2014 BMW X5 35d spotted high-altitude testing

BMW has dropped details on its next X5 SUV, but somehow a new model just feels more real once it's been spotted out and about during final shakedown testing. That's what happened here as eagle-eyed reader Todd H. caught up with a test-fleet 2014 BMW X5 35d diesel making the high-altitude test rounds in Colorado. As Todd tells it:

"I happened to catch this somewhat disguised X5 (notice the BMW logos are covered on hood, tail and wheels but X5 emblem isn't) at a filling station in Lone Tree, Colo., just south of Denver. Talked briefly with the driver, who was German. He said he had driven cross country from South Carolina for altitude testing here. It is the the turbo-diesel model; he acknowledged the turbo diesel was a good choice for the mountains and that the driving characteristics of the new X5 were a bit different than the current model."

We're looking forward to getting some seat time in a 2014 X5 to find out just how different the driving characteristics are; the three-liter common-rail diesel under the hood of this xDrive 35d model should be a particularly compelling powerplant, especially considering how much we've enjoyed our similarly equipped long-term Mercedes GL350. Stay tuned for the latest X5 news as we get it.

By Andrew Stoy