New BMW X5 India review, test drive

Grouses come in the form of the parking sensors that are over-sensitive. Every time something gets too close to the car, it beeps like a bomb is about to go off. It’s annoying and even if you turn it off, it comes on automatically. The other grouse is one we’ve had for quite some time with the BMW diesels – the engine is gruff when it’s undertaking typical thick traffic manoeuvres. So it is gruff at idle and gruff when you need a quick burst of power.

The eight-speed gearbox, however, is brilliant. It seems to know when you want a downshift or when to stay in gear, simply by how much throttle you use. It acts immediately and accurately.

The ride is impressive too – I’ve left the drive adjust system in Comfort and there’s a suppleness to the low speed ride that doesn’t go away even when I switch to Sport. What it doesn’t like is sharp bumps, which it crashes painfully through. I suspect this happens because our car came with ultra-low profile Bridgestones mounted on stunning 20-inch rims. Opt for the standard wheels and the harshness should disappear.

Still, I can tell from the rather appreciative glances coming our way that people like the evolutionary facelift. The bigger headlights that stretch into the grille, the bigger grille and strong shoulder line make it look more grown up – fresh, but not all new, same but different.

Two rather comfortable hours later, we’re on the Agra expressway and the twin-turbo diesel settles down to an inaudible hum as we cruise on this broad carriageway. The new X5, despite its 2145kg kerb weight (5kg down on the old one) is quick. The twin-scroll turbo-equipped diesel now makes 10bhp and 2.1kgm of torque more than before, so the figures stand at 255bhp and 57.1kgm. Thanks to the extra thrust, this X5 does 0-100kph in 7.05 seconds, while the quick eight-speed automatic helps improve kickdown responses when you want to overtake. There’s a healthy shove from the moment you tap the throttle, the midrange is very strong and the engine even pulls with a very un-diesel-like eagerness all the way to the redline.