FOR more than a decade, BMW’s X5 has led the pack in terms of a high-riding, luxury-wrapped SUV that performed more like a sportscar than a soft-roader.

The price BMW owners paid, though, was just that – after the car launched in 1999, its cost kept on rising to where we have it today.

But that is all about to change, with the cheapest X5 ever hitting our shores with a four-cylinder engine after a string of sixes and bent eights, and missing the once-strong selling point of all-wheel-drive grip, but retaining all that has made the X5 what it is today.

Since its launch, BMW Australia has sold the X5 based on its all-paw ability.

However, has the introduction of a rear-drive model for BMW’s big, burly SUV diluted the X5’s X factor?

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