BMW has never really been about off-roading. Even though it was one of the first German brands to launch a modern SUV, it called it a sport activity vehicle instead of using the sport utility vehicle description everyone else was using.
Since then, its competition has embraced the dirt. Porsche has offered the Cayenne with locking differentials and low range, Mercedes-Benz has made a GLE that can “bounce” its way out of sand, etc.
Though the Ultimate Driving Machine has been focused on going fast on pavement, the Bavarian automaker has been known to head down a schotterstraße once or twice. It has offered an xOffroad pack for the X5 on and off over the years with useful upgrades for gravel goers. But that bit of kit was missing when the latest X5 launched last year.
Now it’s back. Sort of.
The xOffroad pack comes as part of the Silver Anniversary edition, a package that marks 25 years since BMW launched its first Sport Activity Vehicle. We tested its capability on the off-road course of the BMW Performance Driving Center, on the paved roads around the Spartanburg, S.C., factory where it was built, and on some twin-track obstacles we found along the way.
In short: The xOffroad Package adds useful capability to the 2025 BMW X5. But it’s only offered with the limited and pricey anniversary edition.
- Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo I6
- Horsepower: 375 hp
- Torque: 398 lb-ft
- Mileage: EPA est. 23/27
- Cargo capacity: 33.9 cu.-ft. (72.3 max)
- MSRP: $79,900
Pros
- Excellent on-pavement handling
- Smooth I6
- Excellent power
- Useful off-road displays
- Comfortable seats
- Split hatch
Cons
- Noisy tires
- Could use softer damping
- xOffroad only on special edition
- Short sidewalls on all-terrain tires
- Only one color
2025 BMW X5 Off-Road Review
BMW refreshed the X5 and its swoopier sibling, the X6, for 2024. The changes brought a more powerful inline six, a bit of new styling, and BMW’s latest interior display with updated voice activation.
With those changes still fresh, the Silver Anniversary Edition and included xOffroad package are the only real changes for the 2025 model year. The former includes a special badge on the split tailgate, dark trim, aluminum accents, and the silver paint you see in the photos. The latter has all of the good stuff.
xOffroad Includes Underbody Protection & Air Suspension
It starts with an adjustable air suspension system. The X5 will go up in two stages. By how much? Nobody could tell me. It looked like 2 or 3 inches in max height, though, which should give around 11 inches of ground clearance.
Underbody skid plates help you actually use the ground clearance without worrying about your near-$100K SUV. There are four off-pavement drive modes, and you get an off-road display mode that gives you information like how steep the hill is and lets you see where the rocks are.
Those gauges let me see that I was driving the X5 up a 37% incline. The standard mechanical rear diff lock, combined with the General Grabber all-terrain tires, let me stop on that hill and start climbing again. I could feel the power moving around until the electronics got the hefty X5 moving. It was incredibly quick, and it was very confidence-inspiring.
The tires, though, aren’t part of the $10,000 package, and 20-inch road tires come standard. The Grabbers are dealer-installed options. BMW says that you get a discount on them with this vehicle, but not how much that discount is.
This X5 Is Ready for the Dirt
I found some tough terrain to tackle, and the X5 handled it without so much as a complaint. The suspension articulated well and kept all four tires on the ground. Not that I was trying anything too extreme; this isn’t a G-Class, but I was going beyond your typical two-track to get to a campsite or hiking trail.
After my own off-roading, I got to take the X5 on BMW’s specially constructed off-road course. It’s not overly challenging, but it was a great way to show off the effectiveness of the front camera views, as well as the ability of the traction control system to sort things out and get the SUV moving on wet rocks.
There was a water ford, too, but a lack of rain meant it wasn’t challenging the X5’s 20 inches or so of water-handling ability. It did fine, though, with water up to the axles. Throughout, I would have liked the suspension to be a little softer and more compliant, but that’s the price of its on-pavement performance.
Even if you take your BMW off road, though, it’s probably not your priority. If it was, you’d get something like a Land Rover that wasn’t focused more on the pavement part of your day.
Off-Road Label, but Still a Pavement Machine at Heart
The xOffroad X5 with all-terrain tires didn’t mind pavement one bit. The suspension settings haven’t changed much, and the air system is really the faster model’s M system at heart.
Throw the X5 around like you would a model without the xOffroad pack (which I did), and the quick responses and agile changes of direction are still there. The all-terrain tires will start to howl sooner, are noisier at any speed above a walk, and do soften the responses a touch, but it still feels like an X5.
BMW’s roof cross bars were a bigger source of noise than the tires. Wind noise started at 20 mph and didn’t stop. Of course that’s nothing special to this rack or X5 — it’s just part of rooftop cargo life.
Another Silky BMW Inline Six
The rest of the package is exactly what you’ll find in every other X5 xDrive40i. That’s a 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six that spins smoothly enough that I thought it was shutting off at idle. Mash the skinny pedal and it screams toward redline, making 375 horsepower along the way.
It shows the reason BMW sticks with the I6 layout. The smoothness is unparalleled by anything short of a V12, but the sounds when you’re accelerating are a delight.
The eight-speed automatic is quick to change gears. It’s also eager to hold them when you’re using the sport drive modes, which helps you keep it moving quickly when you want to. Its 25mpg fuel economy is nothing to write home about, but it is typical for this segment and this level of horsepower.
Big Comfortable Space, Handy Split Tailgate
BMW delivers a roomy cabin with space for 6-footers both front and back. My tester had BMW’s adjustable bottom cushion that adapts the seat for shorter and taller drivers. The seat had just the right balance of soft for comfort and firm for fast cornering.
The Cognac color fake leather (BMW calls it Sensafin) is also a nice departure from the usual black car interiors, and BMW offers coffee and silver in addition to black, with white if you pay more for merino leather.
Last year’s new screens, a 12.3-inch unit for the dash and a 14.9-inch display beside it, sit high on the dash, easy to see. They don’t have the usual bezel or hood over them, which is a look not everyone is accustomed to yet. Even low winter sun didn’t produce glare or unwanted reflections.
One of the highlights of the BMW X5 has always been its split tailgate. The top section, about 80% of the opening, goes up normally. The rest, around 20%, folds down. It helps stop your groceries and gear from rolling out as soon as you open the hatch. It also gives you somewhere to sit that isn’t a dirty bumper when you need to change boots.
A button in the back drops the air suspension, making it easier to load and unload. The cargo space measures a large 33.9 cubic feet when the seats are up, and that expands to 72.3 when the 40-20-40 rear seats are all folded flat.
Off-Road Features Included With $11,000 Option Pack
The price as tested for this X5 was $81,075, including a $1,175 destination charge. $10,000 of that was the off-road package, and $1,000 was the special-edition charge. A basic AWD X5 is $68,000, with a rear-drive sDrive model $2,500 less. The quicker but largely useless off-road M60i starts from $90,000.
2025 BMW X5 Off-Road Review: Conclusion
BMW’s xOffroad package turns the wonderful-to-drive X5 into something with a little more off-road capability. It’s not a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk in the same way that this xDrive40i isn’t a 617-horsepower X5 M. That’s perfectly fine because it’s a much better balance of both ends of the performance spectrum. It’s a generalist, not a specialist.
The problem with it, though, is that the xOffroad package will be nearly impossible to get. It’s part of the silver anniversary package, and it’s only available as part of that package. It, and the Lime Rock Grey paint, are great to have, but BMW is only building 1,000 copies this year.
As far as if the xOffroad package will expand for next year or go away, automakers won’t comment on future plans.
If you can get one, the X5 xDrive40i with xOffroad package is a Goldilocks combination. Good luck finding one, though.
