BMW X5

How many ways can you re-skin a platform? If you’re carrying over all the hard points stuff that’s expensive to alter, such as door openings, pillar placement and the like then you're hardly working with a clean sheet, but I don't think anyone could've predicted BMW’s third-generation X5 would end up like this.

Carrying over much of its predecessor’s architecture, the new X5 rides on the same 2933 mm wheelbase and identical track widths, which in itself is no bad thing seeing we’d hardly encourage SUVs to keep on growing. It gains 30 litres of boot space and is slightly more aerodynamic, but the disappointing part is that it’s such a super-safe, super-predictable evolution of what was quite a game-changer in 2007.

BMW will tell you that weight has dropped by up to 40kg, but the volume-selling xDrive 30d is actually 40 kg heavier (at 2070 kg) than its 30d predecessor was at launch. The only new X5 to limbo under the two-tonne mark is the entry-level sDrive 25d a rear-drive four-pot turbo-diesel weighing 1995 kg and it’s this unlikely sweet spot that best showcases what Munich has achieved with its bulky SUV.

The sDrive 25d not only upholds the X5’s reputation for dynamics, but it proved massively more capable than the Mercedes ML250 did at You Yangs two years ago. Its relatively tiny engine tries hard and performs remarkably well (0-100km/h in 8.2sec, with a miserly 5.8L/100km fuel figure), and its chassis grips admirably on 255/55R18s. Its interior isn’t bad for a base BMW, either, though the options list can greatly enhance this.

Cue the test X5 30d with optional M Sport package ($5600). It's up-specced interior offers all the colour and texture we’ve come to expect from Audi, not BMW, and the three-spoke M steering wheel must surely be one of the best in the world. The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel straight six is a strong engine, with a slight refinement improvement over the four and a big jump in performance. And then there’s the triple-turbo M50d brute with its much meatier induction note.

A common sentiment was that the M50d’s incredible engine really belonged in a 1600kg sports sedan, not a two-tonne Toorak tractor. And beyond its superb engine, the M50d’s additional value appears questionable. It handles, as does the 30d on M Adaptive suspension, but it also feels its bulk when driven hard. Wearing such big wheels, X5’s ride is only acceptable with the suspension in Comfort mode, while tyre noise is excessive.

At base level, you really can see the practical abilities of an X5. But as ambitions climb and the price rises, its breadth of talent seems to diminish in equal measure.

BODY
Type  5-door wagon, 5-7 seats
Boot capacity  650 litres
Weight  1995-2190kg

DRIVETRAIN

Layout
front engine (north-south), RWD/AWD

Engines
1995cc 4cyl turbo-diesel (160kW/450Nm);
2993cc 6cyl turbo-diesel (190kW/560Nm);
2993cc 6cyl twin-turbo-diesel (230kW/630Nm);
2993cc 6cyl triple-turbo-diesel (280kW/740Nm);
2979cc 6cyl turbo (225kW/400Nm);
4395cc V8 twin-turbo (330kW/650Nm)

Transmission 8-speed automatic

CHASSIS

Tyres 255/55R18 – 315/35R20
ADR81 fuel consumption 5.8-10.5L/100km

Greenhouse emissions 152-244g/km
Collision mitigation n/a
Crash rating 5-star (Euro NCAP)
Prices $83,900 – $148,400