First Drive Review
What's this? Ein Lastwagen? A BMW truck? Heresy! Ketzerei!
It's been almost 500 years since that word resounded through Germany. The last heresy furor was in 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses (critiquing Roman Catholic Church doctrine) to the door of the church in Wittenberg. It was unquestionably ketzerisch in that day and age, and he later defiantly compounded his sins by marrying one Katharina von Bora, once a nun. These and other reform-oriented antics provoked a hue and cry among Roman Catholic faithful all across the Fatherland, and Luther was probably lucky to avoid becoming extra crispy.
Another group of the faithful -- the BMW faithful -- likely to be repelled by the new X5 aren't as numerous, but they're ardent. And to these believers, the notion of a BMW designed for truckin' is just as ketzerisch as Martin Luther's critique of the infallible Church.
We feel their pain. BMW products get high approval ratings around here, approval that has nothing to do with a supple ride in creek beds or excellent traction on U.S. Forest Service trails. In fact, one of the traits we've appreciated about BMWs is that they're not trucks. But here's one of our favorite automakers creating yet another of these rolling chicanes that rarely justify their thirst and elephantine behavior.
And yet, and yet . . . well, when BMW sets out to do something, it's usually done with style and distinction, and like Martin Luther, having set themselves on a heretical course, the X5 designers at least had the moxie to make it noteworthy. How noteworthy? Here's a hint: BMW is so confident that this vehicle's dynamics will set new standards that part of the worldwide press preview included hot-lapping on the racetrack at Road Atlanta. After all, what better venue to prove that this sport-utility (BMW prefers to call it a "sports activity vehicle") doesn't share the reluctant handling that distinguishes other members of the breed? It actually performs like a sports sedan, a BMW sports sedan.
That's a bold assertion, and the track session -- plus assorted other driving activities -- gave us enough hands-on experience to deliver a response. But first, let's examine the nature of this new beast.
Like the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the X5 is a unibody design, still a sport-ute minority. The Lexus RX300, a peripheral X5 competitor, is another, but it's a hybrid ginned up from Toyota/Lexus front-drive passenger-car parts. The X5's structure, in contrast, owes little to BMW cars. According to Siegfried Reichl, it was a scratch job, like the Mercedes M-class, although the Benz has a truck-style perimeter frame.
Reichl should know. He was responsible for the body-in-white design (the unibody structure) of all BMWs during the X5's gestation. In this case, that responsibility went way beyond the vehicle itself. Reichl and his troops also designed the entire assembly setup and shipped it off to South Carolina, where all X5s will be built.
Reichl was the guy to ask about the X5's curb weight. At 4800-plus pounds, it's high for a unibody -- some 700 pounds north of a Grand Cherokee V-8 four-wheel-driver's, and also heavier than the M-class Benzes. He cites three weighty elements among the X5's design priorities: acoustics, safety features, and chassis rigidity.
"We wanted the vehicle to be quiet, and we needed exceptional stiffness to have it drive like a BMW," he says. "Also, the X5 has the best crash scores of any BMW."
Standard full-time four-wheel drive, plus a subframe-mounted independent rear suspension system with exceptionally robust aluminum lower-control arms and a pair of upper lateral links, undoubtedly contribute to the X5's brute-ute mass. So do features like automatic load leveling and side and head airbags (side airbags are optional in the rear) that offer protection for the cranium as well as the torso.
But for all its specific gravity, and the limiting effects of an automatic transmission (a five-speed shift-for-yourself-if-you-like Steptronic), BMW expects the X5 will be capable of scooting to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, thanks to the thrust of its 4.4-liter DOHC 32-valve aluminum V-8, which puts out 282 hp and, more important, 324 pound-feet of torque. Torque is where the X5 has a big edge over the ML430, which takes about a second longer to hit 60. The X5's 6000-pound towing capacity bests the Benz's by 1000 pounds.
