Autocar - First for car news and reviews

BMW has given the X5 a mid-life facelift shortly before the model faces increased competition from the new VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne, which will be revealed within three weeks.

The exterior changes are low-key; there’s a new front bumper with larger air ducts to cool the engine, altered headlamps and tail-lights, and a deeper rear bumper.

See the official BMW X5 pics

Insid...Read the full article

The X5 is the one BMW I actually like. I think it looks quite nice - the rest all look the same.

Although I preferred the fog lamps on the old one. They looked better toward the edge of the bumper rather than toward the middle (sort of Ford S-Max style).

The 4.0d sounds nice :) I wonder what the specs on that are?

It kinda makes it look more like X6... Which is in no way a good thing. However, the changes are barely noticeable so it's not that bad. Still among the prettiest SUVs (not that that is much of an achievement considering how the rest of them look like).

 They look quite good on the road, they have alot of road presense but thats down to its sheer size and plush cabins. The pics of the X5  always look so heavy- a big doorstopper of a thing. Id prefer an xdrive 5 Series Estate. Hope they plan on making the new 5er AWD models available in rhd

When I saw the Autocar headline 'new BMW X5' I thought it really was new and not a facelift. Jeez have I lowered my expectations that much when it come's to styling a 'new' car.

fhp11:

The 4.0d sounds nice :) I wonder what the specs on that are?

If I remember frkm the 740d, 302HP and 443 LP FT of Torque.

I'm not joking, when I glimpsed this out the corner of my eye I thought it was some boring old VW Golf. I actually rate the X5 (and the Golf for that matter), but judging by the cars that are offered these days, the Financial Depresion is clearly psychological as well.

Just look at the range of so-called 'colours' that are offered by car manufacturers now - grey, silver, grey, black, off-white, grey, grey-green, silver-grey, dark grey, blue-grey, silver-blue, and, the old happy favourite, grey. Ever get the impression that people aren't feeling that joyful?

Dear BMW, (and pretty much every other manufacturer apart from Maserati), as you seem to have forgoten, here is a reminder of what colour means:

 

Hats off to Maserati for still being alive. Also, surprise credit goes to Lexus for their LF-A - the interior is a milestone, as it is the first really good Japanese interior, and better than Porsche (or anything else from Germany).

http://www.lexus-lfa.com/configurator_v2/Configurator_v2_en.html

Does anyone know any other major manufacturers that aren't in need of Prozac?

Oh dear, oh dear, more design/styling by Xerox..................

 

Does anybody know the German for "Vive la difference!"

The design gurus at BMW have excelled themselves: it looks more vile and repugnant than the previous model.  Good work chaps.

DKW:

Just look at the range of so-called 'colours' that are offered by car manufacturers now - grey, silver, grey, black, off-white, grey, grey-green, silver-grey, dark grey, blue-grey, silver-blue, and, the old happy favourite, grey. Ever get the impression that people aren't feeling that joyful?

 

They used to say that in a recession people would buy brighter coloured cars (maybe to cheer themselves up), whilst when things were going well and people were more contented they went for the more subdued shades. Don't know if this still holds true though.

I've been looking into getting a new Golf, but the colour choice is SO dull, just greys, shades of grey, silvers or black. Even the metallic red is a toned down shade. The salesman just shrugged and said "well its a Volkswagen"

Metrosexuals of the world unite!

Awful.

 BMW confuses me these days. Are they trying to tone themselves down, sober themselves up to reflect our economic insecurities? I have no idea..I'm just starting to become very tired of their interiors. Where's the fun? I'm not talking playmobil buttons and orange seats, but this incessant slip-on grey-shoe tonality is just depressing.