2015 BMW X5 M front

The BMW X5 M is a vehicle that is perplexing. Seen through the eyes of a purist, it's everything a sport BMW should not be. Which would be to say an SUV -- it is enormous, hefty, and--duh. On the flip side, it's also quickly, an aspect that appeals very much to our primal instincts.

Many consumers that are well-off, nevertheless, endure no such inner struggle. Conditioned by years of getting their every whim catered to by producers and marketers, they see the style of a 5299-pound high-end family wagon uniting mind bending performance amounts with conventional day to day utility as a one that is completely reasonable.

Large M Power
No slouch, that initial BMW X5 M nabbed first place in several high performance SUV faceoffs, and it set quite a high bar with this new X5 M to clear.

To simply help put it over the top, BMW fortified the latest version with its latest 4.4-liter V8. Using some of double-scroll turbochargers and variable valve timing and lift, it makes 567 hp, improved the production of the preceding X5 M's 4.4-liter V8 by 12, with torque increasing by 53 lb-feet to 553. If those numbers seem familiar, it is because the exact same engine also lives underneath the hood of the polarizing, incline-backed BMW X6 M.

2015 BMW X5 M back

You Buy It, You Overcome It
In theory, running the X5 M in a polite manner is not completely impossible.

The thing is that after you get your first taste of the torque rush given by the powerful V8, for raising hell that divine inside becomes order essential. The run from zero to 60 miles per hour have only 3.8 seconds and the quarter mile flashes by in 12.3, this brain-warping BMW tripping the lights at 115 miles per hour. The answer is almost instantaneous, with all 553 lb-feet of torque accounted for by 2200 rpm and present.

The X5 M is the king of the luxurious-SUV drag strip. But change is continuous, and both of these makers already are ushering more-powerful versions to their lines: Porsche's 570-hp 2016 Cayenne Turbo S hit the roads before this season, as well as the 577-hp Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S coupe is not far behind (although the latter is more a competition for the X6 M).

In the X5 M, shifts come by means of a fresh eight-speed torque converter automatic that, unfortunately, still takes orders from the clumsy selector that takes a lot more than several of BMW uses to give to muscle memory. Steering wheel-mounted shift paddles can be found for when the mood hits, but the transmission is totally content to snap off shifts alone, even though the exhaust note during full throttle upshifts sounds just like a NASCAR-level impact wrench.

Spin the X5 M darts in your intended direction together with the vigor of a vehicle that is substantially lighter, as well as the steering wheel abuptly. Body movements constantly stay in check, as well as the wagon that is large keeps an even keel throughout maneuvers that might have been cause to abandon ship in SUVs from just a couple of years back. A few of the credit for the behaviour of the X5 M would go to Dynamic Performance Control and its xDrive system. On the skidpad, the X5 M again defied expectations, posting 0.96 grams, a lateral-acceleration amount that places it in league with authentic sports cars. Braking also wowed, using the stop from 70 mph needing just 152 feet.

Those amounts 'd be tempered by us by mentioning the gloomy 13 mpg fuel economy that is entire we recorded, but actually, at an as-tested price of $115,495, is that of even small issue?

Using its indisputable operation bona fides, spacious and trendy inside, and day to day competences, the X5 M mostly succeeds in its mission to be all things at the same time. And while we are appreciative of the measures BMW had required to produce a significant SUV act the purists among us are somewhat conflicted. As for those that are able to afford it, the is mostly immaterial. They are not merely sad that it can exist.