To celebrate ten years of X5 sales, BMW is introducing an xDrive35d 10-Year Edition X5. The special edition SUV gets unique wheels, aluminum trim, and a panoramic glass sunroof, along with Nappa leather, comfort seats, and BMW Individual Piano Black trim inside.
There will be just 2,000 of the 10-Year Editions made, with 200 of them going to the UK. The diesel has been a huge mover on the isle, making up 95% of volume. If you want one you can get it now for an out-the-door price of £53,075 ($88,507 U.S.).
Buyers in the upper echelon of the luxury segment are increasingly demanding all-wheel traction on their rides, and BMW has evidently grown tired of seeing would-be customers flocking to rival automakers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz to get what they want. So for the first time in the model line's history, the new BMW 7 Series will be offered with all-wheel drive. Engineers in Bavaria have reportedly worked hard to keep the 7's rear-drive dynamics intact, and have opted to fit the xDrive system with a 30:70 rearward bias instead of the 40:60 in other applications. xDrive-equipped 7s will also get a slightly higher ground clearance and Hill Decent Control, a system usually reserved for serious off-road vehicles. The option will be available on all versions of the 7 save the smallest diesels and gasoline engines that we don't get in North America anyway, fetching a €2500-2800 premium (in European markets) over conventional rear-drive versions. BMW is testing the 7 Series with xDrive in snow-draped locales before the option is offered in other markets starting at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2009, after which Quattros and 4Matics will be looking over their shoulders.
Remember the good old days when at least BMW nomenclature was straightforward? The first digit designated the series and the second and third the displacement of the engine. Maybe an extra letter would be tacked on, but that was it. Then they started with M this, Z that and X for the SUVs with xDrive all-wheel drive. So now we've got things like the X6 xDrive 35i. Now they're dropping another one on us: rear-wheel-drive models, which used to be the entire BMW line-up, will now bear the "sDrive" nameplate in addition to whatever else they stick on there.
We already knew this was coming for the upcoming X1, which will be offered in both xDrive (AWD) and sDrive (RWD) variants. (The current X3, X5 and X6 crossovers are all strictly all-wheel-drive models.) BMW has even reportedly registered the trademarks for sDrive18, sDrive20, sDrive30 and sDrive35, as if someone else would try and use the confusing nomenclature. Wait a second... sDrive35? As in the twin-turbo straight six in the 335i? That's bigger than the engine offered in the larger X3, so what is BMW up to?
Reports indicate that the sDrive nameplate could begin appearing on other BMW models driven through the rear axle, including the replacement for the Z4 roadster that was just caught nekkid today. If you look closely on the front fender, you can see a badge that looks an awful lot like "sDrive". We wouldn't expect to see the moniker on the standard series models (1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 Series), since those get the suffix "iX", but we're not sure we can even count on that anymore.
