BMW X5 The true Sports Activity Vehicle

The BMW X5 is a mid-size crossover SUV sold by BMW since 1999. The X5, produced at BMW's first American plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, quickly became a huge hit for BMW in the U.S. BMW designed the X5 for on-road performance and handling. Short overhangs, a compact size (the original was 4.5 inches shorter than the 5 Series sedan of the same time period) and a car-based chassis combined to give the X5 its low stance and superb on-road performance. A few exterior visual cues distinguish the 4.6is from the garden-variety 4.4i. There's more pronounced wheel arches to cover the huge 20-inch wheels, a body-colored front spoiler with side wind-splitters and xenon headlights, which are optional on other X5s, are standard on the 4.6is. A lower rear spoiler and dual oval exhaust outlets complete the package.
The BMW X5 offers two new engine choices: A 260-horsepower inline six-cylinder engine is standard on the X5 3.0si, and a 350-hp 4.8-liter V8 is included on the X5 4.8i. An improved xDrive all-wheel-drive system is also standard and further enhances the X5's all-weather capability.
The BMX X5 with xDrive is a true Sports Activity Vehicle: powerful, dynamic and flexible. Once you get to know the X5, you'll soon forget the meaning of the word "compromise". Its powerful engines, its innovative all-wheel drive system and its flexible, adaptable interior are convincing proof that BMW never does anything by half. Like the Lexus RX 300 and Mercedes M-Class, the X5 heralded the shift from truck-based body-on-frame SUVs to sedan-based crossovers that would come to fruition in the late 2000s.