Flower Power! BMW X5 M50i Is a Phenomenal Landscape Rover
No Place for the Faint of Heart
Africa is no place for sissies and traveling after dark on country roads is, let’s just say an acquired taste. Our route included some notoriously treacherous stretches. So it was reassuring to know we were cocooned by X5’s significant full safety net. Just in case…
The adaptive Full LED daytime running headlamps were already effective driving through the dusk. The trickiest time behind the wheel. Add frontal collision warning hidden in the active kidney grille, lane departure warning and blind spot detection. And if you happen to crash, rest assured X5 will look after you best it can.
There’s a full suite of dual-threshold, dual-stage ALR airbags, automatic pretensioner front and 3-point seat belts and head restraints for all occupants and LATCH child seat restraints. And BMW Concierge will send out automatic collision and emergency notifications too.
We revelled in X5’s top notch audio and entertainment as night fell. The 464-watt 16-speaker Harman Kardon Surround and AM-FM HD radio data multicast audio comes with a year’s Sirius subscription in the ’States. Splendid sound clarity and tone brings out the best. Whether it’s Vivaldi, Mozart or Morrison.
Anyway, we drove in just after 9pm and never had the energy for much else after a day of sensual overload. Next day it was time to test the 523 hp 553 lb-ft torque M TwinPower V8 X5 M50i. The 4.4-liter biturbo direct petrol injection quad-cam VANOS and Valvetronic variable 32-valve machine an impressive piece of kit.
Not quite the X5 M Competition’s 617 horses, but certainly enough to wonder why more power is necessary? For some, it is!
X5 M50i – Supercar fast
My runs confirmed BMW’s 4.1-second 0-60 mph claim in a 4.14 second run down our strip. It blasted to 100 mph in 9.46 seconds and went on to a 12.4 second quarter mile at 112 mph. it took 2.75 seconds to pull from 50 to 75 mph and 3.87 seconds from 75 to 100 mph.
If I told you those numbers ten years ago, you’d swear it was a supercar. Not a 5000 lb sport ute. Not to mention one with an even quicker model above it in the range!
There’s an elephant in the room however, not that’s it really matters to buyers in this neck of the woods. Unlike its precise performance claims, there’s no way on God’s flowery earth that this car will get anywhere near its 22 mpg gas claims. It’s closer to 15 in the real world, which is a bit cheeky. I’d be lucky to better 17.
Still, the BMW X5 M50i is a hell of a lot of car, even at that $82,800 starting price. Sophisticated, classy and supercar fast, it may lack that ultimate M5 Competition edge. But that’s what makes it so attractive to many an owner not bothered with all that ado.
And as a means of travelling to heaven on earth and back, there cannot be a much better choice.
Learn more about the Postberg Flowers here. A day trip from glorious Cape Town, it’s a most worthy international destination, but remember it only happens once a year around August.
Car Photos for 5series.net by Michele Lupini. Interior: BMW