X5: Safest Utility Vehicle?

Automotive Industries,  Sept, 1999  by Jim McCraw

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BMW aims to set a new safety benchmark with its U.S.-built sport-ute.

Imagine an all-wheel-drive BMW 740i sedan, with greater ride height and ground clearance, and you've got a pretty good picture of the 2000 X5 "sport-activity vehicle." BMW's first sport-ute is now in pilot production at the company's Spartanburg, S.C., plant, where it will be exclusively built for the world market. With Job One beginning this fall, BMW is already positioning X5 on its safety performance, based on highly successful early crash tests and the structural integrity of its all-steel unibody. In a market segment that's dominated by body-on-frame architecture, BMW is absolutely committed to welded unitized body construction, with subframes fore and aft. Company body engineers maintain that a body-on-frame vehicle cannot dissipate crash energy fast enough or thoroughly enough to pass the critical tests, while a well-designed unibody can absorb more crash energy before seat belt and air bag systems are triggered.

This body structure (see photos) has already allowed X5 to achieve a five-star performance on the driver's side and four stars on the passenger side, in actual frontal crash tests that accurately replicate the U.S. NCAP test procedure. It also scored an AAA rating, the highest possible, in the Japanese NCAP test simulation.

In tests which replicate Euro NCAP and U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offset barrier crash tests, in which a vehicle travelling at 40 mph strikes a deformable obstacle with a 40% overlap, the X5 scored four out of four on the Euro NCAP and the highest rating from IIHS. In a side collision with a deformable barrier, BMW says the X5 achieved five out of five seating positions, and in the Euro version, four out of four. The U.S. test is done at while the Euro NCAP side impact is at 31 mph.

In rear-end collisions with a solid object at 31 mph, the X5 performs at an equally high level, with zero fuel loss and all four side doors opening with normal force afterwords. Two conical support elements extending from the rear of the X5 to the front, a crossbar near the rear axle, the luggage compartment floor pan, the rear crossbar and the rear side panels, create a force distribution system in the rear. The polypropylene fuel tank is clad with extra plastic coating and is set under the front seat behind a steel panel, reinforced by a very large diameter tubular steel crossbar. The fuel lines are shielded from potential off-road damage and contain several compensating sections. Fuel delivery is cut off at the electric pump automatically whenever au air bag deploys.

The X5 will be offered in various markets with as many as eight air bags per vehicle, including front, front side, rear side and the BMW ITS head airbag system that deploys downward from the right and left sides of the headliner during a sufficient side impact.

Wide Engine Offerings

The X5 will have every piece of BMW's Fully Integrated Road Safety Technology, or FIRST. It's an acronym-lover's dream package, including ABS, Cornering Brake Control (CBC), ASC+T traction control, third-generation Dynamic Stability Control (DSC III) with Automatic Differential Brake (ADB-X), and Intelligent Hill Descent Control (HDC). Beyond that, there is third-generation Electronic Damper Control (EDC III).

For the U.S., the 2000 X5 will be offered only with 4.4L V-8, 5-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. For the rest of the world, X5 powertrain variants include BMW's new 2.8L V-6, 3.0L common-mil inline-6 DI turbodiesel, and the 3.9L common-mil diesel V-8 currently sold in the 740d in Europe. Later, there will be an M-version carrying the hot 400-hp 5.0L V-8, to compete with Mercedes' AMG ML55.

Depending on the market, X5s will be offered with varying levels of cloth, vinyl and leather interior trim. U.S. models will be strictly luxury versions, including leather upholstery, high-end sound systems, automatic climate control and the BMW/Mannesman VDO navigation system with the entire country mapped out on CD-ROM.

While BMW admits the X5 is not designed to be nearly as capable off-road as a Range Rover, competitors should expect it to raise the bar in on-road performance and occupant safety, when it arrives Stateside this winter.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group