The new 4.6is model comes standard with a choice of Nappa leather upholstery or Nappa and Alcantara. The 4.6is also comes with black piano wood trim or, at no extra cost, Imola Red or Titanium interior trim. It also comes with special instrumentation with gray dials, italic numerals and lettering, a tachometer with a variable-warning segment, and an oil temperature gauge.

A simple, uncluttered layout with touches of wood lend an air of elegance. The door handles have a nice brushed aluminum finish and the soft plastic surfaces somehow feel more like leather. The switchgear is ergonomically well designed.

The front seats are excellent, firm, supportive, with lots of adjustments. The rear seats are also comfortable. The rear seatback can be reclined; power switches in the cargo area permit moving the seatbacks forward for a slight gain in cargo space, but they move slowly. Despite the X5's greater height, inside headroom is all but identical to that of the 5 Series wagon, which is itself slightly better than that of the current 7 Series.

Surprisingly, the cargo carrying capacity is no better than that a 5 Series Sport Wagon. When opening the rear hatch we were struck by the lack of cargo space. The height of the load floor makes it difficult to load cargo. The X5's cargo deck is about 35 inches off the ground. It's about 30 inches on the Land Rover Discovery, a highly capable off-road vehicle with a high ground clearance and live rear axle, attributes that tend to increase the height of the load floor. Our 150-pound English mastiff, which has climbed into dozens of different SUVs found the pitch of his ramp too steep to climb up and into the BMW. A sturdy rollaway cover that can be removed for a larger load carrying capacity covers the rear cargo area. The rear seats are split 40/60 and can be folded down to provide a fairly flat, though not perfectly flat, surface.

The rear hatch is split with a flip-up window and a tailgate similar in design to the Range Rover's. The rear window can be opened independently of the tailgate, which is useful when you want to quickly put something in the rear cargo compartment. One annoyance: Hit the remote hatch release button up front, get out, and when you shut the door, the air in the tight cabin pops the window open enough to close it; walk around back and discover you need to go back and press the release button again; do this a few times and you feel like an idiot. This can make the X5 a bit inconvenient at the airport. Armed with groceries, you'll more likely open the rear hatch with the keyless remote control, which works well. Reflectors on the top of the tailgate's door jam enhance safety when accessing gear at night.

Passive safety has been a major part of the development of the X5. It can be purchased with no less than eight airbags to protect occupants in a major crash. Each front seat occupant gets a front airbag, a side thorax airbag and a side head bag. An optional side thorax airbag is available for the two rear-seat occupants. The airbag system is essentially the same as in the 7 Series; BMW claims its own crash tests indicate the X5 will obtain a five-star rating in the government's (NHTSA) crash tests. BMW claims the X5 is safer than a 7 Series and that it will set new safety standards for this class of vehicle. In November 2000, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated the X5 as its "Best Pick" among SUVs for crashworthiness.

One great feature is the audible Park Distance Control. Sensors on the front and rear bumpers detect parked cars, tricycles, and other objects and a beeping tone increases in frequency as the vehicle approaches them. Different tones are used front and rear making it much easier to parallel park in tight spaces. When the tone goes solid the bumper is very close to the object. It's also a great safety feature for bigger vehicles.

Our X5 came with an optional navigation system that was a confusing to master in the short time we had the vehicle. It seemed harder to operate than the navigation system's from Lexus and Acura. We felt like we had to sign off on a legal agreement every time we started the car because the system would ask us to agree that we wouldn't fuss with it while driving. It took two steps to shut the thing off. And we never did figure out how to manually tune the radio, which is integrated into the navigation system.