2005 BMW X5 Preview

Hot Handler

Like its competitors the Acura MDX and the Lexus RX 300, BMW's X5 signals the arrival of a new breed of car.

Should You Buy This Car? 

In the back seats of several SUVs, and even in some cars, you can't lower the windows completely. Carmakers claim that's to protect the little ones, but in fact it's just a shortcut that enables them to save manufacturing costs. In the X5, however, the rear windows do descend completely -- and of course the driver can shut off the levers to save the little ones from harm. We say bravo, since sometimes you might take other adults to dinner and they might enjoy the basic right of natural airflow as much as front-seaters.

Seriously, though, the X5 is a luxury car on stilts. Sure, it comes with special hill descent gear that slows it down on steep grades. Yes, it has the aforementioned traction and stability control in addition to all-wheel drive. But these systems work better on pavement than off, since the two control units work by grabbing the brakes on wheels that slip, and this can put hellish wear on the brakes if you decide to, say, climb a mile-long, 30-degree fire road. Will you decide to? We doubt it. This car, like so many SUVs, thrives on blacktop.

Finally, with only 16 square feet of cargo capacity behind the second row of seats, we'd have second thoughts. Flip those seats forward (and they do fold completely flat), and you get 54 square feet of cargo capacity, but BMW's own $37,845 525i Sportwagon -- a wonderfully capable car in its own right -- has double that cargo room with its back seats in use, and 10 more feet of room with them folded. But the Sportwagon doesn't have all-wheel drive.

A car that does get AWD is Audi's $41,900 Allroad wagon, which also has great ground clearance, is faster than the BMW X5, and has 36 cubic feet of cargo space with its back seats up, 73 cubic feet with them flipped forward. In other words, the Allroad is more like the SUV of the future, and the X5 is a bridge from what was to what will be.

If you must have the X5 -- and it's truly a great-handling vehicle -- we say get the less expensive $39,470 model that comes with a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine. It's only slightly slower, gets better gas mileage (15 city/20 highway vs. 13 city/17 highway for the V-8) and we still like the finish quality and handling more than that of the $35,945 Mercedes-Benz ML320. Versus the V-8 propelled $44,200 Benz ML430? That's a closer race, the results of which you'll read in Test Drives soon.