Our first luxury car: Get BMW X5 now or wait till 2024 for its facelift

The salesperson assured me that the 2024 facelift of the X5 wouldn't have any significant changes.

BHPian Dr.Car recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I am looking to buy a new luxury SUV in the Rs 90 lakh to Rs 1 crore price range and had narrowed down to the BMW X5 and the Mercedes GLE. The car will be driven by my father, mother and myself. So, we don’t need a chauffeur-driven car at all.

We test-drove both these cars last week for a brief 20 Km ride and found both to be extremely nice and comfy. The driving experience was definitely better on the Bimmer but I liked the interior layout of GLE a tad bit better. The test drive cars were both diesels and we are ok with it but still open to going for petrol.

After a lot of discussion in our family, we finally narrowed down on the BMW due to its better driving experience. Since this is gonna be our first luxury car purchase, I wanted to make sure that the car we buy shouldn’t be outdated within just a few years and so, I searched the Internet regarding the facelift of both these cars and found that the X5 is due for a facelift in 2024. This was also confirmed by the SA but he assured me that there aren’t gonna be very significant changes.

I’d like to have advice from the members of this forum should I go ahead with the booking or wait? (Even though it’ll be difficult to wait for so long but we’ll manage).

Thanks

Here's what BHPian GreasyCarb55 had to say about the matter:

If you're okay with the higher running costs I would highly suggest you go for the petrol engine over the diesel. Yes, the B57 3.0L Turbo Diesel is a great motor and has been the heart of many amazing BMWs since 2017 (the most notable one being the 530D) but the B58 3.0L Turbo Petrol in the 40i model is too good to ignore. It's essentially a detuned version of the engine found in highly desirable cars like the BMW Z4 M40i, M340i and MK5 Toyota Supra so when it comes to mod potential the world is your oyster.

As for the facelift, this is going to be the "LCI" (or Life Cycle Impulse) which is BMW's standard midlife facelift it gives to its cars a few years after they enter the market. If this facelift was scheduled for 2023, then I would've told you to wait but if it's coming in 2024 then I would say that's too much to wait for one car and taking into account that the exact launch date for the LCI is unknown and delay between international and Indian launches, it would probably take a year and a half to get you the LCI car. As you've already experienced yourself, the X5 is one hell of an SUV so go for.

Here's what BHPian Jay_P2324 had to say about the matter:

I had the same dilemma as you 2 months ago. I test-drove both cars. Interiors are better in the GLE but the X5 is simply amazing as a driver's car.

I took delivery of my X5 30d yesterday. The engine and gearbox combination is one of the best that any car manufacturer can offer. The NVH is surprisingly low for a diesel.

You definitely can't go wrong with either of the engines. I prefer the low-end torque of the diesel motor hence picked that one.

I had considered waiting for the LCI, but looking at the X7 LCI, the X5 would be on similar lines, with some cosmetic changes on the front end, plus the new curved digital instrument cluster that eliminates physical buttons. Controlling the air conditioning through the touch screen is not really my preference. Looking at the updates I opted for the current model.

On another note, if you are planning to book the car make sure you go for the updated seats that come with Merino leather, when I purchased the car only Vernasca was an option.

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