Signature BMW Style, Function and Quality in the Interior

In standard form, the X5 interior offers generous space, elegant and distinctive design, and fine materials. The X5 M further adds to this ambiance with special details of esthetics and function; beyond its own special standard equipment, it also offers an appealing selection of optional enhancements, some of them created by the BMW Individual materials team.

Up front, the BMW X5 M features a special M instrumentation and standard Aluminum Shadow trim across the dash as well as on the doors and front center console. Optional interior trim materials are BMW Individual's high-gloss Piano Black, a red/brown-tone Eucalyptus wood or the BMW M Carbon Leather.

M sport front seats are standard; beyond the usual fore-aft, height and angle adjustments, these include power adjustment of backrest width and head-restraint height plus multi-stage heating; BMW's lavish 20-way Comfort seats are included in the Active Ventilated Seats Package. A fold-down rear center armrest is standard.

M-Specific Instrumentation

BMW M's philosophy of sporting vehicles comes through just as clearly in the Ms' cockpit as it does in its performance, handling and exterior design. This AWD sports vehicle has M-specific instrumentation that includes a variable tachometer rpm limit (redline), specific functional displays and white instrument illumination. And naturally, it's standard-equipped with multi-adjustable M sport seats and the compact-diameter, thick-rimmed M sport steering wheel.

Confident, stress-free driving is fortified by innovative driver-assistance systems. BMW's dynamic cruise control can apply the brakes lightly to maintain the set speed on downhill runs; Xenon Adaptive headlights help the driver see around curves at road speeds, and cornering lights perform a similar function at city corners. Auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors, a digital compass in the interior mirror, and privacy glass aft of the B-pillar are likewise standard in the Ms as are BMW's Online Information Services, Real Time Traffic Information and Voice Command. As in all current BMWs, rain-sensing windshield wipers and automatic switch-on of headlights at dusk are also standard.

4th-Generation iDrive

With the launch of iDrive seven years ago, BMW initiated a new direction in the control of vehicle features and functions. With a multi-menu color display and a single console-mounted controller, the potentially crowded landscape of buttons and knobs was supplanted by a computer-logic control path. In the meantime, iDrive has progressed through two evolutionary stages; now, a 4th generation adds an 80-gigabyte media server and other features to build BMW's pioneering system into a more capable, more intuitive, and simpler interface.

In the BMW X5 M, iDrive employs a high-resolution 8.8-in. control display and includes GPS Navigation standard. Positioned at dash center, the display advances standards for logical, readily understood menus and attractive graphics. The controller has been refined for comfortable, intuitive selection and activation of functions via standardized turn, push and tilt motions while being augmented with more direct-select keys.

Large-format display, preview maps and full-screen images. The display's new 1280 x 480-pixel resolution means remarkably true-to-life images. New menu structures, too, make finding desired functions easier.

BMW Search

BMW introduces access to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) database search capability within the vehicle: Subscribers to the optional BMW Assist Convenience Plan can access "BMW Search" to quickly find a desired business with just a key word, benefiting from the world's most famous online search engine. After finding the desired information, users can immediately start route guidance or a hands-free call with the user's Bluetooth-linked phone at just a simple push of a button.

BMW Search was recently enhanced to delivery real-time fuel prices at nearby gas stations, major stock indices from BLOOMBERG, and access to weather forecasts for the next three days. BMW Search saves time and reduces frustration with destination entry on the Navigation System. The information you look up is continuously updated by Google. "BMW Search" is the next logical and consequential development of the link between the automobile and the Internet.

Introduction of Twin Turbo Technology

With the BMW X5 M and X6 M models comes a spectacular expansion of the BMW M Power engine heritage. A brand-new powerplant was developed, one that in terms of power and torque assumes the top rung of the BMW M Power ladder.

To achieve a performance capability befitting BMW M vehicles, an entirely new and unique engine design has been developed. Internally designated the S63B44O0, it introduces twin scroll twin turbochargers with a "crossover" exhaust manifold that serves both of the V-8's two cylinder banks to achieve wonderfully spontaneous throttle response, a linear power curve and an unusually high and flat torque curve. In numbers, these accomplishments come to 555 hp, peaking at 6000 rpm; and 500 lb-ft. of torque maintained all the way from 1500 to 5650 rpm. Such statistics are ideal for these two M vehicles.

Further engineering specifics of this BMW M Power engine are found in the pistons, camshafts and an almost entirely new cooling system: to provide cooling appropriate to the dramatically high power output, the system originally developed for the X6 xDrive50i, the 750i/Li models and the 550i GT has been modified and expanded. Among other modifications, the coolant tank in the V-space between the cylinder banks was eliminated, reducing the quantity of coolant and the system's weight. Other details include a second, lower-temperature radiator with its own electric coolant pump that improves the intercooling of the intake air, particularly in very dynamic driving. Finally, an auxiliary electric coolant pump is programmed to run after the engine is shut off to prevent overheating of the turbocharger bearings.

Two Twin Scroll Turbos on an Engine for the First Time - From BMW M, Naturally

Twin scroll represents another significant refinement of turbocharging technology. Instead of all cylinders of each bank feeding their exhaust into a single path, there are two paths for the exhaust to travel from cylinders to each turbine. Apportionment of cylinders between the two paths is chosen to eliminate interference between cylinders' exhaust pulses and undesirable "feedback" of exhaust gas into a cylinder that's inducting fresh air for combustion. Maximum boost pressure of this amazing system is 1.5 bar (22 psi).

So it is that in developing this magnificent and unique engine, BMW M has exploited the potential of turbocharging to its ultimate. The engine achieves not only epic torque and power, but a sound that bespeaks the BMW M tradition, while sounding different from any M engine before - and from any other engine on the road. In terms of power and performance, this engine produces dramatic results - namely early-onset torque, holding steady at a spectacular level as revs climb from just above idle all the way to the 7000-rpm redline.

M Sport Automatic Transmission

The X5 M employs an automatic transmission. It is a 6-speed unit specially engineered for fast shifting, a highly-direct connection to the engine, and equally high levels of smoothness and refinement.

Basic transmission control is via the console-mounted, illuminated E-shift lever, whose motions are mainly of a toggling nature rather than moving into different positions. Driver-selected ("manual") shifts are executed in the Manual mode with either the lever itself, or M-specific aluminum shift paddles on the steering wheel.

M Dynamic Mode

In the X5 M, the potential of both xDrive and DPC have been fully exploited by BMW M. Via the MDrive menu, the driver can switch DSC to the M Dynamic Mode (MDM), in which:

• DSC's threshold for intervening via the brakes and throttle is raised, allowing the driver to "push harder" in curves.
• A special xDrive program imparts a handling characteristic more like that of rear-wheel drive.

Together with DPC, these measures result in ultimate M-handling attributes. MDM facilitates maximum cornering speeds with very "late" DSC intervention, and, under the extreme tire-loading conditions at a curve's apex, outstandingly high exit speeds, event when the road is wet. DSC can be fully de-activated (except for anti-lock braking) by a longer push on its button.

BMW X5 M: Photo Gallery, Review (1/2) and Specifications