Here’s the problem: you’re finally ready to step up to a so-called “luxury” vehicle, but your family still hauls around a lot of stuff. The choices are bewildering! Turn to the automotive experts at Consumer Reports, the well-respected, nonprofit consumer testing and rating organization. Their 2025 Top Picks in the Luxury Midsized SUV category are the BMW X5 and BMW X5 plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV). 

“Everything about the BMW X5 says ‘premium,’” they rave, calling it “exceptionally quiet,” with a “richly finished cabin.” The 2025 BMW X5 and X5 PHEV are “powerful and efficient,” with some of the best fuel economy in the segment and the kind of handling that BMW has always been known for and which “sets the engaging X5 apart from its luxury rivals.”

Neither mountain roads or flatland straightaways are a problem for the X5. The X5 xDrive50e features a 3.0-liter inline six turbo with the eDrive 194-hp electric motor delivering a combined 483 hp doing zero-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The X5 sDrive40i and X5 xDrive40i (AWD) share the 3.0-liter BMW M TwinPower Turbo six that gets 375 hp and does zero-60 mph in 5.3 seconds. The xDrive50e hybrid has AC Fast charging capability and Flexible Fast Charging Cable with 110V adapter.

Keeping your passengers safe is a priority with the Active Driving Assistant that includes Forward Collision Mitigation, Active Blind Spot Detection, Lane Keeping Assistant, Speed Limit Info, and Rear Cross Traffic Warning. For convenience both 2025 X5s  feature the Automatic Park Assistant and Backup Assistant. In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ratings, the BMW X5 earned a Top Safety PICK+.

Inside, both feature the BMW Curved Display with configurable 12.3” instrument cluster and 14.9” central info display. The BMW Operating System 8.5 is operated by voice, touchscreen or iDrive touchpad controller. They are both Apple and Android compatible and have wireless charging. Add-on packages offer many more features on either model. 

The Consumer Reports award does not mention two other X5 models, the X5 M60i and the X5 M Competition, but they, too, have all the regular X5 features, but the 2025 X5 M60i has 523 hp and does zero-60 mph in 4.2 seconds, while the X5 M Competition’s 4.4-liter V-8 Bi-turbo engine with mild hybrid technology maxes out at 617 hp and does zero-60 mph in 3.7 seconds. 

So, whether you’re interested in fast or faster, gas or hybrid, and rear-wheel or AWD, there’s a 2025 BMW X5 model that’s perfect for you. Time to step up to more luxury, more power and ... just more!