Does the latest iteration of BMW’s
large SUV still have the X factor? Over the next nine months, we’re going to
find out
Eight years ago I ran a Volvo XC90 for a
year, and it is fair to say the experiment didn’t really work. Actually, it
worked brilliantly for two of the four of us, because my then very young
children loved sitting high and being able to see out. But it made my wife feel
seasick and me simply resentful of almost every other road user, who was, quite
clearly, having far more fun than me. It proved what I had always suspected: I
was not an SUV kind of guy and never had been.
But never will be? That’s a different
question. Eight years is a long time in the life of a young family. My
daughters are no longer small children but dynamic, demanding and far closer to
young women than the little girls they were in my Volvo days. One rows, the
other runs, and both generate more clobber in need of carrying than I could
have possibly imagined back in 2006.
The
X5 is spacious, comfortable and well-appointed
The SUV world has almost moved on by the
same extent itself over those same eight years. Staggeringly, the XC90 is only
now starting its death throes, but the rest of the class has changed beyond
recognition, bringing levels of sophistication, efficiency and dynamism
undreamt of when Tony Blair was prime minister.
So perhaps it is now time to revisit a
category of car I know probably fits my family life better than any other at
this moment in time. If it can keep my children as happy now as the XC90 did
then, while no longer making me envious of my fellow road user, maybe I can
reach an acceptance with the type that would never have been agreeable with me
back then.
The
driving position is not as elevated as some
What better guinea pig for this experiment
than BMW’s new X5? A Range Rover Sport, perhaps, but nothing else. The Porsche
Cayenne and Mercedes ML rule themselves out because they lack a third-row
seating option, a Discovery and GL because of their colossal size and weight.
However well suited to family needs this car may be, the fact is that most of
the time I will be alone at its wheel and want it to give something back more
appetising than the stolid diet of hopeless body roll and helpless understeer
that I still clearly recall as the hallmarks of energetic progress in the
Volvo.
It arrived last week, and the first thing I
should say is that I had no choice over the colour; if I had, I’d have chosen
anything other than the Mineral White in which it is clothed. On the other
hand, the Mocha nappa leather interior (part of the ‘Pure Experience Interior’
package) looks and feels fabulous. I like the 20in rims, though perhaps not
enough to spend an additional $2,020 on them. Also, can someone explain why a
3.0-litre diesel SUV needs to carry 315-section rear tyres — wider boots than
those fitted to the rear of the 600bhp Ferrari 458 Speciale? I guess they look
quite cool, but I’m sure they play havoc with rolling resistance and fuel
consumption.
The
X5 is typically generous with its legroom in the front, but headroom is only
average for a large SUV
The two life-changing extras are third-row
seating ($1,665) and that $1,590 electric tow hook hidden out of sight beneath
the rear bumper. It couldn’t matter less that the rearmost seats are cramped,
because compared to the bus, my children’s friends will regard them as the lap
of luxury. As for the tow bar, I am a smallholder in my spare time, so the X5 will
be made to work for its living, collecting wood and hay and taking my livestock
to their final destination in more comfort than their predecessors enjoyed,
hooked up to the back of my 33-year-old Land Rover.
It’s early days yet, but initial
impressions are positive, insofar as it rides and handles far better than
expected. The only shock has been the fuel consumption. After achieving 40mpg
with the Mercedes-Benz CLS350 CDI Shooting Brake I last ran on these pages, the
X5’s typical 30-32mpg is a bit of a shock. I guess that’s only to be expected
from a car of this size, shape and weight. And it’s better than the Volvo
managed. Progress indeed.
Split
tailgate is very practical and the top portion is now electrically powered
And it’s already passed the most important
test of all: when I emerge from my house bleary eyed at 4.30am to catch another
red eye from Heathrow, I am pleased to see it there waiting to take me there.
With the best will in the world, this is something I never felt about the
Volvo.
