BMW X5 Review 2024

The BMW X5 is one of the original 'soft roaders', or SUVs. Along with less expensive models such as the Toyota RAV4, it took the favoured features of proper off-roaders - such as a high driving position and rugged styling - but applied them to a more road-biased model. 

It's a formula that has proven very successful in the last two decades. And while 4x4 enthusiasts still deride it for not being a 'proper' mud-plugger, its popularity shows that buyers don't always need the ability to climb every mountain and ford every stream - just something that can handle potholed driveways and farm tracks if needs be. 

The latest BMW X5 competes with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLE, Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90. It's now in its fourth generation with a new platform (shared with the larger BMW X7) and gets modest styling updates.

We'll address those styling updates first, as you could be forgiven for thinking the latest X5 looks quite a bit like its predecessor. But those larger front kidney grilles make it appear almost as aggressive as the new X7 (almost), while the rear bears more than a passing resemblance to the smaller BMW X1.

It's huge, too - longer, wider and higher than the old model, meaning there's all the interior space a modern family could possibly want. That includes 645 litres of boot space, while dropping the 40:20:40 split rear seats increases that to 1860 litres. It almost makes the X7 seem unnecessary.

A split rear tailgate aids access, while the optional Comfort Access feature allows you to open both sections hands-free. Even the boot floor drops electrically when required to increase space, while an optional extra pair of seats can be fitted in the boot.

Of course, BMW's once-flagship SUV isn't short of technology. Adaptive cruise will now sit in stationary traffic for up to 30 seconds before the driver has to nudge the accelerator to move forward, while the new Lane Change Assistant will hold the steering in your lane until you indicate to initiate a lane change.

There's even a Reversing Assistant, which controls the steering to manouvre the X5 back along a path recently negotiated forwards. It can retain the steering movements made during the car's last forward manouvre for long periods, meaning the system can reverse the new X5 out of a parking position that it drove into forwards the day before.

Buyers can choose from a variety of petrol and diesel engines, with a plug-in hybrid model also available. 

Most buyers will opt for the smooth six-cylinder xDrive30d diesel, which is our choice of the range. It offers plentiful performance, reaching 62mph in 6.5 seconds, while returning respectable fuel economy. If that performance isn't plentiful enough, there's always the 40d, which is the same engine with an extra turbocharger. 

One the petrol side, there's the xDrive 40i, which uses a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six and is pretty punchy, but substantially less economical.

Topping the 'normal' X5's range is the M50i performance model, with a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 and 523PS. Unsurprisingly, it tips the scale more towards out and out pace and away from fuel economy. Prior to 2020 there was a quad-turbo M50d diesel version that better blended those traits, but it's now been phased out. And finally, there's the rather bonkers, 625PS X5 M, if that's your sort of thing.  

No matter which engine you choose, all X5 variants are good to drive. It's a big car, but while you'd struggle to call it agile, it's remarkably composed for something so big and heavy. Technology makes it easy to drive around town, too, and there's not much on the market that'll provide a more relaxing drive on the motorway.

The interior feels as upmarket as you'd expect from a BMW, although there are more buttons than you'd find in rivals. This might take a bit of getting used to and means the cabin looks a bit cluttered.

Our biggest grievance with the X5 used to be BMW's refusal to offer Android Auto - which says a lot about how good the car is. Happily, BMW rectified that in 2020, installing it over-the-air on every new X5. Otherwise, it's great to drive, with a premium interior and plenty of space for the family, although you certainly pay for that privilege. 

Looking for a second opinion? Read heycar's BMW X5 review.

The BMW X5 makes you feel like the lord of the manor, as a luxury SUV should. You sit high up, in big comfortable seats with an excellent view of the road ahead.

There's also plenty of space regardless of where you're sitting - in the first two rows at least. Front seat passengers have all the head and legroom they could possibly want, while there's plenty of (electric) adjustment in the seats and steering wheel.

Things are good in the back, too - access is easy (you can drop the air suspension if you wish), with wide opening doors unhindered by the rear wheel arches. Two adults will be very comfortable in the rear, while three can squeeze in without too much compromise. 

There's also an optional third row of seats, should you occasionally need to transport extra passengers. Don't go comparing them to the third row in a Volvo XC90 or Land Rover Discovery, however: they're lacking in both head and legroom and are only really suitable for children, or small adults for really short journeys. 

The boot is big, as you'd expect - with an electrically deployable split tailgate aiding loading and also giving you a handy seat to rest on. Obviously the car's height does make things slightly tricky if you're loading heavy items, but the boot's wide opening is useful and the seats drop easily to provide 1870 litres of luggage space.

We've become used to BMWs feeling like quality products, and gone are the days where its models were sparsely equipped as standard. Every X5 is generously equipped as standard, meaning there's not a huge need to move up to higher grades. 

Regardless, material quality and fit and finish is excellent. Best in class, in fact. There's loads of dense, plush-feeling soft-touch trim all over the dash and doors, while the aluminium trim is actually that, not just plastic. All of the switchgear feels expensive in its damping, and even in the rear you'll struggle to find scratchy plastics anywhere. 

It used to be that Audi's cabins ruled the roost for perceived quality. But in the case of the X5, it's a nicer place to sit than the Q7 on account of its more modern design and plusher finishes. 

BMW hasn't fully embraced the latest trend to cram every conceivable feature into the infotainment system. That means there are buttons, and quite a few of them. The ability to control things like the climate control without having to dive into sub menus on the infotainment screen is a bonus, but it can take a little time to get used to where everything is.

There's also a huge 12.3-inch screen sitting in the centre of the dash, operated by a rotary controller located between the front seats. BMW's Operating System 7.0 - to give it its full name - is a user-friendly system to use, although sitting down with the manual (or downloading BMW's app onto your phone) will help you get the best from it.

If you want to bypass the complicated system by using your phone, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every model. That wasn't always to be the case: BMW did intend to force Carplay users to pay an annual subscription to use it after 12 months, but it reversed that decision in 2019. Similarly, Android Auto wasn't offered on BMWs until 2020, when it retroactively installed it on BMW models using the latest operating system, such as the X5. 

There are some cool features of BMW's system, though. We like the gesture control, which lets you perform simple tasks like turning the volume up and down and skipping tracks through a wave of your hand.

It actually works quite well, but be prepared to look a bit silly if you're sat in traffic, and sometimes you can activate it without wanting to. There's also the voice control feature which works similar to Amazon's Alexa or, indeed, Mercedes-Benz's 'Hey Mercedes' system.

As of 2022, the BMW X5 starts from £61,995 for the xDrive30d diesel in xLine trim. Equipment levels are good as standard, though, so really most buyers shouldn't need to go beyond this. 

Upgrading the engine is actually reasonable in terms of price. To step up from the 30d to the 40d model, for example, is about £3,000, while switching to petrol for the 40i will cost £2,500. 

The xDrive 45e hybrid starts from £67,810, which is more on paper than a Volvo XC90 T8. You'll make that back if you do the mileage (and charge the battery), while business users will have favourable Benefit-in-Kind tax rates. 

The M50i model starts at £80,225, which sounds like a lot. However, you can spend far more than that, easily taking the price over six figures with options. An Audi SQ7 is slightly cheaper to buy, but not quite as well equipped. 

Stepping up to M Sport trim for any X5 adds £3,500, which you may or may not deem worth it given the majority of the kit upgrades are aesthetic. 

No premium, large combustion-engined SUV is cheap to run, and it that respect the X5 is broadly the same as its main competitors. 

The most efficient model on paper is, of course, the xDrive 45e plug-in hybrid. BMW quotes an incredible figure of 235mpg, with CO2 emissions as low as 27g/km. That of course benefits your tax bill, particularly as a business user. 

In reality, how much it costs to run depends entirely on your usage. If you run it without charging the battery, it's unlikely to be much more efficient than the 40i petrol. Really, you'll want to be plugging it in every day to make the most of the fuel savings, and with a claimed range of 54 miles most should be able to commute without using a drop of fuel. 

The xDrive 30d diesel is an excellent all-rounder. Not only is it the cheapest to buy, it'll officially manage over 40mpg. As will the more powerful 40d, although if you make frequent use of the extra performance expect to see a bigger drop. 

The brilliance of the diesels largely makes the petrols look pointless, and nowhere is that more apparent than in fuel economy terms. For examples, the xDrive 40i petrol officially manages 10mpg less than the 40d diesel. The V8-powered M50i? That's quoted as just 24mpg, but our experience tells us even that is a difficult figure to reach. 

If you're used to smaller cars, the BMW X5 might feel slightly intimidating at first. It's a big car, but one that you'll soon get used to. Visibility is good and there's plenty of technology to make life easier, with Parking Assistant standard across the range with a rearview camera. The Parking Assistant Plus, with its remote 3D view and surround view systems, is a worthwhile option as part of the technology pack.

On the motorway, the BMW X5 is a very serene cruiser, with little in the way of noise from outside the car. The optional acoustic side glass makes it even quieter. One frustrating thing is that, on all engines, fake engine noise is played through the speakers. It's subtle, but there, and more pronounced in Sport mode. This seems unnecessary in a car that few people will buy for a sporty driving experience.

Having said that, the X5 drives surprisingly well. It doesn't lean too much in corners given its height and weight, and the steering offers plenty of feedback. No, it doesn't quite manage to behave exactly like a BMW 5 Series in this department, but the DNA is evident. 

The M50i and (now discontinued) M50d models come with an M Sport differential which helps the X5 feel more agile, but lesser models handle perfectly well for an SUV of this size. They also features Adaptive M suspension, while the rest of the range comes with adaptive two-axle air suspension - although air is still optional on those cars. 

The standard set-up provides a lovely, cosseting ride, while the Adaptive M system errs on the side of too firm if you select the sport driving mode - not helped, of course, by the M50d's standard 22-inch alloy wheels that thump into large potholes. 

Overall, the X5 remains the benchmark in this sector in terms of all-round ability. It's important to note, though, that if you value comfort as well as off-road capability above all else, the Land Rover Discovery is a better bet. 

The majority of buyers will opt for the xDrive30d - and that's a good thing, as it combines the perfect mix of performance and economy. With 265PS and a 0-62mph time of 6.5 seconds, it's quick enough for most buyers and the eight-speed automatic gearbox is excellent.

Press down on the accelerator and it will readily drop down a gear or two in eagerness for an overtake, while you can take control using the steering wheel paddles should you wish to do so (we rarely felt the need). The smooth six-cylinder unit even makes a half decent noise for a diesel engine, and 35mpg in the real world is easily achieveable. We've not driven the xDrive40d model, but as it's effectively the same engine with an additional turbocharger we'd expect it to be an excellent all-rounder - with some useful extra urge in reserve. It puts out 313PS, and 0-62mph is dispatched in 5.9 seconds. 

The entry-level xDrive40i petrol is also a six-cylinder (no four-cylinders here), and also turbocharged. Its 340PS seems like a healthy boost over the diesels, as does its 0-62mph time of 5.5 seconds. But with significantly less torque it doesn't pick up from low revs quite as effectively as the diesels, meaning it doesn't always feel as effortless. It's also thirstier - expect 28mpg to be as good as it gets in mixed driving. 

In order to really get the best of both worlds in this respect, the 394PS xDrive45e plug-in hybrid is a great choice. Yes, it's a good deal heavier than the pure petrol model, but the X5 is a heavy car anyway, and the hybrid's 113PS electric motor combined with a healthy 24kWh battery means BMW promises an all-electric range of over 50 miles. 

What's more, the hybrid's performance is similar on paper to the 40i. But because its electric motors deliver instant punch to compliment the engine, it feels gutsier from low revs. Just don't expect to get anywhere near the triple-digit MPG figures BMW is quoting if you're not able to regularly charge up the battery. 

Topping out the X5's engine range used to be the torque-monster M50d diesel, with its quad turbo setup. However, that engine has been discontinued, while an M50i petrol has recently joined the range with a thumping 523PS 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8. It's a fantastic engine, giving the X5 near sports saloon pace while not sacrificing effortless cruising manners. It is, however, expensive to buy and expensive to fuel - low 20s MPG is to be expected even at a cruise.  

The BMW X5 joins pretty much all of its rivals with a five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating. It scored highly across the board, although the Volvo XC90 pips it for adult and child occupant protection. 

As you'd expect it comes with a full complement of airbags, including driver's knee and side impact protection. However, those airbags don't protect the optional third row of seats, as they do on other competitors where seven seats are standard. 

There's no shortage of active safety equipment as standard, though, including lane departure warning, speed limit assist (that reduces your speed when the limit changes, but can be overriden) and autonomous emergency braking that can detect pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars. 

There's also an array of cameras and sensors around the car to assist in parking manoeuvres, automatic bay and parallel parking and a 'reversing assistant'. This clever piece of tech memorises the steering inputs you make to pull into a parking space, and can memorise them for days so that when you need to reverse out of the space, it can simply perform those inputs in reverse leaving you simply to operate the throttle and brake. 

Every version of the BMW X5 can tow a weight up to 2,700kg, which is sufficient for most large caravans or trailers. It's a figure that's on a par with the Audi Q7, and beats the Volvo XC90's lowest figure. 

However, the top-spec diesel versions of the X5 can tow 3.5 tonnes, which again matches the higher figure of the Audi Q7 and makes the X5 as good as anything else in its class for towing.