New BMW X5 test drive Rivalta

Eye-catching off-road attributes and assured performance on rough ground combined with the premium characteristics and signature dynamics of a BMW: this was the blueprint with which BMW launched the all-new Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) category almost 20 years ago. The first example of the breed was the BMW X5, making it the founding father of the BMW X model family and the market leader in the premium all-wheel drive segment - a status it maintains to this day.

More than 2.2 million examples of the BMW X5 have been sold across its three model generations. And the new car puts down another marker in terms of design and technology. The new BMW X5 will again be built at BMW Plant Spartanburg in the US state of South Carolina. This centre of expertise for BMW X models also handles production of the BMW X3, BMW X4, BMW X6 - and will soon add the BMW X7 to its roster as well.

A wheelbase 42 mm longer than its predecessor's (now 2,975 millimetres), a 36 mm increase in vehicle length (to 4,922 millimetres), an extra 66 mm of width (now 2,004 millimetres) and a 19 mm increase in height (to 1,745 millimetres) give the new BMW X5 both an imposing appearance and generous levels of space for passengers and their luggage. The latest X5 retains the hallmark proportions of an SAV, but the pared-back design language - clean surfacing and precise lines accentuating the car's robustness, elegant poise and muscular authority - is new. A powerfully sculpted bonnet, a short front overhang, lightly hexagonal wheel arches and the dynamic sweep of the roofline provide further references to the sporty yet rugged character of the new X5.