Torque in the town, but shrill in the bush
The new BMW X5's lower stance and new smooth underbody panels may help on-road handling and aerodynamic efficiency, but they further impair off-road performance, already shaky in the X5's previous incarnation.
In this respect, the car isn't a patch on the Range Rover Sport or Porsche Cayenne. A full-time 4WD, it has the bonus of traction control and hill-descent control, but these electronic aids are poor substitutes for decent clearance, wheel travel and reduction gearing when driven off-road.
Even though its 4WD ability seems shrill, at least on dirt roads in Australia the X5 sings. For grip, responsiveness and driving pleasure it's a class leader. Set up for a corner, turn in with the tactile steering and let the chassis do its thing. Even mid-corner corrections are dispatched without any fluster, as are road imperfections. The ride is supple on the run-flat tyres, a surprise given their harshness in other BMWs. But dirt road corrugations will get the cabin booming.
If you go as far as you can on a punctured run-flat tyre (BMW says about 150km with a full load on board at 80km/h), a space-saver spare wheel is installed under the load compartment (replaced by a can of puncture sealer and an air compressor in the seven-seat model). In town, the X5 is adroit, despite its size. It won't sip fuel or park as easily as the Lexus RX400h, but it's a better proposition than the bulbous Cayenne. Its reversing camera, with lines marked on screen to help you gauge angles and distance, is a boon in the urban jungle.
