2021 BMW X5 - Ultimate Driving SUV

Today I'm behind the wheel of a new

2021

BMW X5. Now, when the X5 debuted 22 years ago in 1999, many thought it was the best luxury SUV. 22 years later, many still feel this I want to thank Laurel BMW of Westmont for making this video possible, so if you're in the market. To see a new or used BMW, check it out. Its information is on the screen and in the description of this video, the exterior of the x5 has an athletic and attractive look that is undeniably BMW. The kidney grilles at the front have become increasingly larger. Every generation and the current ones do not disappoint with their enormous size.

The adaptive LED headlights are stylish with the half-octagon-shaped daytime running lights that really stand out. Automatic high beams are standard and so are LED fog lights. The lower bumper has a unique design. With some sand-colored aluminum trim that matches the rest of the X5, the side reveals an attractive profile. Nice lines with satin aluminum roof rails and window frames. There's also an aluminum strip under the doors and a small slide behind the front wheels to show there's something there. Black cladding around the bottom and around the wheel fenders, but they are hidden fairly well. The wheels are 19 inches.

They have a good design, but they look a little small in this large SUV. The rear is squared off with distinctive smoked LED taillights. The lower chrome finishes, as well as the silver bumper guard, also stand out, giving the x5 a sporty vibe. The tailgate at the rear has a clamshell design. The power tailgate button opens the top and to open the bottom you will have to do it manually by pressing a button, however when closing both close themselves, the boot is spacious with a 12V outlet on the right side below of the lower cover, there is some hidden storage, there is also a privacy cover on top and levers to fold the second row once folded the seats are flat which makes loading larger items very easy moving to the second There is plenty of room for adults in the row.

I'm 5-10 and still have about 45 inches of legroom behind my

driving

position and, unfortunately, about the same with headroom. A second row cannot be adjusted unless you opt for the third row package which also adds air suspension and costs two thousand three hundred dollars. There are two sets of latches for the car seats and the passenger gets four vents in total. Two USB ports. Dual climate. control that is optional and a 12v outlet there are also two cup holders that move towards the front the x5 offers a sophisticated and elegant cabin with controls that are quite easy to understand the steering wheel has a modern look, good thickness and the buttons on the right control media volume voice phone control and buttons on the left control cruise control adaptive cruise control is part of a package that is not standard the heated steering wheel button is below and has paddle shifters behind the steering wheel the settings They are electric The 12.3 inch digital cluster is part of the live cockpit pro that you get in this x5, the interface is nice to look at and the tachometer, speedometer and gauges are displayed brilliantly.

Maps are also displayed in the middle and you can scroll through various information such as your trip computer, your g-energy. music meter and modes on the right side there are light controls on the left side of the steering wheel and on the door panel there is a button to control the power lift door two memory settings c and a button for the power folding mirrors the screen The infotainment screen is 12.3 inches, plus it's big, bright, responsive and the home screen has widgets that are completely configurable. The screen is touch-sensitive, so it is easy to go through media communication, navigate other menus, but there is also a great setup of knobs and buttons on the center console that can control the menus easily. and quickly, the biggest addition for this

2021

model is Android Auto and Sirius XM Radio.

In addition to Apple Carplay and Wi-Fi, there are many functions you can configure, including, for example, when to turn on the heated seats and steering wheel. Great, this x5 is equipped with active driver assistance that comes with forward collision mitigation and lane departure warning with steering intervention, active blind spot detection and rear cross traffic alert below the infotainment screen, it has a small screen to show the temperature and buttons for climate control. This x5 is equipped with quad zones which is part of the convenience package, there is a row of buttons for setting modes of the heated seats defroster and fan speed underneath, it has a volume knob and a row of settings presets in the center console, it has wireless charging which is part of the convenience package USB port two cup holders and a 12V outlet the shift lever that works very similar to a standard shift lever with one exception there is a park button , not sure why it had to be a button when you go in reverse you get a good view of what's behind you also 360 degree view from the sensors that are around your x5 next to the gear shift you get buttons for traction control parking sensors your

driving

modes including sport comfort eco and there's an adaptive button where your x5 will learn how you drive also buttons for parking with auto brake and descending hills inside the stylish armrest you get a single USB port , you have start link buttons under the rear view mirror and lastly a big panoramic sunroof on top, okay I'm leaving, let's see how good this x5 is. the road and how it drives the first thing I want to talk about is these seat belts and I said the same thing when I reviewed the x3 because as soon as you drive you will hear this mechanical wind and then you will feel the seat belt.

Pull it so it automatically retracts and makes it very tight and this is something you have to get used to. I'm still not used to it. I completely forgot about it until I started driving. It's a strange feeling, but it makes you feel like. You're driving something special and that's a good thing, besides the impressive seat belt, the driving itself is just as impressive, if not more so. Wow, is it good? Let's start with the suspension. Now keep in mind that this x5 is not the advanced one. it's the lowest model this is the xdrive 40i it's not the m50i nor is it the m so it doesn't have crazy sports suspension it's very impressive in the city I feel like I'm on top of the clouds it's that comfortable it's really really comfortable, soaks up all the bumps wonderfully, only the most extreme ones, the big bumps, I feel them, but otherwise it's a very very comfortable ride at the moment, besides the suspension the steering is also very nice and a good Weight doesn't feel very artificial and is precise, slight play in the steering wheel but that's it, there's not much play and right now I'm in comfort mode so I'm going to try everything in sport and sport plus in a moment but even in comfort mode this. it feels good and the steering wheel itself i just want to mention that it feels good too, it's a little thicker than the x3 so i like it, it feels better when you grip it and it has more cushioning and overall it's it's nice and what also helps with this beautiful ride is the cabin noise here, which is basically zero, there is no cabin noise here, it is so quiet here, there is no road noise, no wind noise, it feels like I'm in a vacuum like I don't hear anything only when the cars go by very fast eh, I hear it, but other than that there is nothing, there is no sound here, it's really impressive and when you step on it you can barely hear the engine and this is with the radio off by the way what is also good about this drive are the seats and my visibility and driving position are very good the seats are very very comfortable unfortunately unfortunately the real leather is a feature optional, so you get something.

It's called sensotec, which is just a fancy word for synthetic leather. You can't really tell it's not leather by looking at it, you can tell by feeling it and you can tell by smelling it because it just doesn't smell like leather, but according to BMW it does. more durable, more water resistant, you know, the dye in there is more durable so that has its benefits, the cushion is really nice, the bolsters support my back but it's not uncomfortable and overall the seat It itself is still like a sports seat. it's comfortable so it's a strange combination um and I like it, I really like it, it improves driving in terms of visibility and driving position, also good visibility, very good, nice big windshield, big windows, big mirrors, the point Blind is average, but you have a blind spot. monitoring, so no problem, the rear window is also good with the headrest upgrade block a little bit down, you can see well back there and the driving position is also good because this is a mid-size SUV, so what you are sitting very high off the ground. good imposing view now what i haven't talked about that's also good is the feel of the throttle, the acceleration and also the engine, let's start with the engine, this is the base engine, this is a three liter twin turbo i6 and it produces around 335 horsepower and about 330 lb-ft of torque, honestly in my opinion I think this engine is very, very, very underrated because I have tested a toyota supra with the exact same engine and a lot of people don't care.

I like that, but that super was fast, it was much faster. than it should have been because of the horsepower and the torque and that same engine here, you know, you think about a big SUV like this, it can't be that powerful, it can't be that good, but it goes from 0 to 60. at 5.3 seconds and that's with the base engine which is quite quick at a time. I'm going to test the acceleration, maybe going from 20 to 60 and see what it's like, but in the city there's no problem with acceleration, you floor it and this The x5 just propels itself forward, it's a really nice feeling, the Engine is also very quiet due to how good the cabin insulation is.

You can't really hear the engine, even when you really floor it, and the accelerator also feels very good. It's good, it's a good linear feel now, as for the Live Cockpit Pro, I talked about it and showed it off a little bit, but they work beautifully together, that's one of the best things about the x5 too, this digital gauge cluster is nice, it's bright. The interface looks good, I like the maps in the middle so you know where you are going and it gives you useful information and you know, the colorful graphics make you feel like this car is worth it and the same with this infotainment. screen this is just as big 12 inches 12 inches in the x3 the infotainment screen is a little smaller 10 inches and I noticed the difference is 12 inches is good the idrive 7 the software responds very well, you know you can configure it however you want the widgets are tactile, they're within your reach, they're not too far away and also the dial, the rotary dial and the buttons just make it easy, it's really good, it's a really good setup, however, that being said, do I like this or Let's say?

Do I like the infotainment system more in the Volvo series, like the xc60 or the xc90, because it is basically touch, it is difficult, it is difficult because it is more configurable and there are many more settings, but the mobile is just me? I think it's a little bit easier, it's a little bit easier because it's all touch, so it's kind of a change, it really depends on what you're looking for. Well, that was accelerating from about 20 to 60 miles per hour and that was quite a bit. well, that was pretty good, I'm still in comfort mode, um, like I said, zero to 60 here is 5.3 seconds, that's crazy, that's crazy, um and that felt lively, that felt lively, so it's not the fastest suv I've ever tried, uh or the fastest car I've ever tried, but it's more than adequate for most people to overtake and accelerate, just for fun rides, it's pretty fast and I'll give it a try again in sports and in sports, plus I'll see if it makes a difference, but yeah, it was nice.

Okay, now at this point you may be thinking that I'm biased because I've been saying everything is good, great or fantastic, is there anything negative, anything bad about sex five? Well, the only thing that's not as good as everything else. What I mentioned are the brakes and how this x5 stops. It behaved the same as the x3, so when you step on you expect the x5 to stop, you know it quite smoothly, and it does, there's just a bit of a bit of a ripple as you try to stop, so it's not bad, it's not bad, the brakes aren't bad for most people, you won't even notice it, but if I had to criticize something, one bad thing is that the brakes don't work.

I don't knowfeels as good as the throttle or the suspension or everything else that I've mentioned now, I mentioned it at the beginning of the video in terms of there's a big addition and some subtractions, the big edition that I've already covered is Android Auto edition which is big, a lot of people have been waiting for it so it's here along with apple carplay and you get sirius xm satellite radio which is also standard now but there are some optional things that were removed e.g. A lot of people were excited about the off road package which added an air suspension with different rear locking differential that was deleted so you can't get that on a 2021 x5 anymore, also the rear entertainment package with the two screens it has.

Also removed, you can no longer get it if you buy an x5 and want the off road package. You need to get it because you want to go off road with your x5. Unfortunately, you should look at a 2020 and not the 2021, and same with the rear entertainment package, so for a car in this price range, I feel like it's there. There should be more standard features that are optional, for example in the front, there are no ventilated seats, so that's number one in the rear, there are no sun visors, there is another one also in the rear, the seats do not They recline now, the set position is not bad, but I know I would prefer if you could recline them or slide them back and forth and you can't.

This one is also configured with a convenience package that is the lowest package you can get with the x5 and adds things like four-way climate control. which really should be standard adds wireless charging which really should be standard remote start which really should be standard these are features that I think this car within this price range should have as standard they shouldn't be optional features but unfortunately they are and I Ya I mentioned this too leather, why is it something optional that should be standard on this x5 but isn't? I just put this x5 in sport standard.

They are sporty plus, which is really aggressive. I'm just testing the sport standard and see. what it's like as soon as I hit the accelerator or should I say the rpm went up so it definitely keeps the revs a little higher with each gear but it's supposed to adjust basically everything I like your steering your throttle your acceleration , You know? the transmission, so we'll see how it is, a couple of times I noticed this x5 trying to turn for me as part of the steering intervention, which is part of the active driving assistant, a suite of safety features, and it's a bit annoying because he intervenes very harshly so it's not like a slow intervention and he doesn't warn them that there are no bright lights or shaking or anything like that, he just takes control and tries to push them back into the lane and for some of you , I'm not going to like that it's actually very stiff and sometimes you know it just can't read the lines or something and you don't want your x5 to just drift to the right, so, yeah, it's a little fake and intrusive on as for everyone else. safety features you have it all uh forward collision mitigation and warning lane departure warning uh active blind spot detection rear cross traffic alert you have front and rear parking sensors, so pretty much everything you have cruise control, but unfortunately the control Adaptive cruise is again optional so something else many manufacturers let you know is standard and free and still optional with the x5 so I've been driving sporty for a while plus the revs are a bit higher, I don't really notice much that the steering hasn't improved.

The heavier suspension didn't get any harsher, not that I can tell in the city, maybe if you're following this x5 you'll notice, but I don't feel any difference at the moment, so other than a bit of acceleration, that's what Next, let me. talk about trim levels and pricing and give my final thoughts on this x5 as far as trim levels go, the 40i comes with s drive which is rear drive only and starts at under sixty thousand dollars for x drive With all-wheel drive, it starts at sixty-two thousand dollars, the one I'm driving today has a convenience package added for about a thousand dollars.

Next up is a plug-in hybrid model, the xdrive45e and it starts at 65400, you get about 30 miles of electric range and you get better fuel economy. than a 40i for 2021 the 50i has been dropped so if you want more power you have to step up to the ridiculous 523 horsepower m50i which starts below 83k and if you want more power you can step up to the more ridiculous x5m with 600 horsepower and that starts at 105,000 to conclude, the 2021 bmw x5 is a fantastic midsize luxury suv and you will find very little competition that drives this well, the suspension is fantastic, as is the steering and acceleration, the cabin is also spacious, comfortable and very Quiet, the only thing holding the x5 back is the brake, feel the expensive optional features and for 2021, the removal of some packages that some may be looking for overall, I give the 2021 x5 a score out of 104. to see where you rank among your peers, visit driversonlyrankings.com, thanks for watching, like and subscribe to the channel for more reviews, news and first looks.