2014 BMW X5: Teaching its drivers to play nice

A host of new active safety and convenience features could calm drivers down, but only if they order them.

BMW has trimmed some fat, added power and introduced features that may placate its owners' trademark aggression toward others on the road.

Unfortunately, many of those features –  including an autopilot feature that can guide the driver in stop-and-go traffic – are options on BMW's ever-popular X5, now in its third generation.

The 2014 X5 packs a revised version of the company's twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 engine, soon to be refreshed across the lineup. Thanks to Valvetronic -- a nifty electronic valve lift control that we won't get into here -- the engine now makes 445 horsepower, up from 400. The twin-turbo inline-6 engine remains the same at 300 horsepower, although the diesel model's 6-cylinder is down slightly on power and torque – to 255 horsepower and 413 lb-ft – in the name of greater efficiency. The 8-speed automatic transmission now replaces the diesel's 6-speed unit.

Efficiency is the buzzword these days, and if you buy a new X5 when it arrives this fall, you'll see the EfficientDynamics sticker on the back window. As seen on the new 3-Series, this system incorporates auto start-stop, battery regeneration that takes the engine load off the alternator, and various Eco Pro driving settings that desperately try to save fuel on this 5,000-pound SUV; curb weights are reduced by 170 to 230 pounds, depending on the engine trim. 

Those Eco Pro settings, as we've found while driving the small X1, are typically BMW in that they don't ruin the driving experience. In the X5, Eco Pro will even lower the heat levels on the seats and side mirrors, plus it can decouple the engine from the transmission when the driver lets off the accelerator between 30 and 100 mph, allowing for greater coasting. Porsche employs the same system on its Cayenne S Hybrid. A new Proactive Driving Assistant tells the driver when to let off the gas on approaching corners.

BMW is particular proud of its Aero Blades, two black plastic moldings hanging on both sides of the glass hatch, and its frontal Air Breathers, otherwise known as air ducts. They're supposed to help with fuel economy. 


But since this is a Bimmer and not a Range Rover, the 2014 X5 packs some more giddy-up in its step. Rear-wheel drive will be available for the first time on 6-cylinder models, along with launch control; torque vectoring for the rear axle, which can split power left and right; and adjustable suspension and drive settings. The interior now looks like every BMW from the 5-Series on up, which is to say, attractive and simple.


The best feature by far is Traffic Jam Assistant, which can start and stop the car in dense traffic up to 25 mph and self-center the car between lanes. It's different from the car's active cruise control, which automatically comes to a stop but doesn't restart on its own. Among the other new safety gadgets are auto-braking with pedestrian detection, night vision with animal detection and blind spot monitoring. Oddly, none of these features is on the current X5.

Ferociously hated by BMW purists when it debuted in 1999, the X5 has sold more than 1.3 million copies and spawned three other "X" variants, including a 555-horsepower X5 M that truly is a driver's machine. A few years back, I drove one on a racetrack in the pouring rain, hitting speeds of 130 mph. It was stupidly brilliant.

Expect a new M in another year, and don't expect it to lose its cool. Hot-headed M drivers, however, are another problem entirely. 

autos.msn.com