2009 BMW X5 xDrive35d – Short Take Road Test

The X5 remains sporty even with a diesel engine.

There’s love at first sight, and then sometimes it can take a second. With this diesel BMW X5, it was the latter, since that’s the amount of time required to overcome the lag of the twin-turbo setup, and for the big ute to go from a standstill to full-bore acceleration.

But the turbo lag we mention might be more specifically described as big-turbo lag. Unlike the equal-size twin turbos on BMW’s gas six- and eight-cylinder engines, the inline-six diesel—a newly available engine option for 2009—uses two differently sized turbos in an attempt to actually minimize lag. The smaller turbo spools up first, when exhaust flow is minimal, and the larger one takes over once exhaust flow is sufficient to spin it.

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