Short Take Road Test
The old BMW X5 had a lot of charm, based on its marriage of BMW road manners and dramatic styling. It was fast and fun to drive for an SUV, which was enough to outweigh its lack of luggage capacity for its many buyers.
The second-generation X5 has grown. It is 7.4 inches longer, 2.4 inches wider and — as inevitably as the Patriots seem to make the playoffs — heavier at 5151 pounds, up 218 pounds from the first V-8-engined X5 we tested. The new, larger footprint has allowed BMW to add the seemingly obligatory third-row seat, which is fine for small kids on short journeys but tight for grownups. Still, with this row folded, there are now 19 cubic feet of cargo room, an increase of three cubic feet.
The interior is nicely wrought, with high-quality fabrics and materials, but it's not quite as fabulous as the old X5's. This '07 X5 also gets a stylish but inscrutable shift lever, a starter button that first requires a key fob to be slotted into the dash, and our favorite BMW bugaboo, the iDrive system. Adding insult to injury, the optional ($1800) rear-seat entertainment system comes with a screen that blocks access to the center console and can't be seen by the third-row occupants, to whom this feature presumably caters.
Things get better once the truck is moving down the road. The throaty 4.8-liter V-8 engine puts out a healthy 350 horsepower, spurring the X5 from 0 to 60 mph in a spry 6.1 seconds. That's 0.8 second faster than the original 4.4-liter X5 we tested in 2000 and just 0.1 second shy of the high-performance X5 4.8is we drove in 2004. On its standard 18-inch Michelin Latitude M+S tires — 19s and 20s are optional — it pulled a decent 0.82 g on the skidpad. In real-world driving, the X5 always feels like it's up for action and steers, stops, and handles with authority. And unlike sport-suspension versions of the old X5, the ride is palatable, if firm.
With the V-8 underhood, the X5 is a much more entertaining, sportier truck than the 3.0-liter X5 that placed third in our May 2006 luxury-SUV comparison test ["Eight Tickets to Paradise"]. It's also quite pricey. With such options as navigation and entertainment systems, our vehicle's base price of $55,275 rose to $63,725. For that money, potential buyers might consider a Mercedes-Benz GL450, which loses little on the sport side and gains a lot of utility.
