The whole point of a BMW X5 M Competition is to have your cake and eat it, too. It’s designed to provide all of the same daily usability as a normal X5—the comfort, the practical trunk, and the ability to seat five adults—while also providing the sort of Autobahn-storming power you’d expect from an M car. But is it actually good to use over long distances or is it too stiff, too loud, and too uncomfortable? Joe Achilles recently found out by testing one for 1,000 miles.
On paper, the BMW X5 M is the perfect car for any enthusiast with a family. It’s a big X5, with all of the same space and comfort as usual, but it packs a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8, making 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque. It’s a shockingly fast car, capable of 0-60 mph in under four seconds, and it’s more capable than you might imagine on track. In fact, Achilles tested the X5 M from 0-60 mph and recorded a 3.36-second time, which is astonishing for something as big and as heavy as the X5 M.
During his 1,000 miles with it, Achilles drove the X5 M Comp from the UK to Germany and back, a perfect way to see if it’s actually as good of a daily driver as it seems to be on paper. As it turns out, it’s actually quite good. Not only is it seriously fast and capable on twisty back roads but it’s also comfortable over a thousand miles. He brought three people with him, totaling four adults and all of their luggage, and it swallowed them all up easily, while also chucking them down the Autobahn and terrifying speeds with no problem. When it comes to do-it-all family vehicles, the BMW X5 M Competition seems to be pretty unbeatable.
When I first drove the X5 M Comp, my main thought was that it didn’t feel very M-like. It’s actually a bit too comfy for an M car. In fact, I couldn’t see the appeal of getting one over an X5 M50i because that car is almost as quick, almost as capable, and more comfortable, for less money. So if you wanted a do-it-all family cruiser with mega power, it seemed to…
