2024 BMW X5 XDrive50e Review: Setting the Bar

Forget its excellent electrics or magnificent Ms: this X5 is the best representation of what modern BMW is all about.

The 2024 BMW X5 xDrive50e is a handsome, luxurious, ultra-composed SUV with an eye on the future. Sure, it’s got the trademark inline-six under the hood—the best Bavarian engine—but a seamless shack-up with an electric motor makes it friendlier on both your wallet and polar bears. This SUV is still remarkably good to drive: so much so, I struggle to justify its V8-powered alternatives.

The X5 went under the knife for ’24, emerging from its Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) with sharper detailing front and rear. The headlights are over an inch thinner, and the inner elements now form outward-facing arrows, which double as the turn signals. It looks slick in motion. There’s a similar story out back, with a sideways-Y motif in the taillights. A handful of new wheel designs and a revised air vent aft of the front wheels rounds out the aesthetic changes. This particular model comes bathed in the pretty Ametrine Metallic, which covers the spectrum from near-black to sweet cherry depending on available light.

While the other engines see their own upgrades, the plug-in xDrive50e easily earns the Most Improved award. Building off the outgoing xDrive45e, this year’s model sees more power from both sources, resulting in a stout 483 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque—improvements of 94 and 73, respectively. In a fit of German thoroughness, the Bavarian engineers have also slung a nearly 5-percent larger capacity battery pack under the floor (now 25.7 usable kilowatt-hours). While it misses out on fast-charging, the rate is now doubled, to 7.4 kW. The official line is 40 all-electric miles (64 kilometers)—but that’s not accurate.

My Canadian-spec tester was indicating over 83 km (51.5 mi) on around 80-percent charge. Theoretically, it could’ve done the magical 62 miles (100 km) on that perfect late-summer day. The X5 is easier to keep in all-electric mode too, as the synchronous motor now spits out 194 hp all on its own. Of course, highway driving is still an EV’s kryptonite, and it’s the high-speed stuff that ultimately cuts my electron-only range test short of the big number. Basically, unless you’re caning the poor thing everywhere, it will sail past that official number in easy near-silence. Or not, if you prefer some Hans Zimmer-produced backing soundtrack.

Because this is a European brand, the X5 also has a clever battery-hold function. We don’t have emission-free zones ‘round these parts, but the ability to call up the 3.0-liter to handle the show on its own is more efficient, leaving the battery to handle all the city stuff. Drivers can set a desired state of charge (SoC) and the battery will never below it. If you’re really wanting more juice, there’s the option to use the I6 to build back charge—with a corresponding increase in fuel economy, of course.

With the electric assist, this X5 is quick. I’m talking as quick to 62 mph (100 km/h) as the original X5 M was a decade ago. With an adaptive air suspension, it rides better than that one ever did, too. The X5 PHEV is well-mannered: it’s a hefty beast at over 5,511 pounds (2,500 kilograms), but seldom feels it. Turn in is sharp and body roll is pleasantly rare. All the while, the X5 muffles most every outside sound before it can upset the cabin, save for the distant thrum of the inline-six firing up. This PHEV has flawless start-stop integration as well—not something I can say of the last Stuttgart vehicle I drove.

Kick the X5 into Sport Mode and the gas engine downs a Red Bull in preparation for party time, now always on. The steering wheel gains a bit more resistance, but in the X5, it feels natural, not put-on. This is a fun package when you want it to be, the instant-access torque from the electric motor an addictive surge.

The LCI brings the curved, conjoined display found in so many other BMW models. It sits atop a redesigned dashboard that is also familiar in its shape and combination of soft-touch, wood, and brushed shiny bits. I like the extravagant speakers; I’m not sold on the odd X5 graphic. This tester’s Silverstone vegan leather would be hell to keep clean in winter, but it’s pretty and suitably soft. The sport seats are very supportive, but still offer good long-distance comfort, along with heat and ventilation. Space is wholly adult-friendly for five, but no more; the battery placement means no third row.

That curved display runs iDrive 8.0; a solid infotainment system in terms of quickness and first-level ease of use, but cumbersome once you’re dealing with the sub-sub-menus. Traditionalists will hate the removal of physical buttons, too. At least the voice assistant is accurate, and responds well to natural language. The instrument cluster is an altogether more pleasant affair, as is the head-up display. There are all manner of driver assists here too, including BMW’s smooth Highway and Traffic Jam Assistants.

The 2024 BMW X5 xDrive50e is almost annoyingly overqualified, a four-wheeled polymath in the Donald Glover mold. Are there more affordable models? Yes. Quicker ones? That too.

None of them match the exceptional scores across the board that this PHEV manages, however. In fact, I’m not even sure other brands have an answer for this one, either. If you want the best—and don’t need a third row—this is it.

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