By Justin Berkowitz
July 16, 2007 -
The vast majority of today’s SUVs and CUVs share the same modus operandi. They’re good for a bus, bad for a car. They’re thirsty, overpriced, overweight and over here. Most now come complete with a market-mandatory third row that’s as about useful as a werewolf at Trader Vic’s. So when I read BMW’s characteristically modest tagline for their new X5 SUV CUV SAV on their official website– “Room for everything except improvement”– I considered myself an honorary Missourian. Ultimate driving machine on stilts? Show me.
The X5 is the very model of a major modern BMW that quotes the stance historical. It’s a tremendously busy design, festooned with strange shapes and littered with unexpected creases and lines. Despite die Bangle Boyz’ attempt to transform the Bimmer’s two-box SUV shape into something more exotic, the marginally longer, taller and wider X5 still looks like a two-box SUV tweaked to look like something exotic. The rear remains especially boxy, tilting its posterior upwards in a distinctly French sort of way. In sum, from twenty feet away, the X5 looks handsome enough.
Stepping inside the X5 is like stepping into a VIP suite at the Bellagio. BMW’s draped and slathered the cabin in thoroughly decadent materials. My tester’s buttery dark brown Tobacco leather (the X5 is built in the Carolinas, after all) is the business. The switches, buttons and mellifluous stereo are sybaritic enough to satiate Audi-ophiles. Trillion-direction adjustable seats flatter the high roller's heiny. There’s a backup camera, heads-up display, a nifty electronic gear-shift lever and enough mouse driven gadgets and alphabet soup safety systems to shame an Airbus. Who could ask for anything more?
Of course my tester weighed-in at $70k. So yeah, you’d better feel like freakin’ royalty inside. In the back, serfs up! Or is that Smurfs? BMW recommends restricting the third row to passengers shorter than 5’7”. Lop another couple inches off that estimation (not literally) and it’s so true it hurts. Still.
The X5 is a full-figured kinda gal, tipping the scales at 5300lbs. Faced with motivating one so heavy, BMW didn’t dick around. The BMW X5 4.8i packs some serious heat. Its state-of-the-art V8 engine blasts-out 350hp @ 6300 rpm and 350 ft.-lbs. of torque @3400 rpm. The powerplant’s Valvetronic system works in conjunction with continuously variable valve lift control to eliminate the traditional throttle and help the engine breathe more easily. Double-VANOS then allows it to steplessly…
Snap the X5’s funky shift lever into manumatic, hold the six-speed autobox in first gear and mash the go-pedal. Two things happen. First, your backside notices how comfortable the seat is. Not for sitting. As a backstop. Second, the big bore V8 rips, snorts, and then rip-snorts down the road. At some point, the engine bellows and screams, filling the cabin with aural menace. The X5 4.8i sprints from rest to 60mph in the low six second range.
You know when they say, doh! I could ‘a had a V8? THIS is the V8 they’re talking about. Just like the old M5, BMW’s burbling bastard just begs to be beaten. To keep the universe in order, to fund the oil companies’ stockholders, you must oblige.
It gets better. On sinewy woodland B-roads, I could easily keep pace with two BMW cabrios, a 650i and 335i. Cough. Yes, my X5 4.8i came equipped with the $3600 Sport Package, blessing it with 19” alloys, Active Roll Stabilization and Electronic Dampening Control. Anyone with an ounce of petrol in their veins will order their X5 this way. The package kept the beast in line as though it was a vehicle half its size, while BMW’s e-nannies let you moon Sir Isaac Newton and flip off gravity.
Again, I don’t like SUVs. Unless I’m heading off-road or towing something heavy, I’d rather put my bike on a train and collect some carbon credits at the other end. As a jobbing auto journo, I have a hard time recommending any vehicle that gets 15/21 [yeah right] mpg. And now that BMW is rolling out an AWD 5-Series station wagon with the automaker’s magnificent turbo I6, it’s hard to make a case for BMW’s politically incorrect gas-guzzling locomotive-on-stilts.
But not impossible. Its own twisted way, the BMW X5 4.8i makes perfect sense. It’s got all the utility of the station wagon PLUS seating for you, four friends, and two employees from Willy Wonka’s factory. Inside, it’s Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome elevated for extra visibility, and that feeling of superiority no pavement scraper can deliver. The X5’s also got all-wheel drive for the snow. And then, then there’s that monster under the hood.
Yeah, that’s it: the engine. The V8’s the thing wherein BMW will capture the heart of a king. I guess they showed me.
4 / 5 Stars | X5 4.8i rating summary and performance review
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More Reviews43 Responses to “ X5 4.8i Review ”
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POWERED
July 16th, 2007 at 8:17 am
sweet review… shame they still dont let you use their press cars.
July 16th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Whoa…
I kind of remember a review of the 3.0 version on TTAC that makes this one suitable for “counterpoint” status.
Still, I agree with this one a lot more. The 4.8 is nice but in Europe, the 3.0 twinturbo diesel is probably the better choice.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:19 am
You got it with the emphasis on “twisted,” Its own twisted way, the BMW X5 4.8i makes perfect sense.
All I can say is how long will this nonsense go on, as I fondly remember the days of “honest” SUVs? (You know, the ones you’d really take offroad back into the boonies without worrying about dents and scratches.) Luckily, the Wrangler still lives…
July 16th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Beautiful interior, scintillating performance, and an exterior that is certainly no worse than it’s competitors. In a simpler time, when no one knew realized we were wrecking the planet, it would be a great vehicle even at $70k. But in today’s world, seeing these lumbering from Toronto’s posh ‘hoods to the posh shopping districts, all I can think is ‘what a goddam waste’. Sorry to strike a sour note on an excellent review.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Hope the X5 Re-do brings better quality.
My 2002 suffered from cracked interior wood, two seat heaters that failed, door locks that consistently froze during the winter, front axles that needed replacement, constant rattles from the rear liftgate, radio that needed replacement…just to name a few.
On days it was not in the “BMW Center” (its a damn dealership for god sake)it looked good, steered and braked well. At least it didn’t strand me on the Pennsylvania Turnpike like my 2000 325 did. Net, I had a drink of the BMW kool-aid…it did not taste very good.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:52 am
bmw always associates with freak fashion. with french aesthetics of materials , and german sense of artisticness.
what`s that? well, that`s son, what they call the round speakers everywhere around without a single line coinciding to any panels. that`s what they call the piece -of -art - kettle- lid on the steering wheel on x3. that`s what they call flat line jigsawed sawwood board panels with 3 grey blisters on 7 series. that`s what they call, son ,duck -tail misaligned trunk lid on 7 series.that`s what they call misaligned door handles inside on x3 or grab- wiener- handles in the same car.that`s son an art.
an art of knocking american anthem by knee knuckles right on the glove -box in 3 series, by hitting star speckled banner right with your head in back seat roof arques like some giant in an arabesque covered mosque.the beauty of jigsawed flatfenders. and the swan song of the sweet diesel. the tractoresque saga of ancient instincts.
yes, a track carving machine. sure, a range rover killer( the one that on discovery channel tests lifted up its black `paws` from asphalt in any substantial corner, yet not depriving brittons from idea, that it is a marvel-machine), sure fit and finisher- ( because anyway i couldn`t find 2 panels inside that could fit together, so no gap problems at all). is it a beauty? well, i won`t drink that much to call it a beauty.
A progress? definitely.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:57 am
The reviewer forgot mention the X5 is still slower than a Subaru Foreseter XT (sans flying vagina front-ent) which costs about 1/3.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:59 am
drifter:
And he forgot to mention that it gets roughly the same mpg as the really rather slow Subaru Tribeca.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:01 am
i had a 2004 4.4 that i loved, for all the reasons so nicely penned here. other than a few electronic gremlins it was trouble free for 70+k miles.
this review comes at a perfect time for me as i’m looking for a “utility” vehicle that is fun to drive. i looked hard at the 535 wagon but the oil temperature problem with the twin turbo has quelled that enthusiasm, and i need the vehicle to help transport my mom (83) and disabled brother (250 pounds) so entry/exit is a major concern. the wagon is awesome but it is down low and getting the brother up and out pretty much eliminates anything but an SUV (or whatever).
i test drove the MDX yesterday, nice but steering is remote, the cabin has a tight feeling related to the “wrap around” dash styling, and frankly it just doesn’t have the beans to get the juices flowing.
so the 4.8 looks like the vehicle for me but PLEASE comment on the ride quality. the press’ assessment has been all over the map, and the X5 3.0 review mentioned above was highly critical of the ride quality. Did you experiment with the ride mode settings (comfort/sport) and what was your assessment? PLEASE comment :o)
July 16th, 2007 at 10:04 am
RF: And he forgot to mention that it gets roughly the same mpg as the really rather slow Subaru Tribeca.
Truly amazing considering the Subie is an SUV and the X5 is a SAV. What the hell is an SAV anyway? Guess we all need to go to our local “BMW Center” and ask.