History of the BMW X5
In 1999 the BMW car company released a midsized sport utility vehicle ( SUV ) and called it the X5. The first generation had the E53 body style and was all wheel drive also called the x drive system by BMW and came available as either a manual gearbox or automatic. BMW itself refers to the X5 as a sport activity vehicle or SAV rather than an SUV. This was to help emphasize the vehicles on road ability despite the fact it was four wheel drives.
The E53 model was produced from 1999 through 2006 and was developed during a time that BMW still owned the Land Rover name. As a result the first generation of the X5 shares many components and design details with the Range Rover HSE model. Items that were borrowed from the land rovers were things like the hill descent system, and the off road engine management system. The vehicles entertainment system which consisted of the radio, navigation system, television and electronic computer system, was borrowed from the E39 BMW models. This resulted in the earlier models of the X5 being easily upgraded to the newest BMW technology. Despite selling very well, the early versions had a reputation for being chronically unreliable. They were very low on the list of customer satisfaction surveys because of the complex electronic equipment that was prone to expensive failure repairs.
The second generation of the X5 was noted as the E70 and was produced from 2006 and is still in production today. This replaced the earlier E53 as the SAV on offer from BMW. The E70 included many new features both visually and technologically throughout the vehicle. New advancements lead to the use of BMW’s drive system being integrated as standard equipment as well as the addition of an optional third row seat. The E70 generation had many innovations built into it such as rear framing sections unique to protect the third row seat occupants from being injured in the case of an accident. Safety has come to the forefront with the X5’s and it is something to be proud of.
Branding of the different models of X5 available from 2008 and onwards followed a new BMW nomenclature scheme. As an example, the X5 3.0L d is now known as the X5 xDrive35d, likewise if it used to be called the 4.8i it was now known as the X5 iDrive48i. The only performance departure of the X5 model line is the BMW X5 M, this is a high performance derivative of the current X5 and was first introduced in 2009. The X5 M comes equipped with the first M power V8 turbo charged engine and a revised suspension which creates a desirable mixture of both performance and handling.
New versions of the X5 are the pinnacle of style, design, technology and luxury which all wrap together to make a package that is hard to beat.
