2007 Isuzu i-series
Isuzu's i-series line of pickup trucks is based on the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon compact... Read More
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The sporting credentials of BMW’s X5 have never been in question — but its utility credentials often left a bit to be desired.
Prospective buyers who needed
third-row seating had to look elsewhere. And the original X5’s cargo-carrying
ability was not much of an improvement over a typical mid-size sedan. So
although it could leave most mid-sized SUVs tumbling end over end if they even
tried to hold the same line in a high-speed corner, the X5 couldn’t hold as much
gear or as many people.
It’s no surprise that the new ’07 X5 is bigger
(though at first glance, it’s hard to tell, so subtle are the alterations to
wheelbase and sheetmetal), can be ordered with third-row seating, and now comes
with a much stronger 260-horsepower standard engine. Too, its upgrade V-8 has
been punched out to 4.8 liters and 350 horses from last year’s 4.4-liter, 315-hp
engine.
What is surprising is that the X5’s sports car–quality
handling characteristics have not been hobbled by any of these changes. It’s
typical that as a vehicle grows in size and becomes more “mainstream”
and “family friendly,” it also becomes more like the typical middle-aged
clientele that needs mainstream and family-friendly vehicles. Once-sharp
reflexes and a firm suspension set up for enthusiast drivers are swapped for
drop-down DVD entertainment systems for the kids and power-operated toys for the
grown-ups.
The X5 has an abundance of the latter, including a
“simplified” version of the infamous iDrive mouse controller (more on that
below), available heads-up display and an electrically activated gear shifter
similar to the system first used on the 7-Series sedan (more on that below,
also).
But as I experienced firsthand during two days of flogging
new X5s (both the base six-cylinder powered 3.0si and the V-8 X5 4.8i) on some
of
