New! Improved! Now available with seven seats! If BMW’s popular – and many would say, benchmark SUV (or ‘sports activity vehicle’ as its maker insists on calling it) – was a packaged supermarket item, that’s how the redesigned box might try to catch the shopper’s eye in a crowded aisle of look-alike products.
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Fully redesigned with an all-new body and interior and a full complement of the latest petrol and diesel engines, the 2007 X5’s key selling point – and sticking it especially to the Range Rover Sport – is the newly-available third-row seating, giving the model the ability, at last, to haul seven bods from A to B in not a little style and comfort.
An 19cm increase in body length and a 6cm width boost has made room for the third row and BMW proudly proclaims that, unlike many competitors, there is still 200 litres of boot space with all seven seats in place.
The two extra seats, with three-point seatbelts and head restraints, stow under the boot (trunk) floor when not in use. Don’t tick the third row box on the option sheet when ordering and you get an extra 90-litre stowage bin below the boot floor.
In standard five-seat configuration the boot measures 620 litres – up 155 litres compared to the outgoing X5. Capacity increases to 1,750 litres with all the rear seats stowed – the biggest load area in a BMW.
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By GlobalDataOther than that, and noting we’re previewing this significant new SUV for global markets from nothing more than a press kit and a set of photos (BMW does this to whet buyer appetite and stop consumer publications from running any more retouched ‘spy’ shots of thinly disguised prototypes and speculating on the specification), this looks like the usual thorough Munich makeover – all-new body, dash and cabin, a cluster of the latest petrol and diesel engines, the latest hi-tech features (say hello to a head-up display and run-flat tyres, both SUV ‘firsts’) and a smattering of new equipment items sufficient to lure owners of the old model into the showroom, chequebook at the ready.
Not that the X5 was ever hard to sell worldwide – over 580,000 have been shifted so far. Launched in 1999, it genuinely was, as BMW is reminding us, “the first SUV-type vehicle to offer a genuinely sporty car-like drive”. The automaker came up with the ‘sports activity vehicle’ phrase to define its dynamic attributes over its rivals’ more utilitarian construction (this was before the likes of the Range Rover Sport and Nissan Murano, though) and it made a pretty strong point at the time.
Year-on-year record sales since its launch here in the UK (and satisfyingly strong, though specification-sensitive resale values) are proof of its appeal to the market.
UK sales reached record levels each year. In 2001, the model’s first full year on sale here, BMW UK shifted 5,650 while, in 2005 – its fifth year with only a few minor tweaks since launch – a record 10,808 were sold.
The latest X5 will be offered with an active suspension system – BMW’s adaptive drive package – and its also the first SAV that can be specified with the automaker’s active steering that varies the rack ratio according to whether you’re parking in Tesco’s (under two turns lock to lock), attacking a Swiss alpine pass or belting down a German autobahn.
Diesel rules
There are three engine choices initially for the UK and Europe: the biggest seller this side of the Atlantic will be the 2,993cc six-cylinder diesel but 2,996cc six-cylinder or 4,799cc V8 petrol power are also on offer. The US market will get only the petrol engines to start but we can’t see BMW leaving the diesel segment to rivals like Mercedes (with its new Bluetech engines) for long.
The X5 3.0d has the latest engine with high-precision piezo crystal injection technology for better economy and emission figures which, combined with an all aluminium crankcase that saves 25kgs in weight compared to the former 3.0-litre diesel engine, delivers improved performance figures and is 7% more fuel efficient with a combined fuel consumption figure of 32.5mpg while also emitting 8% less CO2 at 231g/km (critical here as that affects the annual road tax an owner pays).
Output is 231hp, up 6%, and maximum torque is 520 Nm, up 4% and this diesel model goes from zero to 62mph (100km/h) in 8.3 seconds and on to a top speed of 134 mph.
Claimed to be the world’s lightest production six-cylinder petrol engine, the X5 3.0si in-line engine has double vanos and valvetronic variable valve timing and lift technologies. Combined fuel consumption of 25.9mpg is an 18% improvement compared to the previous model. The emissions figure is 260g/km.
This motor develops 272hp at 6,650rpm and peak torque of 315Nm is reached at 2,750rpm, with zero to 62mph (100km/h) dispatched in 8.1 seconds. Top speed is 140mph.
The flagship X5 4.8i with 355hp V8 engine is faster from zero to 62mph and has a higher top speed than the supercharged Range Rover Sport or a Mercedes Benz ML500 Sport, BMW claims. The 4,799cc unit accelerates the car to 62mph in 6.5 seconds and has a governed top speed of 150mph. Fuel consumption is 22.6mpg on the EC combined test cycle and emissions are 299g/km.
New transmission
The latest X5 has a new faster-shifting six-speed automatic transmission with new torque converter and enhanced software so gearshift times are up to 50% quicker. A redesigned gearstick also creates more space on the centre console for additional storage space and cupholders and an electronic parking brake switch has replaced the conventional handbrake lever.
The carried-over intelligent xDrive four-wheel-drive system transfers power between front and rear wheels depending on available grip for optimum handling and can now be specified with adaptive drive and active steering – two systems new to a BMW X model. Adaptive drive uses active hydraulic anti-roll bars to counteract the cornering forces of the car to keep the body from leaning too heavily and adds an electronic damper control system that adjusts settings for optimum comfort. Active steering uses an electronically operated planetary gear intersecting the steering shaft that adds more lock than input by the driver at slow speads to make parking effortless. When driving at speed the opposite occurs for a smoother, more composed ride.
New technology
The latest X5 can be ordered with a head-up display that projects speed, navigation and check control messages into the driver’s sight line.
Run-flat tyres are now included with both the standard 18-inch alloy wheels and the optional 19- and 20-inch wheels.
Dynamic stability control, brake pre-tensioning, brake drying, hill start assist and brake fade compensation are all included as part of the driver aids and safety packages.
Nine exterior colours are offered initially alongside four levels of trim and seven upholstery colours.
The much-criticised iDrive control system – launched with the 7-series in 2001 – is now in the X5 for the first time. A new ‘wave’ style of dashboard houses the colour display while the iDrive controller is on the centre console alongside the gear selector as usual but has been updated – again – and is now complemented by eight buttons integrated as system short cuts for ease of use. This suggests BMW designers have had a close look at Audi’s easier-to-use rival system which has four buttons around a central control knob.
Supplementing the standard fit front and rear park distance control, a rear camera is now optional and is automatically activated when reverse gear is selected.
Graeme Roberts
