BMW X5 review

In terms of price, the BMW X5 sits roughly mid-way between the cheaper Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90 and the costlier Land Rover Discovery. And, of course, you still have to pay extra if you want seven seats – bringing its price more into line with that of the Discovery, a car that will hold its value better.

However, the X5 fights back with impressive fuel consumption figures. The diesel 30d promises 47.0mpg, while even the petrol 40i hits 33.2mpg. In both cases, it blows the Land Rover Discovery into the weeds. That said, the Volvo XC90 is fractionally more economical in both fuels’ cases – although the difference is negligible.

Lower CO2 emissions than many rivals might make you think the X5 will be cheap as a company car, but in fact the high P11D value means otherwise. Company car tax will cost you more on the X5 than it will on the equivalent Q7 or XC90, although it will at least come in cheaper than the Discovery.

Choose the 30d or 40i and you’ll have a choice of two trims: xLine and M Sport. The former gives you leather seats, heated front seats, a feature-packed infotainment system, LED headlights and ambient interior lighting.

If you upgrade to M Sport, you get sportier body styling, larger alloy wheels, run-flat tyres and gloss black inserts instead of polished metal. We don’t think these fripperies make it worth the extra cost over the already high-spec xLine, though.

Upgrade to the top-of-the-range M50d, however, and there’s no trim choice. The M50d is effectively based on the M Sport but adds a bespoke limited-slip differential to increase traction in corners, adaptive dampers with steel springs, in place of the air suspension, a sports exhaust system, a upgraded sound system and even larger wheels.

We can’t say for sure how reliable the X5 will be, because we don’t yet have any reliability data for this fourth-generation version. However, what we do know is that BMW came 16th out of 31 manufacturers in our latest survey – almost exactly mid-table. That doesn’t quite tell the whole story, though, because BMW was the highest-placed premium manufacturer; Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes and Volvo all finished beneath it. Against its chief rivals, then, the signs are that the X5 should perform pretty well.

The X5 comes with a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty, which also covers the car’s paintwork for three years and corrosion for 12 years. That’s about the same as most of its rivals, although the Lexus RX offers an even longer warranty.

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The BMW X5 hasn’t yet been crash tested by Euro NCAP, but we do know a front collision warning with automatic emergency braking is fitted as standard to UK-spec cars. We also know that the side airbags won’t reach back into the rear compartment for third-row passengers as they do in the Audi Q7.

You’ll be able to upgrade your X5 with an optional package of driver aids, including features such as a system that can swerve to avoid an obstacle in the road, one that detects traffic crossing behind you as you’re reversing out onto a road and a camera that detects the speed limit and adjusts your speed accordingly.

Again, we’ve yet to confirm the security features that’ll be fitted to the X5 as standard, and because it hasn’t yet been rated by Thatcham, neither can we tell you how effective they are. However, it’s safe to assume it’ll be up to scratch compared with its rivals.

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