The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Great powertrains
- Physics-defying X5 M
- Roomy cabin
- Split tailgate
- 40-mile plug-in hybrid range
Dislikes
- Climate control in touchscreen
- Packages can add up
- Expensive
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2024 BMW X5 embraces electrification across the board, introduces a new cockpit interface, and comes with more standard features.
What kind of vehicle is the 2024 BMW X5? What does it compare to?
The 2024 BMW X5 luxury SUV seats five passengers but it’s sized big enough to compete with other three-row luxury models such as the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class and Genesis GV80. In M grades, it vies with the Porsche Cayenne.
Is the 2024 BMW X5 a good SUV?
The 2024 X5 returns with even more standard tech and convenience features, as well as a standard mild-hybrid powertrain. The tech upgrades keep it fresh, and the style and powertrain tweaks should help it maintain its edge over luxury rivals. The updates may boost last year’s TCC Rating of 6.8 out of 10, but we won’t adjust the rating until we drive it this summer. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2024 BMW X5?
A major refresh welcomes the 2024 BMW X5, with the introduction of a new user interface headlined by a 14.9-inch touchscreen. The front and rear ends get a mild makeover, and electrification spans the engine lineup for less emissions and greater power.
This generation of the X5 launched in 2019, and the thorough refresh modernizes BMW’s bestselling model on the inside and out. BMW turns up the corners of its face into a smile with vertical air intakes that move the wide and low look into a chunkier SUV vibe. BMW didn’t go full beaver teeth on the grille, as it did on its M3/M4, opting instead to just illuminate it, if desired. The narrower LED headlights represent the biggest change, with arrow-shaped DRLs that double as indicators sweeping to the side. A thinner taillight design parts like lips kissing the back end.
Inside marks a much bigger change, with a horizontal theme stretching open the cockpit. Like other new BMWs, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 14.9-inch touchscreen curves under a single pane glass toward the driver. Most of the climate control buttons migrate into the touchscreen, leaving only a tiny band of controls for the hazards, defrosters, and volume knob. Slim center vents sit in between the touchscreen and climate bar, jutting out as the rest of the central dash recedes to the corners and underscored by a light bar. A controller dial and drive mode buttons remain in the console, which now has a push button gear selector instead of a lever.
2024 BMW X5 engine options
The selector engages a revised turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that controls the start/stop function and cuts engine power while coasting in Eco mode. This new powertrain makes 40 hp and 51 lb-ft of torque more than its predecessor, to 375 hp and as much as 398 lb-ft with the mild-hybrid engaged. BMW quotes a 0-60 mph time of 5.2 seconds. Only the base X5 sDrive40i is rear-wheel drive; every other X5 is all-wheel drive and comes with an 8-speed automatic transmission. It rides on 20-inch wheels with run-flat tires, though 21-inch wheels with performance run-flat tires and 22-inch wheels with performance tires are options.