2023 BMW X5 really is an ocean liner of a vehicle that treats potholes and rotten roads with the contempt they deserve. It has one of the smoothest rides of any vehicle I have driven and just eats up the miles. I have the version with pretty much every extra possible and the high end leather seats are luxurious. It’s a huge car with a very wide turning circle so it’s fortunate that the wrap around cameras are so good. The one main drawback is of course the gas consumption, which isn’t great, and is downright appalling in towns. Then again, the car weighs 2,550 kg, so what do you expect? For longer drives, as long as you are careful, you can get 10 km to the litre, which isn’t terrible for a vehicle of this size. The other challenge are the staggered wheels which are very very expensive. But overall I love this car.
The car itself is wonderfully designed, panoramic room, accent lighting that will let you pretend you’re in your own personal limo, etc. However, the mild hybrid system was a a bit of a bummer. Disclaimer, I went on a BMW driving experience years ago, where they challenged us to push the cars to their limit. So naturally I wanted to see what this had baby could do in corners. Unfortunately even in sport mode the moment you tap the brake going into a intersection it can’t transition the engine to accelerate into the turn. Instead the car kind of feels like it’s stalling a bit mid way into the turn. It was a bit of a bummer but you know I guess we have to save every drop of gas possible. The car just isn’t as ultimate as it used to be.
Overall, it’s a nice car, BUT, my 2022 X5 M40i, with 23,000 miles on it, NEVER wrecked, kept in garage, has a mind if its own. Driving 55mph without cruise control, sometimes stops responding to gas pedal—at all! Nope. It will slow down to exactly 46 mph, and that’s it. Frantic gas pedal use is disregarded for several minutes. Gas pedal goes all the way to the floorboard, multiple times. No response. Suddenly, the car leaps forward, engine reverse up and screaming like a race car! Fortunately, the brakes worked fine, but this repeated itself for an hour-long drive. Arrived at destination. Turned Car off. Few hours later, took car to dealer. No problem, car was fine, except once. Headed to dealer to check car. I started to change lanes, I first put on turn signal, but when I asked for a lane change, the car resisted me and I had to use a fair amount of muscle to force the lane change! What it I had needed to urgently change lanes? Dealer found nothing. Now, I don’t trust the car.
MSRP Range: $61,600 – $85,400
