A BEAST IN BEAUTY’S CLOTHING
BMW X5 M50i
There is something about kilowatts, something I can’t really explain, that brings out a sense of greed and the insatiable need to extract every ounce of mechanical aptitude available. It’s an addiction – a compulsion to explore decades’ worth of development and progress that has culminated into a singular package.
Usually, before we test a car, we pretty much know what we’re in for. With a supercar, you know you’re in for a whiteknuckle ride as it transcends the spacetime paradigms – at least that’s how it often feels. The opposite is true when it comes to cars that are prebound to a life of city driving.
Then there are SUVs. This kettle of car is, oftentimes, purpose-built with ruggedness in mind. It’s basic utilitarianism for the middle-class with space for the family, the pets, luggage, bicycles and probably space to spare for a friend. It strikes the golden balance between efficiency and space and does exactly what it says on the wrapper.
LUXURY SOUNDS LIKE THIS
But there is a sub-category of the latter that, in my experience at least, somehow always manages to catch me off-guard. It’s the performance SUV, a category wherein the BMW X5 M50i takes centre stage. And it’s always the same story – you see the badges that hint at its pedigree, and in the case of the X5, the 22” wheels. And yet, I always default to the family-carrier-with-slightly-more-kilowatts mind-set.
In this case, though, the two-tone leather upholstery and crystal gear lever personified lavishness and didn’t once hint at anything as ridiculous as say, performance potential. It just doesn’t happen – you get practical SUVs, luxury ones or the performance variety – they don’t really ever meld together completely. Instead, it’s not unheard of to get strong notes and undertones from these different classes.
So yes, my brain defaulted to “this is a luxury SUV with a peppy V8 engine”. And this was reinforced as I went about my errands. Dialled into Comfort mode it soaked up road imperfections and isolated me from the rest of the world, all the while playing that baritonic V8 hum. The 745-litre luggage area too was as usable as it gets with a self-retracting parcel shelf that just makes life easier on all fronts.
HIDDEN PERSONA
Then I dialled it into Sport+ mode and its personality changed from a luxury cruiser to something that’s quite terrifying to behold. Let me give you some context: The X5 M50i is powered by a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine that produces 390 kW and 750 Nm of torque. This translates into a zero to 100 km/h sprint time of 4.3 seconds! The real-world G-force-on-the-human-body effect is something I can best describe as a gust of power that overcomes you. You plant your right foot, the SUV slingshots forwards and, before you know it, you’ve hit the national speed limit. It takes less time to accelerate to 100 km/h than it does reading this sentence.
Still not convinced that the M50i is about as mindwarping as they come? For the sake of comparison, the previous generation X5 M (that utilised 423 kW) did the benchmark sprint in 4.2 seconds. The indomitable Mercedes-AMG G63 with its 430 kW and 850 Nm of torque only manages 4.5 seconds in its 100 km/h sprint. One could argue that it’s heavier, but only by about 200 kg which should, in theory, be an easy feat to overcome given all that torque. Wind resistance? Well, that will just make for dull conversation.
LAST WORD
When it comes to cars, it’s hard not to judge them by appearance. In the case of the BMW X5 M50i, it doesn’t really give much away as to what it’s capable of. Mostly, it’s an incredibly suave kind of SUV that does exactly what it’s supposed to – be useful where most other vehicles fall short. The other 40% of the time it doesn’t mind digging into its electronic chipsets to bring forth an entirely different character, and it’s this surprise that’s just so intoxicating, as it’s completely unexpected.
As far as the argument goes of the M50i’s merit over its X5 M brethren… Well, that has 460 kW of the good stuff that propels it to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. On paper, that looks good. In reality, however, that’s near-indiscernible. In fact, it takes longer to read “indiscernible” and such a small margin for R1m more? Given the choice, I’d take the X50i any day of the week!