BMW X5 v AUDI Q7 v RANGE ROVER SPORT
focus on comfort, more so than any other X5 before it. Firstly,
this X5 is bigger than the last one. Wheelbase is now 42mm
longer while also being 66mm wider — both contributing to
a vastly more spacious cabin. Acres of leather doesn’t impress
in this segment, that is but hygiene. It is the glass in the gear
selector and iDrive controller, the electroplated trim inserts,
the sunroof that glows with ambient light and the fully-digital
instrument cluster that makes the BMW feel really special.
The infotainment screen is massive (12.3-inches, if you care),
and in typical BMW style, it is canted to face the driver. It may
remain driver-focused, but you can still hold meetings with
your fellow board members in the back seat without being
judged for scrounging on your wheels.
This softening up of the X5 seeps below the surface though.
There’s air suspension on all four corners now, which is great
because the ride quality is better than ever. Where the old X5
was a bit stiff and juddery, the new one wafts over everything
that comes its way. It’s now more suited to off-roading too, as
it has finally picked up the suspension lift trick that the rest
of the competition has had for a while now. The gearshifts
from the ZF eight-speed gearbox are seamless and you barely
notice the interruption in torque and the engine is so refined
that it feels even quieter than the Q7’s. The BMW’s cabin is
beautifully isolated from the outside, be it engine noise, wind
noise or tyre noise and in Comfort mode, it is exactly that —
very, very comfortable.
It still has plenty of sportiness to it. The sheer grip that this
X5 generates is unbelievable — I couldn’t get it to understeer
no matter how hard I chucked it into a bend. The tyres are
massive. It has 275-section fronts (the Q7 has 235 sections)
and Lamborghini Huracan-rivalling 305-section rears —
absolutely absurd on something meant to ferry the kids to
school. But then again, this is a BMW. The steering is tight,
and the X5 really shrinks around you when you’re cornering
hard. No matter how composed the Q7 is, it doesn’t do well
to disguise its length and you just get the sense that the rear
follows the front into a bend. The X5, on the other hand, feels
much tighter, pivoting far quicker and as one unit. Putting
down all that torque through the all-wheel drive system is
not a problem either. The BMW moves like nothing else here,
shoving you back into your seat, the nose rising as it hurtles
to the horizon — it is the most powerful car here, and being
over 200kg lighter than the Q7, is bloody fast for a car its size.
Where the X5 loses out, though, is the suspension.
Even in the stiffest setting, it just doesn’t feel as planted
as the Q7. There’s a bit of a floaty vertical movement, and
it takes the X5 just that little bit longer to settle down after
it hits a bump or goes through a dip. Our roads aren’t
buttery smooth and this slightly unsettled nature of the
X5 can get a bit annoying over time, dulling the sheen
of what is an otherwise very well-rounded package.86 http://www.evoIndia.com | July 2019
THE NEW
X 5 P L A C E S
A H U G E
FOCUS ON
COMFORT,
MORE SO
THAN ANY
OTHER X5
BEFORE IT