• Lots of space for five occupants
• Pair of additional seats optionally available
• Boot space is generous and flexible

The BMW X5 is a big car, and occupant space is on the generous side – both up front and for those sitting behind a tall driver – and there’s plenty of head-, shoulder- and legroom available. As standard the BMW X5 comes with five seats, but practicality can be boosted with the addition of an extra pair in the boot, turning it into a seven-seater.

Access to the rearmost row is improved with the Easy Entry function that sees the middle seats tumble forward, while the handgrip on the pillar allows occupants to pull themselves into the car. Despite the seven-seater option, you can only fit two Isofix child seats – one on each of the outer rear seats.

There’s plenty of storage with usefully large doorbins, a deep cubby under the front armrest, a pair of cupholders at the base of the centre console and a good size of glovebox.

How big is the BMW X5’s boot?

With the seats in place the boot is understandably small, but when the seats are not in use they slide neatly into the floor and out of sight. Order your X5 without the extra pair of seats and boot space is 650 litres with the middle row in place and 1,870 litres when folded.

That’s an increase of 30 and 120 litres respectively over the previous-generation car, and the middle bench splits in a 40/20/40 configuration for maximum flexibility.

The plug-in hybrid X5 has a smaller boot to make way for its batteries, with the space on offer dropping by 150 litres regardless of whether the rear seats are folded or up. By picking the plug-in you also eschew the option of that final row of seats – the BMW X5 xDrive40e is five-seat only.

Which parking assistants are available on the BMW X5?

It’s a big car, but it’s not difficult to park. Surround View cameras offer a wider viewpoint around the vehicle than before. The optional Park Assist is a fully automated service that will park the car for you without any occupant input into the pedals or steering wheel.

BMW X5 (2013-2018) Safety

• Not rated by Euro NCAP
• Host of standard and optional safety kit
• Security of xDrive on almost all X5s

With the previous-generation BMW X5 safety record of five Euro NCAP stars we’d expect this model to match this rating, and better it in terms of individual achievements – but it was not tested. Ignore the host of airbags and impact resistant structures – equipment that is commonplace across the whole car industry – for a moment and you’ll realise the BMW X5 is packing plenty of clever safety kit.

As standard you’ll find xenon lights to improve the driver’s vision in the dark while the rain and light sensors will turn the wipers and headlights on automatically when required.

Should the worst happen, in the event of an accident the BMW Emergency Call system will automatically alert the relevant services to your location. For less serious incidents the system can be manually operated via a button in the overhead console.

Look for options such as Adaptive LED headlights – glare-free automatic main-beam that bends light around other road users rather than directly into their field of vision. You may also find Night Vision with animal and pedestrian recognition, and a full colour head-up display (HUD).

The Driving Assistant Plus package is worth having to enhance safety. It incorporates Lane Departure Warning to keep you in between a lane’s white lines, Forward Collision Warning and City Collision Mitigation to reduce the chance of rear-ending a slower moving or stationary car, and adaptive cruise control with a stop/start function.