BMW’S X5: A touch of luxury to soothe away the stress

Luxury touches all over this SUV will soothe away stress in this mad world,

The BMW X5 is a car that exposes my terrible hypocrisy. If someone asked me if they should buy one, I’d immediately tell them to buy a 5 Series estate instead, yet every day I had it on test I looked forward to climbing up into the X5, sinking into its sumptuous seats and generally lording it over everybody else.

During my time with the X5 I was forced to venture hundreds of miles from home in the name of “essential training”. The half a day of brainstorming and postivity left me ready to commit murder, but th ex 5 soothed the stress of that and the rush-hour M6 away in an instant.

It absolutely devoured the six hour ,350- mile round trip and I could easily have spent the same again at the wheel and felt none the worse. it feels purpose built for such long-distance

slogs.it makes quiet, smooth and easy progress for mile after mile with passengers cocooned in the beautifully finished and lavishly equipped interior.

The adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and torquey 3.0-litre diesel engine take the strain out of motorway driving but the X5 is still able to take tighter, twisting A roads in its stride.

There is no getting away from the fact that this is a tall, heavy car. Even with the adaptive air suspension set to its lowest height the body leans into corners in a way a 5 Series saloon never would but the underlying chassis is agile and grippy.

Set everything to sport mode and you can make eye-opening progress. The huge wall of torque from the straight six is spectacular and it pile son pace without you even noticing. You’ll find yourself approaching corners faster than you expect, so it’s just as well that the steering is responsive and ithastheturn-inspeedandgrip to cope.

In a weird way the car reminds me of the late, great Jonah Lomu. Both are huge, muscular, intimidating beasts with seemingly endless reserves of power, a startling turn of speed and able to change direction unfeasibly quickly.

For all that Beemer is massive on the outside, the interior space is surprisingly tight. Those in the front are well catered for in the “Individual” seats but behind them, it feels disproportionately small.

I’m quite tall, but legroom in the back felt compromised even compared to some SUVS in a class below. It somewhat limits the X5’s attraction as a family car.

Still, if you’re shorter of leg or don’ t care about your kids’ comfort the X 5 is a glorious place to sit. Those seats are super-comfy and the real metal finish to controls and trim lines looks and feels fantastic.

Go form sport trim and you’ ll want for very little – even the cupholders are heated and cooled here and gadgets such as the panoramic sunroof, automated laser headlights and Harman/kardon stereo added to our car’s plushness. At £75,000 it’s not cheap, but you can see and feel where your money’s spent.

The poor legroom aside, my biggest gripe is the lack of Android Auto. Apparently, BMW see that as a feature for low-end cars but still offer Apple Car Play. Call me a pleb if you like, but it seems like a ridiculouscorner to cut and, as good as idrive is, I missed the ease of use that comes with smartphone compatibility.

It’s a relatively minor thing to get hung upon, but the fact that it bothered me so much gives an idea of how impressive the rest of the car is.