FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 BMW X5 M50d

The boot door of the BMW X5 opens and closes silently, which is really good for not waking sleeping passengers! The boot door is split like a barn door and the lower tailgate opens using a button on the right-hand side.

In the five-seater model as tested here, the boot is enormous! The floor is nice and flat and carpeted, perfect for an emergency nappy change. I did find it hard to reach across the tailgate into the back of the boot, I'm 162cm, and I found I definitely couldn't reach the top tether anchorages.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

I could fit sixteen shopping bags in the boot when it was empty. That's two less than the Lexus RX350L and Land Rover Discovery SE, three more than the Jaguar F-Pace and two more than the Range Rover Velar.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits with six shopping bags.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits with six shopping bags.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with eight shopping bags.

The Mountain Buggy Nano stroller fitted with twelve shopping bags around it.

If your pet is a consideration, a large-sized dog would fit too.

The storage inside the cabin is very good, in the front, there are two cup holders in the central console, they are both heated or cooled which was a very thoughtful feature, keeping my tea warm meant I have drunk my first hot cuppas since my daughter was born!!

A reusable and disposable coffee cup or a large refillable water bottle fitted in both the cup holders.

In front of the cup holders is a cordless phone charging well that no matter what phone we sat there it brought up the Apple Pay on our phones for some reason?! There is also a 12V and USB sockets in there too.

The central console storage box is a really nice big size and the lid opens out in two halves.

In front of the gear-knob is a lined well, that I found a good spot for my phone, I did find if I put other bits in there they slid around a lot.

The glove box in the X5 is a good size and nicely lined. I could fit my wallet and iPad in there with the manual.

There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors but no sunglasses case which I find frustrating as my lenses get scratched when they are stored in the central console.

The door bins in the front are really generous, I could fit a large refillable water bottle in them with an iPad. There are also good sized door handle wells.

In the back of the BMW X5, the storage is very good. There is a fold-down armrest in the central seat back. It has a storage box that is good for storing your phone and my daughter loved filling it with her collection of small treasures! There are two cup holders, they are a good size for a large refillable water bottle and a reusable and disposable coffee cup fit well in them too.

The map pockets in the back are solid, so they will hold an iPad but not conceal it. There are also USBC ports on the back of both seats and a recess I'm guessing is for attaching media screens, I did find through the week my daughters fiddle fingers took an interest in these things and I'm sure if it was our car and not ‘mummy's BabyDrive' I would find them both filled with sultanas! There is also a small shelf in the back of the central console box below the aircon panel.

The door pockets in the back are large too, they will hold a large refillable water bottle and a 600ml fits in there too.

The reversing camera image quality is excellent in the BMW X5, there are different camera views and I found having the two views on the screen at the same time really helped when maneuvering and parking.

The front camera was particularly helpful when parking.

One of my favourite features was being able to turn down the volume of the parking sensors by rotating my finger in front of the media screen, clockwise turned the volume up and anti-clockwise turns it down. You can't mute the sound fulling using this method, that is only possible by turning the sound off with the button in the central console.

The media system in the BMW X5 worked on a list system and I always find these a bit trickier to navigate. It has the features we'd expect like Apple CarPlay (which works wirelessly in this car, no plugging in the USB), so I found I mainly used that. It is a little complicated in that it has a few different ways of controlling it.

There are buttons and a knob down in the central console, it is a touch screen and you can use hand signals too! Like moving your thumb to the left will skip back a track or to the right will move forward a track. Or you can reject an incoming call by swiping away with your hand and rotating your finger clockwise or anti-clockwise to turn the volume up or down but those controls are also available in the screen settings and down in the central console and dash.

The cruise control in the X5 feels like a lot more than just cruise control is going on! It is incredibly accurate and the buttons are on the left side on the steering wheel and I found them quite difficult to navigate. The cruise control is sooo accurate in the X5, it will not let you go over the set speed and it is as if there are speed limiting and steering that takes over for you.

There is lane departure warning in the X5 and it feels like that is on while you are using the cruise control too and the car could almost drive itself! The X5 feels very resistant to any steering while using the cruise control and lane departure warning.

When driving, the X5 also feels resistant, it is very sturdy, robust and solid feeling but almost as if it's working against you sometimes, perhaps it is the heavier steering.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the X5.

The sat-nav volume can be muted on the top right of the media screen and you can turn the voice volume up and down too.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

The doors of the X5 had soft closing, so if they weren't quite shut they would close fully automatically. They are relatively quiet to open too as I found the windows too.

The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up! 

Road and engine noise are good in the BMW X5, I didn't find them disturbing at all and the drive is good except for those heavy controls.

There is a seatbelt removal alarm and you can also lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.

You can adjust the position of the front passenger seat from the driver door controls too. This is one of my favourite features. When you are picking someone up from school etc and they try to climb into the back and there is not enough footwell space you can slide the passenger seat forward without getting out of the car.

How many child seats fit in a BMW X5?

The BMW X5 I tested is a five-seater. You can get it as a seven-seater for an additional cost.

In the five-seater there are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats; they are within plastic guides and I found them easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seat backs. They are a little confusing because only the two middle anchorages in the outer seat are labelled. I presume it is all three central top tethers, I could not find these mentioned in the manual so I could not say for sure.

Three forward facing child seats fitted really well in the back of the BMW X5, there was lots of room and they are nice and easy to install.

I also tested one rear facing child seat and two forward facing child seats in the BMW X5 and there was plenty of leg room in front for a 182cm passenger to drive.

Head and legroom are really good too and I could comfortably sit between the two child seats.

Posting bub into their seats from outside the car is really good for forward-facing and rear-facing child seats because there is a big open doorway with no head hitting for a change.

From inside the ceiling is high with its enormous sunroof, which meant there was lots of space for posting bub into her seat.

Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

Legroom is excellent in the five-seater BMW X5, with plenty of room for a 182cm adult to sit in front of a rear facing child seat.

With only one child seat installed, there is plenty of room for feeding bub in the back.

The front seats in the BMW X5  have electronic controls on the side of the seat bases. They were extremely adjustable and comfortable. There is a seat base extension for people with longer legs and I found I needed it pushed right back into the seat base so that it didn't stick into the backs of my calves.

The seats in the X5 I tested were very decorative, in brown quilted leather in the front and back and the matching door panels and dash, they certainly made a statement. Apart from the quilting stitching, they would be easily wiped clean.

In the second row, there is just a small hump in the central footwell which I didn't find a problem when I sat there and there was room for me between two child seats.

The rear seats didn't slide to adjust for legroom on a 60:40 split, I presume on the seven-seater model it must do to help with accessing the third-row seats.

Legroom is really good in the five-seater BMW X5, with a rear-facing child seat installed we could easily sit a 182cm driver or passenger in front of it. Headroom is also spacious in the back too.

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

There are four air-con vents across the front dashboard; two in the centre below the media screen, and one at either end.

There are also rear air-con vents in the side pillars.

And there another two in the back of the central console box, which has its own controls, I can reach these while I am driving.

The front air-con controls are on the dash, I found them quite easy to use while driving and I found the airflow to be effective without being too loud. There are also heated seats in the front.

Visibility in the BMW X5 is very good and the addition of the excellent cameras made parking and maneuvering pretty straight forward. For rear passengers, the riding position is high so they get a good view out of the windows too.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get big cars or Utes as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the excellent camera quality made parking the BMW X5 easy and to reverse park too!

There is also an enormous sunroof in the model we tested, at night it glows with star-like lights which my daughter LOVED and kept her well entertained!

The interior lights in the back are either side of the sunroof, next to the grab handles in the ceiling above the rear doors. I could not reach those while driving unfortunately which made driving at night tricky, however, the large sunroof does allow little ones to look at the stars!

The cabin has this colourful lighting option throughout as well that helps to keep little ones entertained when driving in the dark.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a 5minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

I have found the BMW X5 a great car for driving around town and out on the open roads. Being an SUV you sit a little higher on the road so you get a good view too.

The interior is very opulent, although not to my taste, it is beautifully done and I can imagine it appealing to many people. Most surfaces would be easily cleaned and family friendly.

There are carpet floor mats throughout the BMW X5.

There is keyless entry which was a welcome feature.

The BMW X5 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2018 and has seven airbags as standard. The airbags do not extend to the third-row passengers.

In testing it scored 87% for child occupancy protection (42.94 points out of 49), 89% for adult occupancy protection (34.2 out of 38), 71% for safety assist technology (9.3 out of 13) and 75% for vulnerable road user protection (36.26 out of 48). The X5 scored 7.51 out of 8 for the frontal offset test, and 8/8 for the side impact test and 7.23 out of 8 for the pole test.

In the frontal offset test, protection of the neck of the 10-year-old dummy was ADEQUATE, while protection offered to all other critical body regions for both dummies was GOOD. Protection in the side impact test was GOOD with maximum points scored for both child dummies.

There is a drivers knee airbag as well as that, both front passengers get frontal airbags and side chest and head airbags for first and second-row outboard passengers. There are no third-row airbags.

Both front and outboard second-row seats have pretensioner seatbelts.

As standard, the BMW X5 comes with adaptive cruise control (ACC), adaptive headlights, anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – city/interurban and VRU, blind-spot monitoring, daytime running lights (DRL), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue detection, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), reversing collision avoidance, roll stability system and speed assistance.