2014 BMW X5 Review

Don’t get us wrong, the ride is fine, but search for finesse and you won’t find it. Most bumps and road irregularities are handled with ease and yet the larger ones put the car in unexpected difficulty.

We moved to the back seeking comfort during the test, but the experience seemed a bit more fidgety than up front, if anything. This convinced us that staying with the 19-inch wheels of the M50d was the thing to do, so don’t go for the optional 20-inch units.

You would imagine that the 2015 BMW X5 trades a part of the comfort for a sporty feel, but that’s not quite true.

Despite this being an M Performance model, we never quite spent too much time in “Sport”, since the suspension sent the little irregularities of the road through the body. While on the highway the car doesn’t let you feel the speed, this suspension sensitivity makes you feel you’re going faster on B-roads.

This also meant that we had to use the steering in “Comfort”, which killed it entirely. In this mode, the suspension gets significantly better. Alas, you still can’t escape the feeling that you’re driving a heavy car.

In fact, we’ve sensed this issue with just about any modern BMW we’ve driven recently, from the 5 Series upwards. The mass of the X5 and the air springs at the back only make things worse.

Fortunately, the xDrive system comes to save the day. In default configuration, the system sends 60 percent of the torque to the rear, like it always has on X5s. Should the sensors detect slip, the systems can send full power to any of the axles.

Aside from the multi-plate clutch that controls the torque transfer between the front and rear axles, the M50d’s rear diff comes with a trick. The aforementioned Dynamic Performance Control implies an electronic LSD impersonation, which brings a torque vectoring function.

In case this sounds familiar, you’ve seen it first on the previous generation X5 M. For the same purpose, BMW offers the Automatic Differential Brake, which selectively brakes the spinning wheel through the bends.