An outstanding mid-sized SUV

Author's Rating:

Pros: The safest SUV ever, excellent performance, beautiful appearance inside & out, very quiet interior

Cons: gas mileage (though average for this class), cup holders & center console

Handling And Control:

The Bottom Line: 
An excellent choice in this price range.

Author's Review
I've had my X5 for 2 months & 3500 miles. It was expensive, but in the same ballpark as similar upscale SUVs like the Acura MDX, Lexus RX300, and Mercedes SUV. It's the first upscale or "luxury-class" vehicle I've owned, and now that I have one I will never go back.

While I highly recommend the X5, I'm not going to tell you it's better than the MDX or RX300. These vehicles all look different and ride different, but they are all fine vehicles and at this level it's mainly a matter of your personal preference as to whether you prefer the ride or appearance of one over another. Most vehicles in this class feature above average reliability, according to Consumer Reports, except for the Mercedes SUV, whose reliability was rated lower than average.

I picked the X5 over the RX300 and MDX because I liked its looks better, and because it received the top score in the unbiased crash tests done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and an excellent rollover resistance score in government tests.

I recommend the V6 over the V8: The V8 costs $10,000 more (though it comes standard with a few items that are optional on the V6), it gets lousy gas mileage, and the V6 is sufficiently peppy for most people, despite the X5's weight.

The EPA mileage rating is 15 city and 20 highway. I measure my actual mileage for every tank of gas, and I've been getting very close to the 15/20 rating. I've had a few tanks where the mileage was as low as 13.5 (in all city driving), but most of my all-city-driving tanks are very close to 15 mpg. I understand that 15/20 is average for mid-sized SUVs. This is my first SUV, so I'm used to getting higher mileage, and not happy about buying so much gas. On the other hand, some small SUVs, like the V6-equipped Ford Escape, which is much lighter than the X5, do not get any better mileage!!! So the X5 is not so bad.

Like all cars, the X5 has its annoying idiosyncracies. The cup holders are so close together than anything but narrow water bottles will be pushing up against each other.

The center console/arm rest was designed so that the top portion of it can slide forward about 6 inches. I have no idea what function this serves, except possibly to provide elbow support for people with a deformed right arm. But if you accidentally slide it forward while your Grande Latte is in the cup holder, you'll decapitate the cup and make a small mess. Fortunately, it is not prone to such accidents, but it has happened to me once and will probably happen again.

More importantly, BMW made a mistake when it built a cd holder and cell phone holder into the center console's storage space. I would MUCH prefer having a big empty compartment that I could put stuff in. The installed cd holder, in my view & experience, is not very useful, so I keep cds in my own case which I set on the floor of the passenger seat or back seat. The presence of the installed cd holder greatly reduces the available storage space in the center console compartment.

As you can see, my quibbles all concern very minor things. Every car I've owned, including the nicer ones, have all had idiosyncracies. The X5's are minor compared to other vehicles. The important things, though, such as high quality engine, great looks, safety, the X5 has all of this and more.

I don't think you'd go wrong with an X5. But even if you are already inclined toward the X5, I'd encourage you to test drive the MDX and RX300, just to make the best decision possible - it's a lot of money, so you want to be sure you're buying the one that's right for you.

*** But if you do buy it (or any other vehicle), do yourself a favor and DO NOT let the dealer sell you "Permaplate". It is way overpriced and offers you less protection than a good wax. Furthermore, the dealer will tell you that, with Permaplate, you no longer need to wax your vehicle every 6 months, which implies that you will save a lot of money and hassle over the years. But what the dealer doesn't tell you is that, with Permaplate, you are supposed to reapply something to the car's finish every 6 months, which is just as much hassle as waxing it. When I started to realize that I probably made an expensive mistake getting the Permaplate, I emailed the Permaplate company and asked them what sort of evidence they could provide that their product gives better protection than a good wax. They replied to my email, but provided absolutely no evidence or other information that would indicate their product is superior to a good wax job.