First Drive: 2007 BMW X5

Amazing redesign. This car has everything the previous X5 was lacking. That includes an updated interior, more legroom, thirdrow seating and faster engines.

This X5 will sell like hotcakes and it will continue to be the SAV of choice for soccer moms in wealthy suburbia just as it already has been.

I live in suburbia, and here is the order of luxury SUVs:

1. RX
2. MDX
3. Range Rover
4. X5 / XC90
5. Cayenne / Range Rover Sport

Have you noticed how the 3-series and X5 have evolutionary, not revolutionary designs. Bangle's philosophy is revolutionary followed by evolutionary like we saw with the revolutionary 7-series, 5-series and 6-series, but then the next redesign of the respective cars is evolutionary meaning the designs are only tinkered with slightly.

The evolutionary design will be the philosophy behind the redesigned 5er, 7er and as you can see X5.

The 3-series was too important of a car for BMW to risk screwing the design, that is why the Bangle influence is very moderate.

Had BMW screwed up the 3er, they would have been done for as a company.

Every other brand-redesign will be revolutionary, Bangle says, but they will otherwise be only "evolutionary", meaning he'll just perfect the current cars' designs.

Expect the new 7 to be less polarizing when it comes out (although the current model's fifteen minutes of fame are over), and the 5 Series should be more elegant, but that's not coming for another two to three years.

The X5 is an ugly bimmer at the end of the day...The worst part, is it looks the same, the SAME...POS car..the only cars I would consider from this brand are 6 series(maybe) and the M5(strictly because of its engine and superb handling)...

its the clear winner in this segment. why do we rehash stuff?

RR Sport, Cayenne, Q7 and X5 will be a very interesting comparison.

X5 looks great.

Something interesting I noted when reading this article:

"With almost a half-liter more displacement than the outgoing X5's V8, the new 350-hp 4.8-liter can power 5335 pounds of luxury-ute to 60 mph in 6.4 seconds."

In another Edmunds article, about the Q7 4.2:

" Weighing nearly 5,300 pounds, the Q7 carries over 300 pounds more than the R500..."

(They were comparing it to the three Mercedes SUVs)

But it really is weird that the X5 would weigh more. It's ten inches shorter and supposedly has a lighter engine, and there's no off-road gear, just like the Q7. Any explanations here?

If look at things the X-5 was a revolt when it was designed and came out in 2000. It had the flame out style and the high belt line that was part of the Bangle design. Now it has continued so what was a revolt now can evoled. Same with the 3-series it was an evolution of the revolution that started with the 7-series and move it's way down. And as far as the 7-series goes, look at it's new competiors and see what has evoled form the revolt. The LS-460 has the high belt line and and bussel trunk (also know as the Bangle butt) as does the new S 550. So what starts as the revolt has become an evolution of design.

Can anyone tell me the dealer that was discounting 5% off the MSRP of the 2007 X5?