Test drive BMW X5 E53 2000 - 2003 SUV

Nicht Lastwagen

SUV (SUV) in American perception is Truck. Hearing this, the German will immediately imagine Lastwagen - a truck. Therefore, the BMW AG, having released the X5 SUV for the American market, persistently explains to its compatriots: NICHT LASTWAGEN, this is not a truck. But not SUV: X5 - the car is not utilitarian at all. The company came up with a new abbreviation for him - Sav, Sport Activity Vehicle. And the subtleties here are not only language ...
 
Eh, it’s good to live in the Russian country ... ”I thought when I saw the BMW X5 in Moscow. The first sports-active BMW X5 came off the conveyor of the plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, only on September 1, 1999, the car entered the sale of the car on December 21. The car had not yet managed to really light up in Europe, and here you are on the observation deck on the Sparrow Hills, surrounded by sellers of souvenirs and just onlookers (some specially drove up to better consider a curiosity). Frankly, I would also join them if I had no advantages - the car keys ... In Russia, there were always enterprising people who could get anything and from wherever. So it happened this time. The car was brought from Canada, where it, in turn, got from the United States.
 
The first hybrid (SUV-minive-universal with the behavior of a car), which appeared on the American market, was (with a certain stretch) Mercedes M-class. It was followed by the Lexus RX300, which quickly became the most popular car of the brand. BMW X5 was a little late. However, a little delay in reception is considered a sign of a good tone. ALLROD, a hybrid from Audi, lagged behind much more, not to mention the nameless and not yet born brainchild of the joint efforts of Volkswagen and Porsche.
 
The opinion is that the X5 is built on the five -platform (perhaps the number 5 in the title and the similarity of many design elements). In fact - nothing like that. According to the BMW language, the letter X indicates all -wheel drive, and the number 5 is only that the car in size and cost refers to the middle category (again, by the standards of the BMW).
 
The impression of X5 makes a strong one: the photographer could not work normally - numerous glazing interfered. The car looks very fresh and stylish, while they did without unnecessary bells and whistles. In my opinion, designers and marketers of BMW managed to extract a lesson from the story with Mercedes M -class - the prototype produced a splash at international automobile exhibitions, and the serial car was quite banal.
 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 4/2000]