More to come

The six-cylinder-only range that has now launched in Australia is by no means the full X5 family. It’s set to expand greatly later in 2019 and into 2020 with the arrival of expected fourcylinder petrol rear-drive and four-cylinder diesel all-wheel drive variants. A plug-in hybrid is also on the cards, mating a four-cylinder combustion engine to an electric motor to deliver emissions-free motoring for modest distances. And, of course, there will be the big daddy X5 M behemoth in due course, with twin-turbo V8 power and honed handling.