2014 BMW X5 xDrive35d review notes

BMW’S X5 IS ONE OF THE BEST LUXURY UTILITY VEHICLES IN ITS CLASS

   ROAD TEST EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: The 2014 model year saw the debut of the third-generation X5, but it’s hard to tell if you’re just looking at the exterior. It still has the same basic proportions of the previous X5: short front and rear overhangs, and a boxier overall shape. That’s not a bad thing mind you, because it’s a clean design that should have X5 faithful coming back for more.

   One of the highlights of this X5 generation is that it’s available in rear-wheel drive form in the sDrive35i model. I’m looking forward to trying it out when winter is over. Until then, I’m definitely glad that we have an all-wheel drive xDrive version here inMichigan during January. Better still is that our test car is outfitted with Pirelli winter tires.

   But my favorite part of this particular X5? It’s an xDrive35d, meaning it has BMW’s delicious 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine under the hood. With temps hovering around 11 degrees on a recent morning, the diesel fired up near instantly as I pushed the engine start button. Once you get going, the engine propels all 4,930 pounds of X5 along like a freight train. With 413 lb-ft of torque available from just 1,500 rpm, pulling out into traffic and merging onto expressways is easy. It’s a smooth engine, too, and the ZF eight-speed automatic behaves like its normal self by performing swift and slick shifts.

   For a daily driver, this diesel would be my pick of the X5 lineup. The price premium over the gas 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder is only $1,500; I don’t see the need to upgrade to the xDrive50i and its turbocharged V8 with 445 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque for an extra $12,400 more than the diesel. Above that, there’ll be the even more powerful X5 M. With a crossover like this, I’m probably not going to put it on a track very often (or at all), which makes the diesel the ideal mix between usable performance for the street and economy. The xDrive35i gets an EPA fuel economy rating of 18 mpg city and 27 mpg highway, while the diesel gets 23 mpg city and 31 mpg highway results.

   If you’ve had any experience with previous X5s, the handling dynamics will be familiar. It’s a tight-handling vehicle, considering it weighs nearly 5,000 pounds. The body stays well controlled through handling maneuvers and definitely doesn’t behave like a hunk of metal weighing as much as it does. Push the car in corners and it has a good amount of stick, all things considered. The difference from the previous version is that the ride quality feels like it’s improved. Even with the car set to sport-plus, which tightens up the adaptive M suspension, the ride isn’t that bad. The suspension still damps out small impacts well so occupants aren’t rattled around much. Keep in mind that our car was on winter tires, so that may have contributed some to the more comfortable ride compared to the regular tires. We’ll just have to get another one of these X5s in when the weather clears up.

   Something that I didn’t like much was the active steering system, which is a $1,550 option. In normal mode it’s very lightly weighted, but has a very odd feel to it … it’s off center and there’s a lot of slop and response is slow, but then the system seems to catch up once more angle is dialed in and then abruptly turns. It almost felt like an early arcade racing game where the steering wheel effort doesn’t exactly seem to correlate with what your car on screen was doing. It’s just a disconnected feeling here in the X5, which isn’t exactly comforting. Because of that, I spent my night with the car set in either sport or sport-plus modes -- more like what I’m used to in BMW vehicles.

   The cabin is typical BMW with OK materials and a simple layout that’s intuitive enough. BMW’s iDrive system is here. I’m sure most buyers are quite good at working through it by now. I appreciated the heated seats and heated steering wheel on a recent chilly morning, and the blue accent lighting gives the interior a slick look at night.

   This is a good redesign for the BMW X5 overall even with familiar looking sheetmetal. There’s nothing ground-breaking here, but BMW kept to the X5’s proven formula and improved it just enough, particularly in the ride quality area. I probably would put the X5 ahead of the Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz ML at the moment.

   DIGITAL EDITOR ANDREW STOY: I’ve made no secret of my affection for diesel powertrains, and the BMW straight-six does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. It’s extraordinarily smooth and quiet, with only its lower-pitched mechanical sounds to give it away as anything unusual. Even my one, incredibly minor complaint about modern diesels -- glow plug wait in extreme cold -- appears to have been engineered out. I pressed the X5’s start button on a 4-degree morning and it took less than one second to begin cranking. As we learned with our long-term Mercedes-Benz GL350 Bluetec, a diesel engine is the perfect powertrain for a large utility, and the X5’s is superb.

   I also like the styling refinements on the new X5 -- it’s still a big, chunky SUV, but the incorporation of 4-series side elements add a sense of motion the previous model lacked. The interior, too, is a continuing evolution of an already good design; there’s nothing here that will force current X5 owners to relearn the car, yet there’s ample luxury and a great seating position to entice new buyers wandering into the showroom; it's a package that will appeal to almost everyone.

   Ironically, my single complaint about the X5 is easy to remedy, and doing so will actually save you money: Don’t check the box for active steering. I’m not exactly sure what the system's original intention was, but in practice it’s a weird, artificial overboost to the steering that serves primarily to hit curbs. The amount of steering wheel angle that produces a certain result at the wheels one time may produce a completely different result the next time. It’s a perfect example of engineers forgetting the mantra “just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.” Fortunately, you can decide to avoid it on your X5, and you should.

   Otherwise, it’s hard to fault this big diesel luxury ute. Yes, the price is cringe worthy, but if you’re shopping for an X5 or an ML (nee GLE), you know what you’re getting into -- in this case, one of the best SUVs in the class. 

   EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This diesel engine and eight-speed automatic is an impressive engine/trans combo in this 2014 BMW X5 xDrive35d. I don’t know if it’s the best-selling X5, but it should be. The 3.0-liter six (common-rail) is powerful and torquey. It’s also quiet for a diesel, no clackety clack, no smell. Smooth, too. The car feels quick off the line and has terrific midrange grunt. All the while I got around 23 mpg around town, according to the in-dash number, and I wasn’t light footing it. BMW claims 31 mpg on the highway, and that’s stout.

   The eight-speed is superb; imperceptible shifting not matter how hard I mashed the gas.

   Though it looks quite like the old X5, this new one sure seems to drive better from what I recall. The ride is much more compliant than the old one, about which I complained plenty -- thanks to the runflat tires mostly. This car is still firm, but not enough to make me whine about it anymore. The steering is still a bit too light for my tastes, but responds well. Cruising around in comfort mode is just the ticket.

   The exterior might be derivative, but the interior is quite nice. It feels more upscale than the old one, is handsome and the materials are high end.

   I like it better than I thought I would. The diesel is the way to go, in my opinion.

   Options: M Sport including sport automatic transmission, high-gloss roof rails, multicontour seats, aluminum trim, M steering wheel, aerodynamic kit, shadowline exterior trim, anthracite headliner ($4,600); premium package including comfort access keyless entry, soft-close automatic doors, satellite radio with one-year subscription ($2,700); active steering ($1,550); driver assistance package including rear view camera, head-up display ($1,400); 20-inch M wheels ($950); multicontour seats ($950); adaptive M suspension ($900); cold weather package including heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, retractable headlight washers ($550); glacier silver metallic paint ($550)