice on a bike….)

No, most people will wrestle with their conscience and their bank account, and come up with the answer. Maybe we could help out a little. If you're contemplating the X5 and can afford the 4.8i, our advice is pay up for a better car.

Here's why: The V6 version, which starts at $45,900, gets a measly 17 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway. That's pretty much in line with every other midsize spot-utility vehicle on the market—and yes, we know BMW likes to call it a "SAV," or "Sport Activity Vehicle," but that smells like a creature of the marketing department rather than the engineering department to us. The 4.8i, which has a MSRP of $54,500, however, gets a slightly worse 15 mpg and 21 mpg, respectively—but with so much more power. Since the difference in fuel economy is negligible, why not have more fun driving?

Since its introduction in 1999, the X5 has been a hit for BMW. At a time when SUV sales are down, sales of the X5 are up. In fact, it remains BMW's second-best-selling product line in the North American market, after the entry-level 3 Series. For the first three months of 2007, BMW sold 9,069 X5s, up more than 26% from the same period last year. To put that in perspective, over the same period, sales of Ford's (F) redesigned and commendable Explorer, the one-time king of the SUV market, sank 25%.

Still, BMW lags the $37,400 Lexus RX 330/350, which sold more than 6,600 over the same period. However, that number is off 4% from the same period in 2006.

So what makes the X5 such a hot ticket? To find out, read on.

Behind the Wheel

I have reviewed three iterations of the X5 over the years—the 2002, the 2005, and now the 2007. For the '07 model, there's a lot that is new, some good and some not-so-good. The good is the introduction of an optional third-row seat for $1,700 and $1,200, respectively, in the 3.0si and the 4.8i. This is a nice addition, one that makes the X5 more competitive, not to mention utilitarian for the family demographic that is its largest audience. The advantage is clear: In the past, if you needed to ferry more than three kids to school, practice, or the mall, the X5 couldn't do it. Now it can.

(That said, the third row is not exactly without compromises. True, when it's being used, you can squeeze in up to seven adults, but you better hope they don't have any luggage because, with the third row deployed, there's almost no internal cargo room. If you've got a really big family, you may want to check out a behemoth like the Chevy Suburban.)

What's also good is that the 2007 version been redesigned inside and out, freshening it but not making it radically different from previous incarnations. There's now more head and shoulder room, and the length has been increased nearly 9 inches, to just over 191 in., the better to incorporate the new third row.

Another difference is that the 4.4-liter engine has been discontinued; the 2007 model comes in only two versions, the 3.0si and the 4.8i, both of which are faster and more fuel-efficient than the 2006.

The not-so-good is the introduction of the justifiably maligned i-Drive to the X5.