BMW's first SUV
“Driven by the US market’s belief that ‘anything’ is not just possible but deeply desirable, crossover vehicles that blend two or more disparate designs into a slightly bizarre new entity are coming to a showroom near you soon,” our road test of BMW’s first-ever SUV opened prophetically.
However, if anything could do ‘anything’, surely it was a blend of the upcoming L322 Range Rover and excellent E39 BMW 5 Series?
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“A little tubby the BMW X5 might be, but it’s considerably more than a little pokey,” we said. That was no revelation given it had a 286bhp 4.4-litre V8, but it was a surprise that “the sensations are almost exclusively sporting – nowhere more so than when hustling it along demanding twisty blacktop.
“It doesn’t just avoid the sloppy responses of many off-roaders; it also has sharper communication between steering and road than all of BMW’s V8 saloons bar the BMW M5.
“Also unprecedented for this class of vehicle is the truly modest body roll, the topdrawer suspension control and the neck-twanging Tarmac grip.” It’s no wonder the X5 set the sales charts alight, giving rise to endless rivals and chunky BMWs.
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Orginal X5 shape is probably the best portionally, chunky and purposeful looking!