Island Life Magazine Ltd June/July 2007 | Page 122

life - MOTORING

The new
BMW X5:
Unsurpassed
agility, luxury
and versatility
Price: From £39,540 to £49,980
Engines: 3-litre six-cylinder
petrol or diesel; V8 petrol
Transmission: Sixspeed automatic
Performance: (3.0 diesel)
0 to 62mph in 8.3 seconds;
134mph;32.5mpg official average
CO2: (3.0 diesel) 231g/km

Snows BMW
Forest Road, Newport, IW
Tel: [phone]

Snows BMW have the latest
offering from the X5 range
proudly sat in their showroom.
Many would ask why have BMW
launched a new X5 after selling
600,000 earlier models, what was
wrong with the previous model?
Well, it seems that BMW have a
strict policy to upgrade models
every 7 years come rain or shine,
so here we go!
While the new X5 may look like
a mere update, I promise you its
quite a different car. For a start it’s

122

larger in every direction, it now
has a 7 seat option (around a
£1000) and of course BMW have
introduced a sensible 3.0-litre
diesel model with a price tag of
just over forty grand.
Build quality is up to BMW’s
usual high standard although one
annoying thing about the car is
that you cannot rest your hand on
the new pistol-grip gear selector as
it’s very, very sensitive!
Performance wise the new
X5 is bigger, but slower it’s not.
BMW
have
achieved
this through a careful
and clever programme
of
weight
reduction,
using
aluminium
for
items such as the bonnet
and
suspension
and
advanced
lightweight
steels elsewhere in its
construction. Fitted with
the 3.0-litre diesel engine
it will hit 62mph in just

8,3sec, on its way to a top
speed of 134mph.
There are many family
saloons on the road today
that quite frankly won’t take
you any further on a gallon
of fuel than this new X5, so
we cannot quibble about
consumption.
As for depreciation, even the
old X5’s in their sixth year are
commanding good money, so
expect this X5 to lose very little
money at least in the short to
medium term.
Space wise four six-foot
adults can now be housed an