BMW X5

This Bavarian automobile manufacturers flagship SUV is an all-rounder with many abilities

- Bob Rupani

The X5 kicked-off BMWs ‘X’ range of SUV vehicles when it was first launched some two decades back, in 1998. Many also credit the X5 for actually having injected sportiness into SUVs, because until its advent, nobody had ever imagined an SUV could perform and handle so ‘sportily’. Ever since, manufacturers have been pushing the performance envelope of their SUVs and many have been triumphant in achieving sports car like handling in these somewhat tall and heavy machines that are also meant to have some off-road abilities.

Styling

The all new fourth generation BMW X5 has now arrived and should make it to our shores sometime around May, next year. We recently sampled it in the USA and found that like almost all new generation models, it is much larger dimensionally than the outgoing one. At 4,922mm, its 36mm longer than its predecessor, 66mm wider (2004 mm) and 19mm taller (1745mm). The larger size of course gives it that much more street presence and an even more imposing appearance. The good thing is that the larger exteriors also mean more interior space, as a result of which not only are the front and rear seats more comfortable, but even the third row in the seven-seat version is actually quite usable. Getting into the back and out is also easier due to the electric forward-tilting second-row seats.