Car and Motorcycle

Okay, okay, so the BMW 7 Series is BMW’s best luxury car. It’s brand new, has more entertainment screens than a Buffalo Wild Wings and can park itself. It’s the unanimous Bavarian luxury king. However, the 7 Series is very expensive, can only seat four, can’t leave pavement without getting stuck and doesn’t have much cargo space.

The BMW X5 xDrive35d, on the other had, does have excellent cargo space, can do a bit of soft-roading and can seat seven. It also has a diesel engine under the hood, giving it a range of 625 miles, which makes it an excellent road trip companion. I know, we just talked about howAmericans buy too many SUVs, but the diesel-powered X5 is one of the few worth buying.

In a recent Motor Trend test, it was determined that the BMW X5 xDrive35d can go 111 miles further than the eco-favorite Toyota Prius. This makes the X5 xDrive 35d quite a good economy car, actually, as you’re getting a lot for one tank of fuel. It also has a ton of room inside, more luxuries than anyone could ever want, handles great and even has good performance. All of that diesely goodness comes at a starting price of $57,700. That’s $23,000 less than the base model 7 Series. So the X5 35d seems like the better all-around luxury car, as it can do more and fit more while costing less and not being much less luxurious.

The BMW X5 has always been an excellent car. It’s become overshadowed by some fan-favorites, like the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover, lately. But in a recent test, we figured out that the X5 was still the overall best SUV in class because there really isn’t anything it does poorly. Sure it can’t off-road like a Range Rover, but no one’s even going to try even if it could.

The X5 M gets all the attention in the headlines and people either praise its lunacy and forget about the standard X5, or condemn it for being a monstrosity and associate that with the standard X5. It seems as if some have forgotten how good the BMW X5 really is. With the xDrive35d being the best version of it.

The diesel engine in the X5 just makes so much sense. Is it the fastest or most powerful engine option? No, of course not. But no one’s earning pink-slips with any X5, M or otherwise, so performance is somewhat irrelevant. The BMW X5 xDrive35d offers good performance, excellent economy for an SUV, a silky smooth experience and enough range to make cross country trips a lot faster. It’s also relatively inexpensive and comes packed with a lot of luxury. It really is hard to beat as an all-rounder.

So while the new 7 Series eats up headlines for its, admittedly brilliant, high levels of luxury, the BMW X5 xDrive35 is the real winner here. Sure, it’s nice to have screens inside of screens and heated armrests and a starry-looking sunroof. But it’s nicer to have a luxury car that can accommodate all of the things that you will actually need in everyday life. Maybe the BMW X5 xDrive40e changes the game when it debuts, but until then, if I was in the market for a luxurious BMW, the X5 xDrive35d would be my choice.