In 2012, I worked with a young man named George, who drove me to a meeting in his used BMW X5. It was quite nice, and I remember thinking it seemed expensive for someone at his level. Suspiciously expensive. But he explained CarMax and MaxCare — how pretty much every repair, no matter how expensive, was covered. That conversation led me in 2013 to buy Guenther, my 2004 Mercedes S55, in 2018 Etta, the 911, 2019 the Mercedes S600, 2022 my BMW M3, and eventually this blog about unicorns. This X5 reminds me of George’s X5 and the beginnings of my CarMax infatuation.
This 2015 BMX X5 XDrive50i is priced at $25,998 — a $49,000 discount off its original $75,295 sticker. It’s a great daily driver with AWD and a beefy V8. Low miles – less than 44,000. 2015 was the second year of the F15 generation (which ran 2014–2018), and eventually succeeded by the X5 M50i for all V8 X5’s.
The xDrive50i came standard with 19-inch wheels, beuatiful tan leather multicontour seats, keyless entry, and a rearview camera – a $600 option back then, since rear view cameras weren’t mandated until 2018. This one adds Harman Kardon audio (with bonus retro CD player!), a heads-up display, blind-spot monitoring, panoramic sunroof, front and rear seat heaters, and a navigation system. It’s not stripped — it’s just been priced like it is.
CarMax’s ad includes this: “Why you’ll love this X5. Performance: A luxury crossover with sport-sedan feel, SUV versatility, and a 0–60 time of 4.7 seconds“. It’s like they’re writing my stuff for me! Most people shopping a used BMW X5 are buying the six-cylinder — a perfectly reasonable car that gets 21 mpg combined and does 0-60 in around 6 seconds. This is not that car. The xDrive50i is a true sleeper: a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8, 445 horsepower, 480 lb-ft of torque arriving at 2,000 rpm, and a 4.7-second sprint to 60 in a five-passenger AWD SUV.
A 2015 BMW X5 that’s a single owner, accident free California car seems like a decent pedigree. For the buyer who wants a luxury ride, with genuine performance numbers at used-compact-car money and doesn’t mind a trip to the Bay Area. It’s here in Serramonte, California. Of course, as I write about this inexpensive SUV in San Fransisco, I’m thinking of the article I read in the New York Times this morning about the explosion of AI stocks and brand new millionaires offering Anthropic or Open AI stock instead of cash for homes, and wondering who would stoop to paying “only” $26k for a used BMW?
“An SUV that handles more like a sleek sports sedan — as good as it gets.“— Kelley Blue Book
Stock No: 70028615 VIN: 5UXKR6C57F0J74907
