Is It Weird That I'm Lusting After An Early BMW X5?
CTzens: it’s confession time. During one of my recent trawls through the classifieds, I found myself looking at early first-generation BMW X5s. Brought on partly by seeing them crop up a surprising amount of times in shonky films that spend one week in theatres before appearing on Netflix, I now haveuncomfortable feelings for the SUV.
A lot of it is to do with the way the older X5s look. SUVs seem to be becoming ever more blingtastic, but in comparison, the ‘E53’ X5 has a pleasantly chunky, utilitarian aesthetic to it. It’s another of Chris Bangle’s designs that seems to have aged rather nicely over time, while also losing its reputation for being a car bought solely by pompous douchebags.
If you want, you can have one of these with a 315bhp 4.4-litre V8 for a useful 7.6sec 0-60mph, or if you spend a bit more, a ‘4.8is’ that’ll do the benchmark sprint in just 5.8. But me? I’d be happy with the considerably less powerful, silky smooth 3.0-litre M54 straight-six.
The E39-based SUV first came along in 1999, with an emphasis on providing decent on-road manners as opposed to Land Rover-style all-terrain domination. SUVs that drive like actual cars are available in abundance these days, but back then the X5 was nothing short of revolutionary. So it’s largely responsible for the modern car buyer’s fanatical SUV obsession, but that still doesn’t stop me liking these things.
Despite their age, early X5s aren’t going for peanuts, but they’re not exactly expensive either. Take this 3.0-litre example, which is yours for £2495. Not bad at all for a car with a reasonable 100,000 miles on the clock, but it will inevitably be more painful to your wallet to run than to buy. And that doesn’t put me off either.
So what’s the verdict, readers? Have I gone mad, or do you see the appeal? Let me know in the comments…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I hate design of this car so much.
Doesn’t appeal to me. First generation ML and X5 draw my attention away from them
I’m so glad it’s not me who wants one
I own a e70 x5 m50d and to be honest its the best car ive ever owned and it accelerates and handles like a dream. But ive always had a soft spot for yhe e53 theres something about it that made it look more beefy and angrier than an e70 but still i would go for the 4.4 or 4.8is but if your torque your after dont go for the 3.0i the 30d is ok but still lacks the noise and the hp but still im happy that you like the x5
Now what if I told you that you could pick up an early Porsche Cayenne Turbo for under $15k? That’s 450 horsepower.
I recently had a similar experience…
While looking into a winter use e46, I was considering a low mileage 330xi then it occurred to me that one of these could be way way better. I imagine beefier tires, tube numbers, maybe some minor weight loss without sacrificing to much of the luxury. (Or gut it why not) I think you would have yourself a pretty fun machine
My dad had a 2003 x5 3.0xi for 10 years. It was great until he misplaced a light bulb, which shorted and lit the whole engine bay up. In flames.
I agree. I’ve been keen on them for a few years but the past 2 months I’ve been looking daily at the 4.8is. It’s driving me nutts.
I love my 4.4i E53. Newer X5’s don’t drive as good.
Why tho? All X series BM’s looks like sh*t. Makes me want to puke just by looking at them. Not to mention that in order to buy one that means you want to compensate for something being small.