2003 BMW X5 4.6is

Think of it as a BMW M5 station wagon on stilts. The motor magicians from Bavaria stalled for years on whether to do SUVs until 1999. Then, predictably—and to a performance driver's delight—the company introduced the "BMW of sport-utilities." No, that's not an oxymoron (although BMW prefers to call the X5 an SAV for sport-activity vehicle).

The X5 manages to capture unmistakable BMW styling in the requisite boxy SUV mold.

Sport-utilities traditionally come with prominent disclaimers not to drive the vehicle even moderately aggressively. Tear into a turn with most truck-like (and truck-based) SUVs and your stomach will rise up to meet your neck. There's a feeling of lightness followed by your inner ear frantically signaling that the vehicle is in imminent danger of lifting a wheel or two and turning turtle. The very qualities that make an SUV useful in the boonies—long suspension travel, a high center of gravity, much-too-firm shocks and meaty tires—render it nerve-racking on pavement.


So what's a sports car owner to do?


BMW has the answer. The X5 is BMW's third-best seller. Built at the prodigious rate of 520 units a day during two shifts at BMW's South Carolina plant alongside the popular Z3 roadsters, the X5 comes in three flavors: a 225-bhp six-cylinder 3.0i ($40,195 MSRP with a manual transmission), a 290-bhp 4.4i V-8 at $50,645, and the 340-hp high-performance 4.6is for $67,495.


Besides its powerful V-8, the 4.6is model has a sport-programmed, adaptable automatic transmission, sport suspension, high-performance 20-inch wheels and tires, a specially designed interior, and stacks of standard equipment such as BMW's Park Distance Control (so you don't nail neighbors when you parallel park), a premium 12-speaker stereo, leather upholstery, a power glass moonroof and xenon headlights.