How do you get ahead in life? How do get to own things like a BMW X5, which is in looks, price point and fuel consumption, conspicuously successful.
Sitting aloft in the BMW X5, breathing the rarefied air from BMW’s climate control, I was listening to a recording of a 1930s speech by Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich. Rolling along gently in slow traffic, I noted that the X5 was offering to save the contents of this CD to the car’s entertainment system.
When the BMW techies designed this function they probably imaged people saving their favourite music ; never again would anyone be half way down the Auto Bahn without their copy of David Hasslehoff’s top 10 classic “Looking for Freedom.”
But a millionaire I know drives to France a lot, listening as he whisks along in his X5 competitor, the Audi Q7, to audio story books. Thrillers mainly. And another some-time millionaire I know (he’s a make it, lose it, make it kind of guy) loves personal development audio programs.
So when you buy a suitably specced-up, used X5, you could also be acquiring a load of fascinating stuff from the Harvard Management Review to a Fantasy Football pod cast. Allowing you to get inside the mind and interests of new X5 buyers. Listen to enough and you might end up with a mind that thinks the same way. Then you can buy a new one.
Just don’t buy Wayne Rooney’s old one – he’s not paid for the way he thinks.
Which means buying a BMW is no longer buying a car; it’s buying into an elite club. And BMW are doing all they can to extend this, not just with their cars, but with their exclusive online BMW owners portal and ‘ConnectedDrive’ technology that offers you in-car WAP access to personalised news, weather and a concierge that can tell you about places of interest from hotels and restaurants, to museums or historical attractions. The information is then sent to your car and used in your navigation system to plan a route to your destination. It really is a club. But it’s a club that just happens to drive well.
True, the X5 is a little lumbering off the line. But it’s far better than the Volvo XC90, which is another direct rival. It also has more poise round the corners of B-roads than any other big 4x4 I have driven – far better than all the Land Rovers that are very ‘roll-happy.’
It borrows from the Range Rover playbook in terms of practicality, with the split tailgate that folds down to provide easy access for pushchairs, or a bench to watch the point-to-point.
While the Range Rover sort of slides down the motorway, like its running on silk, the BMW more hunkers down. But that’s not to say it is any less refined – it isn’t – it’s just a very different driving experience. Mainly this is down to the cabin design - the BMW is more cosseting and dark, the Range Rover more light and open.
Fuel consumption wise, it manages a 38 MPG in the 3.0 diesel, which compared to the Mercedes M-Class’s combined average of 32 is 6 MPG better and its 13 MPG better than the Range Rover’s 25.
Off-road, well, I have no idea. I mainly drove in and out of Chelsea and posh suburbs like all the rich guys I know.
What’s the market like?
There are up to 2,000 X5s on the open market most of the time, ranging form the nearly new (and quite expensive) to very high mileage ‘bangers.’
Looking at 3 year old cars, there are around 500 and diesels out number petrols 10 to 1. At this age, the worst of the depreciation is done, although there is a bit to go. If you really want to enjoy a huge car for not much money, you need to wait until the X5 is five years old (or buy the older shape).
What else can this budget buy?
A 3 year old 3.0D X5, for around £30,000 with around 30,000 average miles will buy a 2 year old Land Rover Discovery (albeit with similar mileage) or a 2 year old Mercedes M-Class, again with similar mileage.
What this shows is that the BMW X5 is the brand to be seen in.
Summary
Buying a BMW is no longer just buying a car, but buying into a club. This club also provides a luxury driving experience, sporty handling and decent fuel economy.
Words: Matthew Tumbridge