2018 BMW X5 Owner’s Manual

The 2018 BMW X5 is a mid-size crossover that attempts to marry practicality for family use with BMW’s notorious driver comfort. The German automaker certainly gets some things perfect with this SUV. For instance, the cabin is very spacious and features a beautiful design. However, the X5 simply isn’t up to standard when it comes to handling, and the third row is extremely disappointing and can barely fit children in the seats. If you’re looking for a 3-throw family crossover, you’d be better off with another model, such as the Volkswagen Atlas or the Honda Pilot.

The 2018 model doesn’t make many changes to the 2017 BMW X5. Notable changes include a change to the eight-speed automatic transmission and new tailpipe finishers on hybrid models. Other than this, the 2018 X5 is pretty much the same as its predecessors.

Under the hood, the 2018 X5 comes with three choices of engine. Buyers can choose from an incline six-cylinder, a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid and a diesel incline-six. All of these engines are very refined and satisfying to use and will propel the X5 from 0-60 in around 6 seconds, which is around the same as the Volvo XC90. The hybrid and diesel engines are also very economical.

However, the overall ride of the 2018 X5 is extremely disappointing. The suspension is far too firm, which makes the ride extremely uncomfortable. And the steering is very unrefined, making the X5 almost undrivable on tight backroads. BMW usually excels in this area, but they’ve let themselves down with the X5.

There is also a big problem with the interior of the X5. The third row is basically unusable, and you’d struggle to get 2 children in the back because it’s so small. This makes the X5 incredibly impractical, and it’s better to think of it as a 5 seater, rather than a 7 seater.