x5 BMW 2021
Each new generation of the BMW X5 has sold better than the previous one so far. Moving to the modular architecture CLAR brought the next crossover with the G05 index and air suspension, and a lot of new electronics. The test drive showed that this is a conceptually different car compared to any of its predecessors. It is conservative in appearance, and from behind it may seem inexpressive at all, but the design is deceiving and hides the technique of the new ideology, at the same time successfully masking the completeness. The width is now over two meters.
The Germans sought to improve at once driving comfort, handling, and cross-country ability. The natural solution was the use of a full-fledged air suspension. The previous two generations of the X5 were content, at best, with cylinders only on the rear axle.
From the driver’s seat, the X5 is clearly massive due to its wide center tunnel, thick steering wheel, and fairly high seating position. There will be no more traditional dial gauges. It is a pity because the digital panel is made talentlessly. Rather than trying to find important information in a heap of small symbols, it is easier to get used to using a head-up display, since it is beautiful and has the widest range of functions. The new climate control unit with keypad temperature control also requires more attention than knobs that have sunk into oblivion.
The finish is good, even the gearshift paddles on the back are padded with soft material. Under the cover below the console, there are cup holders with optional cooling and heating. In the spokes of the steering wheel, there are autopilot lamps, meaning “take the steering wheel.”
It is difficult to grab even the digital speedometer readings on the go. The shield is easy to light up and get dirty. In the upper part, there is a camera that makes sure that the driver is not distracted from the road. No matter how much I looked around, I didn’t get any warning.
But all the settings of the car can be saved in the “cloud” – and, sitting in another X5, equip it as your own with a few clicks on the touch screen. A huge stake has been placed on personalization. The center display has remained detached, and the X5 cockpit does not look as progressive as the new Tuareg. However, thanks to the seventh generation operating system (no longer called iDrive), the menu has become more logical, and the home screen can be modified using widgets. Its graphics and responsiveness are nearly flawless.
For a surcharge, two design packages are offered. Left – xLine with an emphasis on off-road performance. On the right is an M Sport with many body-colored details and an original front bumper.
The software is updated with a Wi-Fi connection, you can open the car with the NFC tag of your smartphone, you can teach all-round cameras to turn on independently in certain geolocation – for example, at the entrance to your yard. It is clear that there is a lane guidance system and active cruise control, although their work seemed to be a little sharper than in the newest Mercedes. But everything can be forgiven for one new “chip”.
The block of light switches, as it were, tells us that the car is ready to take overall control. A column of main icons on the left appeared on the display, and widgets selectable by the driver appeared on the right side. The cabin has both traditional USB and USB-C ports.
You get behind the wheel, you can hardly find the flat start button, which has moved into the tunnel. You put in reverse gear, put a virtual tick on the touch screen, and … take your hands off the steering wheel. Then you just press the pedals – the car will go back on its own, exactly repeating the trajectory of the last 50 meters along which it drove here (even if several days have passed). Track keeping accuracy is high – tested both on a sloping site and on soft ground. A real find for cramped courtyards, and it’s not even clear how they lived without it.
The test car has “comfortable” seats, which nevertheless have noticeable lateral support. Sports chairs can also be ordered. The handrails on all the doors are too shallow and inconvenient to grip.
And if earlier the X5 was associated mainly with pressure, brutality, even some aggressiveness, then the highlight of the new car is the screens, autopilots, and excellent sound insulation, allowing only the tapping of pebbles on the arches. Optional air suspension brings driving comfort to a new level (there were no cars without it at the presentation). Despite only single-chamber cylinders, the X5 magically smoothes any road, sometimes shaking unsprung masses in an oversized pit in the American spirit. By the way, the settings for markets on both sides of the ocean are the same.
For loading, the X5 is lowered by 40 mm (including by command from the key fob). In Sport mode – by 10–20 mm, as well as at speeds over 140 km / h. In the event of a puncture, the suspension reduces the load on the Run Flat by moving the wheel 20 mm upwards and lowering the opposite side by the same 20 mm.