Test Drive BMW X5 E53 2003 - 2007 SUV

Winged heir

Updated BMW X5: across the Bat
The new BMW X5 caused an unprecedented excitement in the automotive market. Gray dealers are arranged in Moscow auctions for the sale of first cars, which only managed to sail from America, where the queue also lined up. For the right to possess one of the first SUVs buyers are ready to overpay tens of thousands of dollars. Of course, the client is always right, but to check whether this saying is true in this case, we took a new x5 for a test drive.
The first generation BMW x5 was a very controversial product. The company risked great, offering the market a large car, which looks like an SUV, in essence they are not being. To predict the reaction of consumers was difficult. Moreover, America was chosen by the priority market, where buyers traditionally prefer comfort, not manageableness, and SUVs buy in order to feel safe on city roads, and not a wheel career.
At the beginning of the decade, when the X5 project was launched, BMW was not worried about the best times. From bankruptcy, the company then saved the sale of the Land Rover brand, and the success of the new luxury SUV helped the new takeoff. The Germans managed to get into the market for themselves, they convinced a watery audience that a large and expensive sports type SUV could be an excellent alternative to not only business class sedans, but also a compartment of Grand Tourismo format. Example BMW soon followed Porsche, which brought the idea of \u200b\u200ba sports SUV to Absolute, creating Cayenne. The tendency was supported by the Infiniti brand, which was released under the guise of an SUV enlarged on the scale of the FX sports coupe.
Crown of evolution
Before the release of the new X5, the fans of the brand represented him in different ways. If you take into account the radicalism, which can be traced in the design of the Last BMW of the last generation, the imagination simply went into a dead end. Contrary to expectations, the manufacturer decided not to put experiments with the design of the machine, the creative gust of designer Chris Bangla was Smire. The new X5 is very similar to its predecessor, which, perhaps, can be attributed to its advantages. At the same time, a great job of designers is noticeable. The car looks modern and dynamically. Its style is correlated with new passenger BMW, while the first generation X5 features are unambiguously recognized. And the front bumper divided into two parts leaves ample opportunities for external refinement, which all specialized tuning studies will surely take place.
The interior also has the development of ideas of other Bavarian models. When it is developed before the designers there was a clear task: it was necessary to make the salon luxurious so much so that he would be superior to the 5th series, but at the same time he did not oversee the seven. In the new marketing policy, the X5 and 7th series occupy almost equal lines at the top of the model range, but at the same time there should be no competition between models.
Due to the increased wheelbase on the rear seats X5, it became even more spacious. Theoretically, the BMW SUV can now even be used as a driver with a driver, but by the number of service functions for the rear passengers X5 strongly displaces until the 7th series. Of course, the climate control and DVD player for them can be ordered for them, but no seat adjustments, nor massage, nor the curtains are provided. But X5 is perfect for the role of a family car, it is possible to order even the third row of seats, intended exclusively for children. With a height of 180 centimeters, hesitated there, only shifting the front arm chair forward and rubbed his knees. At the same time, the head still hardly concerns the ceiling. But the children in the back will probably like it: for glasses with gas production, cameras are provided here, and gaming consoles can be connected to a 12-volt outlet.
In the cabin, a familiar BMW sedan owners appeared. By the way, BMW became one of the first companies that managed to obtain permission to create a full-fledged automotive navigation system. It is quite convenient to use it. The main thing is to deal with idrive joystick functions. The display can be divided into two unequal parts and display cards at different scales or one area of \u200b\u200bthe area and a three-dimensional picture. Also, the system prompts are projected on the windshield before the driver, which sometimes creates a complete illusion of a computer simulator.
Bringing in the sand
It saves from full care in virtual reality only a full test drive. The rolling presentation of the new BMW X5 took place in the vicinity of Athens, but the off-road sections in the test program were simply absent.
Here is a beautiful headband tape of an excellent asphalt along the Aegean Sea, here you can sell all the advantages of our new car, the Bavarians ride us.
And where to evaluate off-road abilities? Interested in the most meticulous journalists.
And how often do you see x5 conquering impassible bog? Assigned to the question of the organizers.
Of course, barely having received a car, and we went down to the sandy shore of the sea with a colleague to test X5 not only in greenhouse conditions. Immediately it turned out that the machine weighing 2,200 kilograms with asphalt tires is not enough for moving along loose sand. But it's a pleasure to come down on it! The All-wheel drive transmission XDrive controls the distribution of the torque between the axes, helping to fully implement the possibilities of the full drive. However, most of the torque is still obtained by rear wheels, which ensures interesting handling characteristic of rear-wheel drive machines. On the sand or in the snow, you can unfold with spectacular drift, the main thing is to turn off the stabilization system in advance. In the end, we still managed to get on a solid coating without an extraneous help, and we already could come out there.
Meanwhile, completely forget about the off-road essence of the X-fifth Bavarians clearly do not want and even, on the contrary, make efforts to improve the Off-Road image of this car. For example, BMW for several years in a row has produced its cars to the Dakar's rally-marathon. True, while luck is stubbornly turns away from the Germans.
On the Asphalt X5 behaves very excitious, even with the electronic assistant included, which turned out to be very gualed and tactful. If the in the middle of the turn sharply throw gas and trust the steering wheel, then the SUV obediently goes into a smooth and easily controlled drift, which does not stop the system. The car will slide only until the speed is repaid or the driver will not turn the steering wheel towards the drift, showing that it is time to stabilize. In calm X5 mode, it is also very good: absolutely transparent steering and moderate rolls allow you to pass one turn after another, without even thinking about their steepness, the Active Steering system helps. This is an active steering, which, depending on the speed of the machine, changes its transfer ratio the higher the speed, the weaker the car reacts to the driver's actions. In the city, a short handlebar allows you to pass most of the turns, without intercepting the ram, and on the track where the deviation of the steering wheel is without that small, Active Steering allows you to more accurately control the trajectory. At the same time, the electronics works so unobtrusively that they notice it, only being in another car, in which the steering wheel immediately becomes extremely uncomfortable.
With its exact handling of X5, the new Run-On-Flat tires are also required, which are not afraid of punctures and in the case of pressure loss allow up to 200 kilometers to pass. Their highlights of thickened sidewalls that do not give the wheel to the whole in the case of a puncture, and in the pumped state, making the car more controlled and tough. The use of such tires allowed to abandon the spare wheel. It is enough to put a pump in the trunk and an adhesive spray can, with which you can close the punctures without removing the wheel from the machine.
Potahtim
The new X5 is still supplied to Russia only with two motors: a 3-liter diesel engine with a capacity of 231 hp and a 355-strong gasoline engine of 4.8 liters. In Europe, and even in America a more attractive purchase looks like a diesel version. Motor power is enough with a margin in any situation, and that the machine works on diesel fuel, remember, only opening the gas tank hatch and reading the corresponding reminder. The characteristic tapura is heard only at idle and only with open windows, and a huge reserve of torque on low and medium-sized revolutions makes a calm ride even more smooth due to the fact that the machine can switch more closely than on the gasoline version. However, the quality of the domestic diesel fuel leads doubt on the question of the long-term and fragile exploitation of the super-modern diesel engine.
A 355-strong engine turns X5 into a real sports car. With a sharp press on the gas in turn, the SUV willingly breaks the wheels into the slip. Acceleration up to hundreds takes 6.5 seconds, and the maximum speed reaches 240 km / h. However, if you constantly move in the pace, which is stubbornly imposed on the engine, the too large mass begins to affect. Then you regret that X5 is still an SUV, not a car. It seems that rolls in turns could be even smaller, and the car could even more chain holding the wheels for the asphalt. Therefore, the optimal option would be waiting for the appearance of a version with a new 3-liter gasoline motor with a capacity of 272 hp, which will go on sale in summer. The dynamics of X5 from a more modest motor will suffer slightly, while the car will become lighter and obedient.
Unfortunately, X5 had to be left in Parking at Athens Airport and return from Sunny Greece to Moscow. Here, on snow-covered roads, a similar car looks no expensive toy, but the subject of essentials. Remembering him, you think not about mad fuel consumption, but only about spectacular faceted sides of the SUV and its excellent controllability. The fact that X5 is waiting for a brilliant market future, do not doubt. Do not even confuse cost from 94,000 euros per diesel version. The price of gasoline BMW from 110,000 euros, which is significantly more expensive than major competitors of Audi Q7 and Mercedes ML class, but x5 is really worth it.
Igor Sirin
 

A source: Wheel (Company)