Look for BMW Canada to bring the V-8 version of its 2000 X5 Sports Activity Vehicle to the market for something less than $70,000 later this fall and for it to feature aggressive road ability as well as reasonable off-road skill.
A sticker price of almost $70,000 for the X5 4.4i sounds like a lot -- and it is -- but it's actually less than it would cost if the marketing mavens in the company's Whitby, Ontario, offices had done a straight currency exchange with the US-built vehicle. South of the border, the Spartanburg, South Carolina-built vehicle will retail for $49,970.
Next Spring a less expensive X5 with an inline-6 engine will be added to the mix in the U.S., but it's not likely that Canada will get a similar version.Whatever its price, the X5 will feature serious on road handling skills, which will separate it from most of the other sport-utish vehicles on the road. I can promise you that on the strength of watching some early models tear around a German test track a few weeks ago as I prepared to watch one be crashed so I could see the vehicle's safety levels.
BMW Canada's Tobias Nickel is anxious for everyone to appreciate that "The X5's unitized body, Dynamic Stability Control and overall handling make the drive unmistakably BMW."
At the same time, says Nickel, "The vehicle's dimensions, suspension and all-wheel-drive capability clearly separate the X5 from anything the Munich auto manufacturer has ever brought to market. The X5, by its very nature, represents a technological evolution for the BMW marque and an entirely unique driving experience in the segment."