BMW X5 M50d: With great power…

By Miles Downard

The BMW X5 has always been a bit garish in my opinion. It’s big, brash and dominates its spot on the tarmac with a presence that few other cars can match. That appeals to a lot of people clearly, considering how many of them are on our roads.

Now there’s a new one and I was fortunate enough to test it for a week. It was no less the 50d version, the most powerful diesel available from BMW and it came with all the trinkets. So I was primed and ready for a week of the brashist motoring available.

On the outside

The X5 has always been an imposing thing and you can be sure nothing has changed on that front. Except that it’s now as big as it’s ever been at over 5m long and some 2m wide. It’s on the verge of being impractical in parking lots or narrow streets, so one can only imagine what driving an X7 must be like.

Aside from the whopping great front grille, something of a trend in the new BMW design language, I actually think the X5 is a handsome car. It’s clean lines and rather square profile appeal to me.

On the inside

First thing I noticed when hopping inside this X5 was the very bling gear knob. I mean it’s a lump of crystal with an X5 badge etched below the surface. If that doesn’t say garish I don’t know what. But then you soon notice it’s all about opulence inside this range topping X5 50d, with shiny bits all over the place, swathes of leather and tech, lots of tech. The list is long but some stand out features are; wireless phone charging, a fully digital dashboard cluster and a myriad of driver assist programs like active cruise control and lane control assist.

Read also: BMW X3 30d: Big, brutish diesel power

Behind the wheel

This is where BMW really have gone over the top, but at least it’s from an engineering standpoint. The 50d variant gets a 3.0 turbo diesel, which sounds fairly run of the mill until you realise this thing has four turbochargers. Then you start to wonder, what on earth could that be for? Well it’s so that you can propel this 2.3+ ton monster to warp speed in no time, while towing a small planet. I mean it has 294kW which is near what you get from a V8 Mustang and 760 torques, which is the sort of numbers tug boats play with.

Obviously given its blingy nature the 50d comes on ridiculously sized wheels which starts to defeat the point of a high riding SUV, as well as ruining the comfort. This X5 just about gets away with it if you’ve spec’d the optional active ride control and provided you don’t get on to too bad a surface. But if you’re on smooth tarmac it’ll impress with its relatively stable cornering ability and massive grip from the.

Pricing

At R1.5m before options you are actually getting a fair bit of car for the money. But realistically you can’t actually buy a bone standard X5 50d if you head to your nearest showroom. Our test unit had the better part of R300,000 worth of extras.

Accordingly my money would find me in an X5 30d. Yes you don’t get the quad turbo power but trust me, the 30d is plenty powerful enough and R300,000 cheaper on list price. Then you can add the bits you want and still come out at R1.5m.

The Audi Q7 is also worth a mention. Starting at a meagre R1.1m, it stacks up well against the X5 30d spec-for-spec and is still German if that’s the kind of thing you’re after. Or you could wait for a year when the SQ7 makes an appearance, boasting a V8 turbo diesel with 320kW and 900Nm.

Or if you feel like standing out a bit you could end up at a Land Rover dealer. Maybe not quite as flashy but on the flip side you’ll have actual off-road ability in your SUV. Imagine that?

Verdict

The X5 M50d isn’t necessarily the logical choice, as I’ve outlined above. That said, it is an exercise from BMW in what can be achieved with diesel power. Quad turbochargers may sound completely over the top – and BMW has mimicked that over-the-top-ness inside with some of the trinkets – but hey, if your budget allows you to end up with an every day production car the likes of won’t be around for much longer given Europe’s move away from diesel…

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