BMW X5 review

You could be forgiven for wondering why this iteration of the BMW X5, first introduced in 2007, doesn’t look significantly different from its predecessor. Did Munich miss a trick by not giving it a fresher look?
But consider this: one in three X5 owners say they won’t think of buying anything else when it comes to replacing their current car. So there was no radical departure here, just a car that’s slightly bigger, more powerful, more luxurious and more refined than the one it replaced.

The original X5 was a departure for BMW when it was ushered in back in 2000, but the company’s claims that it invented the segment are a bit disingenuous, given that Mercedes launched the ML two years previously.
The ML was nowhere near as good on the road as the BMW, though, and the X5 has remained the class leader in this respect.
Initially only petrol engines were offered, but a diesel went on sale in 2001 and these days most of the UK sales are of cars equipped with oilburning engines.