The BMW X5 has reached a major milestone; the 1,000,000th example has rolled off the BMW Spartanburg production line.
The millionth X5, a sapphire black metallic BMW X5 xDrive35i, is winging its way to a customer in China - as are an ever-increasing number of BMWs.
The seven-digit production figure is testament to the popularity of the X5. On the face of it, you see, BMW's SUV ought to have quite a lot wrong with it: it's the car that set BMW moving away from its traditional 'ultimate driving machine' roots; it was the first ground-up BMW design from the notorious Mr Chris Bangle; and it is - sacrilege of sacrileges - built in South Carolina. A BMW from the Deliverance belt? Doesn't seem right, somehow.
But - and it's a big but - back in 1999 the X5 was something genuinely new, the first mainstream SUV that was blessed with genuinely sporty handling. Some 11 years on, whatever your views on the X5 (and it's probably best not to bring the X6 in here), you can't deny that the progenitor of a whole genre remains one of the best-handling large 4x4s out there.
So happy millionth birthday, BMW X5...
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