Why would you buy a diesel powered BMW SUV? We asked a few prospective owners and the answer came out clear as crystal – petrol cars are too powerful and we don’t want our chauffeurs to drive them. Bingo! There goes the theory of Ultimate Driving Machines. This is India and we have our rules when it comes to luxury car buying – and accept it, more than 90 per cent of Indian owners are going to enjoy a BMW SUV from the rear seat. When they ‘really’ want to drive a BMW, they will buy a sedan or a coupé (there are some yummy models out there too).
Alright, let us call it the C-Factor, or comfort factor. You want the image that comes with the brand, safety in the event of an unfortunate accident and, well, it shouldn’t be all that bad when you get behind the wheel too. The X5 diesel has been launched in India with exactly this intent. They would have done it long ago but had to wait for the quality of Indian diesel to get better. Now that it is, BMW are happily launching their ultra-modern diesel powerplants.
As for the chauffeurs taking it easy because the X5 featured here is a diesel – well, there is a small issue here. BMWs have the uncanny ability to make you instantly comfortable by the third or fourth minute behind the wheel and the massive two ton vehicle you see in these pages is no different. What happens when you are comfortable with a machine that blatantly flaunts 51 kgm of torque almost all the time is predictable too – you weave in and out of traffic, bolt between corners and stomp through highways as if you are being chased by a sinful past. Not necessarily chauffeur material, right? Please read on.
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