2024 BMW X5, X6 Get More Power, New Look

Sean Tucker 02/08/2023 8:01am

BMW’s midsize SUVs will get a styling refresh and a big power boost for the 2024 model year.

Like most German automakers, BMW sells two 2-row midsize SUVs with different body styles but largely the same parts and performance figures. The BMW X5 is the more traditionally styled of the two, with a boxy SUV look and more cargo space. It’s BMW’s best-selling vehicle in the U.S. The BMW X6 wears a coupe-like roofline that reduces cargo space but looks sportier.

Both are due not for a full redesign, but for what the auto industry calls a mid-cycle refresh. That means engineers keep the chassis and many mechanical parts the same but update the styling inside and out and sometimes work in a performance boost.

With the X twins, the performance boost gets the headline.

More Powerful Base Engine, Hybrid Model

Base 40i models still use a 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine, but updates mean it’s good for 375 horsepower – 40 more than the models in showrooms today. BMW says it has reworked the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 that powers high-end trims, but it puts out the same 523 horsepower as the 2023 edition. Both engines come mated to a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

For the X5, but not the X6, there’s a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant. In the 2023 model, it’s called the xDrive45e. For the 2024 version, it will take the name xDrive50e. The extra five apparently means a big boost – it now makes 483 horsepower, up from 389. BMW says it should be good for nine extra miles of all-electric driving as well, now going 40 before burning gasoline.

Restrained Changes Outside, More Dramatic Updates Inside

Outside, both get slim new headlights, but to the relief of BMW fans everywhere, the automaker has not increased the size of the twin-kidney grille like it has with many of its recent designs.

Bigger changes come inside. BMW’s latest designs incorporate a 12.3-inch screen in front of the driver and a 14.9-inch central display behind a single curved piece of glass standing up from the dashboard. That look will come to the X5 and X6 next year, and it’s an elegant improvement over today’s cabin. The iDrive hockey puck controller remains if you don’t like paging through touchscreen menus, and mercifully, designers left in a volume knob.

A toggle switch takes the place of the gear shifter. A vegan leather material BMW calls Sensafin is now standard.

An optional feature called Highway Assist lets drivers take their hands off the wheel under limited circumstances on highways, provided they stay ready to take control.