BMW X5 M review
At a glance
| Price new | £128,855 - £143,855 |
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| Used prices | £46,472 - £107,115 |
| Road tax cost | £600 |
| Insurance group | 50 |
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| Fuel economy | 20.8 - 21.9 mpg |
| Miles per pound | 3.1 - 3.2 |
| Number of doors | 5 |
| View full specs for a specific version | |
Available fuel types
Petrol
Pros & cons
- Impressively well built
- Spacious rear seats and large boot
- Precious little body roll and lean
- Doesn’t feel that fast against rivals
- Fidgety ride due to massive wheels
- Numb steering unbecoming of a BMW
Overview
BMW’s M cars have been with us for a long time and there’s still plenty of appetite for them. As well as almost all ‘normal’ BMW models benefitting from M Sport packages, the ‘full-fat’ M car has stretched across all kinds of car. The X5 – BMW’s premium family SUV that goes up against the Audi Q7 and Mercedes-Benz GLE – is one of the many models given the M treatment.
The X5 M, then, sits at the top of the food chain of X5 models and BMW has done a proper job of making it a performance car. A bespoke design, exclusive colours, large mixed-size wheels and four exhaust tailpipes all feature as part of the M design treatment. But the more important details are underneath the bodywork; the X5 M is powered by a 625hp 4.4-litre V8 which BMW claims propels it to 62mph in 3.9 seconds. The X5 M’s top speed is also electronically limited to 155mph, but can be raised to 190mph if the M Driver’s Package is included.
There’s not just power at play, though. X5 M models are also equipped with a sports exhaust system for a more tuneful engine note, an M-specific eight-speed automatic gearbox and an all-wheel drive system designed with engineering that can handle that huge amount of power.
Read on for a review from Parkers. If you’d like to find out how we reached our verdict, be sure to head over to our how we test cars page for everything you need to know.
What’s it like inside?
What impresses most is the quality when you first enter. The X5 feels like a real premium product – as you’d expect given its huge price tag – with bespoke M performance seats that offer a lot of adjustment. The side bolsters, thigh support and headrest can all be adjusted – you can really get comfortable as a driver.
Other M-specific details that go beyond the normal X5 include red thumb buttons on the steering wheel that allow you to program your own configurations of the car’s many drive modes, as well as a specific gearknob and some additional buttons on the centre console.
The current X5 might not look as futuristic as a model like the i7 or latest 5 Series inside, but there’s still plenty of technology on board. The latest version of BMW’s infotainment is detailed and sometimes a little tricky to navigate through the menus, but the brand’s welcome iDrive controller in the centre console remains very useful. BMW’s safety aids are smooth and work well, with a lot of one-touch opportunities to switch certain ones off, too.
Rear space is impressive, with adults being able to comfortably sit in the back. The boot is very large, too – it’s no smaller than that on the regular X5, and still features a split tailgate.
What’s it like to drive?
This is a powerful car, and the X5 M lets you know that pretty quickly as the engine jolts the car to life when you start it. But the engine doesn’t get us that excited while out on the road; while it’s a quick car – a four-second 0-62mph time is nothing to be sniffed at – it’s mated to a gearbox that’s a little slow to respond to your inputs and lurches under gearchanges. The noise it makes isn’t all that interesting either; it’s mostly digital inside the cabin.
The steering, too, is a weak point. BMW is famous for making all sorts of cars with direct and communicative steering, but the X5 M’s felt like neither of those qualities – implying that the car can’t really hide its weight here.
That said, the suspension system is very impressive when driving quickly – the X5 M feels very tied down on the road and doesn’t lean in corners despite being such a tall vehicle. The trade-off is a very hard ride no matter what the speed; we drove on all sorts of routes through towns, on country roads or on long-distance drives on the motorway and the X5 M’s sports suspension meant a very compromised ride. It’s fussy, jittering over bumps even in its most soft setting – no doubt not helped by having such large wheels and thin tyres.
What else should I know?
Take one look at the X5 M and you’ll notice just how imposing it is. It’s a big and beastly looking car on the road and, while this is an entirely subjective point, it’s one that unfortunately has a little bit of a negative image attached to it – even within the realm of controversial performance SUVs.
On a more serious note – if you like the idea of the X5 M, BMW also makes a coupe SUV version with the X6 M. Think of it as a non-identical twin with less available boot space.
Read on for the full, expert verdict on the BMW X5 M.
