2020 BMW X5 Consumer Reviews
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
2021 BMW X5 xDrive 45e I have had my X5 for about a month now, with 1200 miles of local and road trip experience. I am about 80% happy with it. I bought this to replace my wife’s 2011 Lexus RX350. I wanted something that was about the same size with a bit better performance, and a hybrid. SIZE: My first and lasting impression is that this is a big vehicle, despite being a “mid size” SUV. It feels big, parking with that long hood is a challenge (get the surround view cameras!!), demands a big parking space, turning radius is wide. It also sits up pretty high…I shouldn’t have gotten those 20 inch wheels to add to that. Getting in and out is a bit of a step (I’m 5’10”, so not short), and note you can’t avoid rubbing against the doorsill, even if you don’t get the running board. (Note you can lower the height manually, but it goes back up when you next drive.) And despite being 6 inches longer and 2 wider than my old Lexus, storage space is 20% less, and barely more than with my Infiniti QX50, a much smaller SUV. Specs don’t say it, but that battery seems to take up a lot of space vs the non-hybrid X5. Having said all that, it does have lots of passenger room, and storage is still good. INTERIOR: Very plush. Certainly not the softest leather in the world…but I suppose it will wear well. Nice phone charger and lots of USB’s available. And buttons for direct access to the most used features….heat, radios, etc. Storage is ok, although it would be nice to have an official sun glass space, and the glove compartment door really cramps that space in there, so nothing wide will fit. But good seating space, and the contour seats I ordered are great, once you’ve figured out what all those seat buttons do. ELECTRONICS: Very extensive capabilities. I got the Premium pack, Driver’s Assistance, and Parking. But it is a challenge to learn them all….and I’m an engineering who likes this stuff. OK, when you learn it all, it is ok to operate and tells you what you need to know, and the displays are beautiful. But to get there, this is the first time I’ve had to really read the manual, and that in itself is a major challenge….very few diagrams and labels to work with, so I had to spend some time with the BMW expert at my dealer to get even the basics. While it is somewhat customizable, I still haven’t gotten it the way I prefer, and some things just aren’t available….like a Favorites list for my contacts. I have ended up doing a lot with the voice commands, which work pretty well. Gesture control is useless and I shut it off. Apple Car Play (fee?) and Android are included, but I don’t use them….bluetooth performance with my phone is fine. The driver’s display has several configurations, all of which have lots of information competing for your attention…..none of it is really bigger to stand out. Is that mileage number shown for gas, hybrid, combined????? What’s that symbol mean??? And the heads-up display is nice, unless you wear sunglasses in which case it is pretty invisible. COLORS/LOOKS: I hope you like black! BMW apparently thinks you’ll like one of their fully four choices of black/dark gray. Ok, there are also 2 whiles, one blue, and one green. Huh. No silver?? Other than white, everything is quite dark, so dirt shows up. Otherwise, it looks “ok”, but probably could do with a refresh. DRIVING: OK, this is why you buy a BMW. This thing is a pleasure to drive, especially on the highway. It is powerful (even in the mountains), smooth (ok, bumps can be a bit jarring, but not bad), handles well (responsive, and no big swaying on turns), and very quiet. And all those safety packages work great! Yes, the lane keeping can be aggressive, so I’ve turned that off for local driving. MPG: This is my first EV and I have been delighted with it. I get about 40 miles on electric, so better than the 30 mile spec. That is enough for most of my daily driving, but in some weeks I go beyond that and have been hitting about 50 mpg combined. Local driving with no battery seems to be in the 15-18 mpg range. On my recent 500 mile road trip through the mountains, I got about 35 mpg combined. (I used the adaptive mode in combination with the nav system to ration out the batteries for maximum efficiency.) CHARGING: BMW supplies a mobile charger that works with 110V Level 1 charging and takes about 24 hours to fully charge the vehicle. Not adequate for an overnight charge at all. I had to install 240V in my garage for Level 2 charging that gets the job done in about 6 hours…ok, not the 3-5 the spec says, but fine for overnight. CONCLUSION: As I said, I’m about 80% happy with my X5. My biggest issue is that it is just bigger than I expected, especially when parking it. But it is plush and drives well, and the EV performance is excellent.
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Critical Review
First BMW and traded up from '08, '11, '14, '17 Acura MDX. Kinda disappointed in new '19 X5 340i with M-sport package. Though heavy discounting was the incentive for us. Whiile driving dynamics are for the most excellent, the 2nd row seat is way too basic incl. crappiest cupholders and cheap first tier leather. No rear seat back-forth nor recline and very tight toe room. X5 is a good 4 inches wider than our previous MDX and you don't feel it in the interior at all - other than headroom. i'm comparing MDX Advance interior with Captain's Chairs second row, but still, obvious to me there is nothing especially luxurious about this interior other than dash/console. Again, stanard drive dynamics excellent, but extra width is significant problem here in urban L.A. Exterior color selection btw was ab ysmal. We luckily found phytonic blue with oyster leather. and we got sorta stuck with absurd 22" wheels which offer poorer ride quality than 20 or 21 imo albeit look cool. Should have gone with first pick X3, but after CR reveiw and price comparison figured why not ALTHOUGH HAD NOT STUPIDLY TRIED THE SEONCD ROW SEAT or even viewed the interior of either. Could have easily saved hundred bucks a month or more on 36 lease X3 and actually would have had higher level options, but liked TANK-like safety/size ultimately, except width which again is not noticeable in the interior at all. While it is exciting to own/lease our first BMW and while it may be the ultimate driving machine, the value for me just isn't there compared to Lexus RX-L or Volvo XC90. Finally, what really drove our decision is '20 Acura MDX turned out to be NO re-design yet and it was time to end lease on our '17 which in all fairness we had noticed wasn't nearly as exciting az our '14 MDX or '08 MDX. and new RDX seemed too small somehow and weird packaging re. Advance versus A-Spec. Sure, i'd probably have preferred higher end X5 than one we chose, BUT THAT WAS OUR BUDGET MAX. Relatedly, X7 is more impressive interior space and luxury IF YOU HAVE 95 smackers to spare. Our limit was 67.5 max max max.
2020 X5 Reviews
Showing 8 of 44 reviews.
Not a single issue or recall. Nothing but compliments from friends, family and strangers. Manhattan Green w/full leather interior. Just a b4autiful car. More power & room than I need and about 25-28 mpg. Will buy a new one when I hit a 100,000 miles.
For some time now my X5 has been "waiting for a replacement part" after it was struck while parked. After almost a month of offering no timeline on when the part would arrive, was told by BMW customer service rep my vehicle was first in line for the part ten days ago and that he would call me back in three days to tell me a more specific date. He never called as promised, and I have left two messages for him this week but he has not called back. I called leasing department to complain about paying on a lease for a car I cannot drive because BMW claims it does not have the part (a harness). The rep on that call told me too bad and advised me that the contract requires I still pay. What an annoying experience. Expected much more (or even something!) from BMW but they totally dropped the ball and don't seem to care based on their actions.
We now have over 18k miles on our 2022 X5. We have the SDrive 4.0. It is a pleasure to drive with no mechanical or other problems at all. We recently took a long road trip driving over 700 miles one way, mostly highway miles. The BMW X5 averaged over 29 miles per gallon for the trip. Around town we average 28.1 mpg. Very impressive fuel mileage. The vehicle has great acceleration and handles great. It is a fun vehicle to drive.
Please see review
This is my 4th BMW. The one was a 2013 BMW X5. I bought the 2022 after over 9 great years with the 2013 E70. So far the 2022 has been trouble free and has amazing fuel economy; it was also something of a relative bargain (I ordered it with several options for $70K) considering today's prices and the quality of the car. Shortcomings with respect to the 2013 X5 (E70): 1. No Soft Close doors. In my view, this was a big mistake on BMW's part and resulted in my trying out an Audi Q7 but that was like driving an iPhone. I really liked the soft close doors on my 2013. 2. No direction indication in rear view mirror. Yes, this is redundant with the navigation system but it was a very quick check. 3. No rubber side strips. My 2013 had rubber side strips that helped when opening doors in tight places. This is a stupid cost saving measure. 4. Wider than the 2013. Makes reversing out of my garage at an angle tricky. 5. Steering feel inferior to the 2013; that was the last year they had hydraulic steering. The 2022's steering is precise but numb. Improvements over the 2013: 1. Head-up display. Nice reminder of speed while keeping eyes on the road. 2. Much quieter and hard to tell what speed one is travelling at (see point above). 3. Better ride, more absorbent, less bounce. 4. More power at high speeds. No difference around town. 5. Amazing gas mileage; 24.5 mpg so far (mostly Nor Cal freeway). 6. Blind Spot Monitor, an excellent safety feature. Finally, I have to mention that for me the iDrive controlled by the knob on the console is a superb safety feature allowing me to use my phone, change radio stations, change car settings etc. without having to to take my eyes off the road. Once you get used to this touchscreen usage seems risky.
I have owned a few x5's and this one by far by passes all expectations. I am a proud owner and will continue to purchase the bmw brand in the future
This car has been in the shop more than on the road. Called BMW of North America about these issues and they didn’t care. Trading it in and moving on with different manufacture.
Powerful. Comfortable.
Thirsty. Too sedate.
It’s a little mushy. I have the air suspension. Very luxurious. Mine was delivered just as the pandemic began. We haven’t traveled as much as we planned when we ordered it.
Had this for a year never had a single problem very powerfull and amazing. MPG is avreag at about 80-90mph i get 15-20mpg on the phev model and at 75-80 i get 25-28mpg i was expecting somewhere around 50mpg but still pretty good for heavy suv
