BMW's M Performance range for the new X5 is pure cosmetics
Carbon, aramid and a set of 23-inch wheels, and not one thing that makes the X5 quicker
BMW M has detailed the M Performance Parts range for the fifth-generation X5, and it is a styling catalogue from end to end. Carbon and aramid bodywork, two wheel designs, decals, and tailpipe trims finished in gold and bronze. No brakes, no suspension, no exhaust that does anything other than look expensive. The X5 revealed in June reaches its first customers in late November.
What you can bolt on
The front gets a three-piece carbon splitter and carbon plates set into the double kidney grille. Along the flanks there are side decals in Frozen Black, aramid mirror caps carrying BMW M's Seehaus stripes, and carbon door sills. At the rear, a high-gloss black roof spoiler, an aramid diffuser, a carbon apron and those tailpipe trims with a carbon coating. Wheels run to a 21-inch Double-spoke 1109 M in matt Jet Black and a 23-inch Y-spoke 1110 M, each offered as a summer or winter set.
What is missing
When BMW built this same programme for the previous X5, it included a four-piston sports brake on the front axle with larger perforated discs. There is nothing of that kind on the new list. Set it beside the M2's Track Kit, where M Performance still means road-approved motorsport dampers and adjustable aero, and the badge is clearly covering two very different things. BMW has published neither prices nor an order date for the X5 parts.
AutoNext Take
This is not a scandal. Carbon trim and big wheels are what most buyers of a factory accessories range actually want, and BMW is selling them competently. But M Performance Parts started life as the bridge between an ordinary BMW and a proper M car, and on the new X5 that bridge is a decal set. Worth remembering the next time the badge turns up on an options list.
