BMW brings on the angels

BMW's iDrive system bothered drivers, but the X5's new xDrive comes with four guardian angels, says the hype. Michael McAleer gets behind the wheel.

It's the footballer's favourite. A survey by lads mag Nuts claimed that Premiership players' wheels of choice are X5s: it's the car driven by no fewer than 48 footballers, including our own Damien Duff. Paul Gascoigne even managed to crash his X5 last week into an Asda van, and walked away unscathed.

Given the long waiting list worldwide, it's not just a hit in the world of Posh and Becks. It may be an updated X5 but all the talk at its Irish launch was of the xDrive rather than who drives it. To introduce a new version of such a successful model is perhaps the greatest challenge to the principle that if it isn't broken don't fix it. But BMW's eager engineers are so excited about their new traction system that they've pushed through the new technology into the marque's current 4x4 star.

Last year's sales were a very impressive 241, topping the luxury end of the off-road market and BMW's third best-selling model last year. Combine this with the fact that customers will have to wait to autumn for delivery and one begins to wonder if the changes were all that necessary.

Don't voice those concerns in front of the engineers. They're so confident of the new xDrive system, which they claim is 10 times quicker than traditional systems, they've even gone so far as to patent it.

This is the future for all four-wheel-drive BMWs, so expect it to feature in the upcoming X3 and in 4WD saloons if necessary. Perhaps the root to BMW's eager advances in off-roading is its desire to sharpen its claws given the tougher competitive landscape in the 4x4 market.

Before BMW owners - and those on the waiting list - get themselves into a tizzy over the latest technology from Bavaria, with the unease created by the iDrive system in mind, the xDrive needs no driver input. There's not even an additional switch, knob or button for the driver to be concerned about.

The simplest explanation comes in the form of a smart TV campaign running in the US. Four cherub-like guardian angels hover beside each wheel warning of impending dangers in road surface and direction. As the car enters a corner too fast, word goes out for each wheel to make the appropriate adjustment in power. Through mud, ice and other slippy surfaces motorists face, the xDrive works to cancel out slippage. In essence, it's designed to act as a guardian angel for X5 drivers - or so the advertisement goes.

The mantra at the launch still rings in our ears: 10 times quicker to react than a traditional 4x4 system. The xDrive, they told us repeatedly, is capable of adjusting power to the wheels in 0.1 seconds. It uses slip sensors to maximise traction in all conditions and up tricky gradients. Where the surface is potted with holes and hollows, the xDrive virtually walks the car up the track, wheel by wheel. In this case you need to switch Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) off so that power is not killed from the engine when it is needed.

Most owners will not take the X5 over tracks such as that chosen for the launch - it was heavily rutted and dogged by large branches, rocks and quizzical wildlife. But this terrain proved there is more than luxury to this executive 4x4. While it may not match the former bedmate Range Rover for off-road ability, it's certainly closer to it than most of its rivals.

In normal driving the system distributes power 60/40 in favour of the rear. However, this can change to 100 per cent of power to the wheels with the most amount of grip if, for example, two wheels step off on to ice or mud.

Every time the car stops, power is split 50:50 in order to reduce the delay in getting power to the axle with the most grip. The technology behind the power adjustment is a multi-plate clutch, while the sensors are working of the normal DSC system. The ultimate aim is to predict traction loss rather than react to it.

Away from the new xDrive system, the minor adjustments to lighting clusters, bonnet and grille seem more cursory than thorough.

The engine line-up has been adjusted, with three new engines for the 3-litre diesel, 4.4-litre and 4.8-litre petrol. The diesel is the unit which features in the saloon range and offers improved power - up to 218 bhp from 184 bhp - and increased torque, now up 20 per cent to 500 Newton Metres (NM). There's also been a two-second improvement in the 0-62mph sprint - it's now 8.3 seconds, matching the 3-litre petrol version.

That's not the only similarity. BMW's welcome policy of keeping equivalent diesel and petrol models identically priced continues in the X5 range - €68,900 for entry models, €72,200 for SE models and €75,900 for Sport versions. Of course there are important differences, such as in consumption. The diesel version manages 32.8 mpg to the petrol's 22.2 mpg, a comparison which explains why over 70 per cent of X5 sales in Ireland are in 3-litre diesel format.

The current range topping 4.4-litre, which manages 0-62 mph in 7 seconds, is priced at €98,600 for the SE version, and €101,600 for the Sport. However, when 4.8-litre S arrives it will be on sale at a mere €121,800.