At almost 20 years old, can the X5 it reclaim its place as the ’ute to beat?

six-cylinder diesel powertrain options exist, one with twin turbos, while the M50d gets quadturbos. Both are mated to an eightspeed Steptronic gearbox.

During its tenure at the top, the primary rock of German SUVs was always great on road, with perfect, albeit very sporty driving dynamics. Now it can do comfortable as well, thanks to a new twoaxle air suspension (previously just in the rear) and integral active steering. Both were impressively demonstrated while powering up the burnt Outeniqua Pass, between George and Oudtshoorn – even with the very attractive 21-inch wheels mounted on the agship X5 M50d. Four turbos and 760Nm of torque iron out the rather steep inclines. And an acceleration of

5.2 seconds from 0 to 100km/h is almost sportscar-like. Be careful with your right foot though – for a brief blissful moment we reached 220km/h on a speedtrap-free stretch of R328, while the car was absolutely stable. And while it can, you won’t take this topof-the-range show car o the beaten track. It’s a road star.

For the dirty stu , BMW is o ering the new X5 as a 30d, also with an inline six-cylinder diesel, which impressed us even more than its bigger sibling: great punchy response, even better sound. Powerwise, it doesn’t really feel far removed from the quadrupleturbo. And the

30d is available in Xdrive, with optional knobbly General Grabber AT3 o road tyres, which are

tted to the car we took across a muddy Prince Alfred Pass. While starting to wobble a bit on tar around 150km/h, the grip on mud is amazing, even at slightly higher cornering speeds on the slippery, rainsoaked surface.

But those o -road tyres and wheels come at a price: R62,468 (excluding VAT). With the O -Road package adventurous X5 drivers can choose between four settings: sand, rock, gravel or snow. M Performance parts for the new X5 will be available to order from the rst quarter of 2019.

e legend is back, and at almost 20 years old, can the X5 reclaim its place as the ’ute to beat? At rst drive, it seems to have nailed it. - nkosiyati khumalo and dieter losskarn