Fast Facts
⚡ Power: 375 hp, 383 lb-ft torque from 48-volt mild-hybrid system
🛣 Fuel Economy: ~24 mpg combined in real-world testing
📦 Cargo: 22.9 cu ft with rear seats up, expanded with seats folded
💰 Price: sDrive40i $68,775, including destination
🎵 Tech: 14.9” touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
🏆 Safety: blind-spot monitoring, traffic-sign recognition
The BMW X5 is a highly evolved specimen of the genus Automobilia velocitus. In its 25-plus years of existence (yes, the X5 debuted in early 1999) it has spread its wings as everything from a family hauler to a high-performance SUV. In the process, the X5 has become BMW’s bestselling model and arguably its most versatile.
With popularity comes responsibility. The X5 has to appeal to a broad range of buyers, and as I learned while hustling a 2025 X5 down a dirt road near the Wyoming-Colorado border, it delivers. It’s not perfect, but there's little to criticize here.
The X5 Has a Can-Do-Anything Attitude
The X5 can have a wide range of personalities, with prices to match. The rear-wheel-drive sDrive40i anchors the lineup at just south of $70,000 for 2026. Work your way up through all-wheel-drive, plug-in hybrid, and performance-oriented versions, and you can easily double that price by adding fancy extra-cost paint and a few other goodies to the track-ready 617-horsepower X5 M Competition. That variant will outrun many genuine sports cars despite sitting up high and boasting a cargo area capable of swallowing whatever Home Depot can throw at it.
The model I drove was a 2025 X5 with the Silver Anniversary Edition package, which included an unusual combination of features not generally available on the rest of the lineup, like light-duty all-terrain tires and underbody skid plates. It’s an X5 that can go off-road, at least kind of, and it represents yet another direction for the X5. No prior X5 model was ever particularly well-equipped for four-wheeling.
Knobby tires aside, the X5 I drove wasn't much different than the regular xDrive40i. Under the hood, you’ll find a 375-horsepower turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder with 48-volt mild-hybrid tech teamed with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
The mild-hybrid system provides enough electrical surge for the 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 14.9-inch infotainment screens and adds a little low-end oomph for snappier acceleration. However, it can't propel the vehicle on its own. This setup’s 23 mpg city, 27 highway, 25 combined rating is nothing exceptional, and the 23.4 mpg combined I saw in a relatively even split between highway driving and urban slogging was similarly unimpressive.
If you want an especially eco-friendly X5, the xDrive50e tosses in a plug-in hybrid powertrain that offers up to 39 miles of all-electric range on a full charge.
The X5 Tames the Highway
Even with the all-terrain tires fitted to my test car, the X5 proved a fantastic highway companion. The six-cylinder engine helped it accelerate quickly to speed (Car and Driver says it does 0-60 mph in a few ticks over four seconds). The quick-witted steering that makes the X5 nimble around town transforms into arrow-straight stability. Only a bit of tire rumble and wind snarl from the removable roof cross bars above disturbed the ride.
My X5 could've benefited from the automaker’s advanced hands-off highway-driving tech. BMW bundles features like a particularly good lane control system and adaptive cruise control into the Driving Assistance Professional package. It’s pricey, at $2,500, and it requires another $2,600 in packages to select in the first place. But for anyone who regularly drives on the highway, the package is worth it.
Leaving the interstate for a winding road, I found the X5 to be in its element once again — a reminder of this model’s inherent flexibility. While not brimming in old-school road feel, the X5’s steering is still wonderfully weighted and precise. The air suspension helps reduce lean into corners. You never forget that you’re sitting up high and not down low, as you would in the automaker’s similarly sized 5 Series sedan, but the X5 is nonetheless a highly capable hustler.
The 20-inch wheels shrugged off the worst that the highway department could throw at them. My suggestion: don’t be tempted by the big 21-inch or larger options, which have very little impact-absorbing sidewall and require very expensive tires. They do look good, though.
Along the winding road, I saw plenty of dirt offshoots, and I was finally tempted by one. While not ready to venture far into the wilderness due to its low ride height and lack of real off-road features like a low range, the X5’s all-wheel drive system had no problem reacting to loose gravel.
The X5 Does Family Duty
Yes, the X5 handles family duty well, so long as there are no more than five of you. One place where the X5 doesn't stretch is into three-row territory. BMW reserves that job for its larger (and pricier) X7.
That means the X5 doesn’t have to try to squeeze anyone into a kid-only third row, as Mercedes-Benz does with its GLE-Class and Audi does with its Q7. The X5’s front seats offer excellent support and adjustment, while row two has plenty of room for three adults to sit together for around-town jaunts. Much longer than that and, well, have you considered flying?
There’s also plenty of cargo space, accessed via a nifty split tailgate setup. Roughly 65 percent of the rear aperture comes via a conventional, top-hinged liftgate that whirs open at the tap of a button. The remaining 35 percent whirs downward to create a mini pickup-style tailgate. Sure, there’s a slightly deeper lift over to access the 66-cubic-foot cargo area, but the tailgating potential seems worth the hassle.
I noticed a genuinely luxurious feel inside with nice materials and high build quality. The Silver Anniversary Edition’s carbon fiber trim seems at odds with its off-roady personality, but models for 2026 offer various wood and metal options as well. BMW has a wide range of interior hues to select from as well.
The 14.9-inch central touchscreen has flashy software that can be controlled via taps on the display, a central rotary knob, voice activation, or even hand gestures. Touching the screen is generally the easiest way to navigate, and I found that it responded intuitively. The baked-in navigation system looks great, while standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility unlock plenty of phone-based apps like Waze and Google Maps.
A similarly sized display fronts the driver. It’s bright and easy to read, but I wish there were a mode that made it look like conventional analog gauges. The overlays BMW uses look a little too 1980s high-tech for me. Imagine a crisp version of what Knight Rider had in his Firebird. BMW was always good at analog instrumentation, so it’s a shame the company seems to have forgotten that simple often works the best when it comes to information presented to the driver.
Do-It-All with Luxury
It’s no wonder the X5 has eclipsed BMW’s sedans as its most popular model. It may be a high-budget choice, yet it rewards drivers with a high level of comfort, sophistication, and tech. The X5 might be the ultimate evolution of the modern family SUV.
Go as gentle as BMW will let you on the options, and you can find one with its advanced driving tech, an air suspension, zesty metallic paint, and a few niceties like heated front and rear seats for under $79,000.
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