The New BMW X5 3.0i & 3.0i Sport

Highlights at a glance The BMW X5 has already proved itself a huge sales success. Since the launch of the X5 4.4i in the USA in December 1999, over 60,000 have been sold globally and 1400 in the UK following the right-hand drive launch in October 2000. X5 has already won a plethora of awards including What Car? and Top Gear magazines’ 4x4 of the year for 2001. Now with the advent of the entry-level 3.0i model the X5 range – priced from £33,000 – is now accessible to a wider buying public and will no doubt prove even more popular. Its success is founded on a unique positioning. While the X5 is an extremely competent off-roader, its real trump card is on-the-road performance. It sacrifices none of the refinement and dynamic qualities of a finely-honed executive car and is in every sense a true BMW. The diesel X5 3.0d will be launched in summer 2001, followed by the performance flagship X5 4.6is later this year. Highlights of the new X5 3.0i: · 6 cylinder in-line 3.0 litre petrol engine · Power - 231 bhp at 5900 rpm; torque 300 Nm at 3500 rpm · Top speed – 126 mph · 0-62 mph – 8.5 s · On the road prices: X5 3.0i - £33,000; X5 3.0i Sport - £34,900 · Superior levels of safety, security and luxury car equipment · Front side and head airbags standard for driver and front passenger · Rear seat accommodates three passengers with three-point belts · Rear side and head airbags available as an option · Electrically adjustable reach and rake multi-function steering wheel (Sport only) · Fingertip control of 2:1 split folding rear seat · Front electric seats available · Split-opening tailgate with optional extendable loading floor · Hill Descent Control