Category: Sporting 4x4s 
Price Range: £40,820 to £54,155
Class-leading blend of performance and economy, excellent ride quality, refinement.
Quite expensive, optional third-row seats for children only, less fun to drive than the original.
A thoughtful and effective replacement, but some of the charm has gone.
Even the old X5 has a five star Euro NCAP safety rating so it's a given that this car will match this standard. However, BMW will be hoping for rather better than the single star awarded to the original for pedestrian impact protection. As you might expect the X5 comes laden with airbags, and all the latest active and passive safety systems.
The only issue is that surrounding all SUVs: simple physics says that cars with high weights and lofty centres of gravity are less agile than those that are lighter and closer to the ground. An SUV may or may not look after you spectacularly well in the event of an impact, but until bodies like Euro NCAP start assessing primary safety - a car's ability to avoid a crash in the first place - the suggestion that large SUVs like this are less able to dodge out of the way of trouble will remain.
