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Is the New BMW X5 xDrive25d Worth Buying?

Despite the fact that automakers have made lighter SUVs with much more efficient engines over the past couple of years, there's no getting around the fact that an X5 or ML drinks fuel at a phenomenal rate which might put even the richest owners off from taking some journeys or even buying the vehicle in the first place.
BMW X5 xDrive30d 1 photo
Photo: BMW
With its brand new full-size luxo-barge BMW has thought of a couple of ways to get around this problem, one of which is a diesel. Before, the smallest and cheapest diesel you could get on the X5 was a single-turbo 3-liter in the xDrive30d. However, the F15 generation is now available with the xDrive25d (it also comes in sDrive25d rear-wheel drive only), powered by the same twin-turbo 2-liter offered on many other BMW models.

The first X5 in history with a 2-liter diesel engine has 218 PS and 450 Nm of torque. It's good for 0 to 100 km/h in a respectable 8.2 seconds and has a top speed of 220 km/h (137 mph), enough for leisurely autobahn cruising.

Of course, that's nowhere near the hot hatch rivaling 6.8 seconds you get with a xDrive30d. But the 2-liter X5 is mean for one particular category of smart buyer, who values keeping cash in his pocket rather then worrying how fast he can accelerate at the lights.

In Germany, the X5 xDrive25d starts at €54,700, which is €4,700 cheaper than the same car with a 3-liter diesel. That can get you LED headlights and a nicer set of wheels. This difference is exacerbated in markets like Norway, where taxation makes owning larger engined cars practically impossible.

So what about the driving stuff? Well, the X5 is lighter than before, but still weighs 2 tons. That means the 218 PS engine has to do a lot of work to get moving. Fortunately, keeping the 25d in its perfect rev band is not your job, but that of a computer and the excellent 8-speed automatic gearbox. Fuel economy is only better by half a liter per 100 kilometers compared to a 3-liter and you're never going to notice that in the real world.

So what what to know is what you guys would do. Do you go for the model that's cheap to tax and buy or the safe choice?

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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