A funny thing happened while none of us were looking: We all got old. Alright, perhaps that’s a bit mean, but it’s wild to realize that September marks a quarter of a century since BMW’s first production SUV — the X5 — entered production in South Carolina. Over the years, we’ve seen so much come and go, but the X5 and its American assembly plant are here to stay, and BMW is launching the X5 Silver Anniversary Edition as a little celebration that leans further toward travels off the beaten path than most X5 owners dare to venture.
The 2025 BMW X5 Silver Anniversary Edition starts with the B58-powered X5 xDrive40i, which is the right choice overall. The three-liter turbocharged straight-six in this model offers a lovely blend of torque and economy, boasting 375 horsepower and 25 mpg combined. All that grunt gets sent to all four wheels through a ZF 8HP eight-speed automatic gearbox, and the whole formula just works well. However, this special model then takes a bit of a left turn, because it gets some hardware made for when the going gets rougher than expected. BMW
While the X5 Silver Anniversary Edition doesn’t feature low range, it does get air suspension to jack the ride height up, a locking rear differential to direct torque across the rear axle, and a brace of skid plates to protect important underbody components. That’s a very reasonable set of off-road hardware, but BMW wasn’t finished there. Tires are a critical part of going off road, and this X5 is offered with discounted dealer-installed General Grabber All-Terrain meats. Obviously, if you order one of these things, you should get the tires, because they look great and really complete the package.
In addition to these more physical pieces of hardware, there are a few other off-road toys worth noting that are mostly software tweaks. A litany of off-road drive modes are on deck, along with a 360-degree camera system that works at up to 22 mph, and a set of digital off-road gauges including an inclinometer, real-time ground clearance, and a way of indicating how close you are to putting the shiny side down. Add in a standard roof rack and rubber floor mats including a cargo mat, and while this limited-run X5 isn’t a hardcore off-roader, it’s still one of the more serious choices in its segment.
Oh, and because this is a special edition model, it comes loaded with everything from a Harman/Kardon sound system to heated armrests, and slathered in special paint thanks to BMW’s Individual program. Somewhat keeping with the Silver Anniversary vibes, BMW’s chosen Lime Rock Grey paint, previously seen on the F80 M3 CS. BMW chose to pair this color with black trim normally exclusive to M Sport models and carbon fiber interior trim from the X5 M60i, creating a sort of high-contrast vibe.
BMW is pricing this thing at $81,075 including freight, and while that’s not cheap, it’s not bad for a luxury SUV with a bunch of off-road goodies. However, BMW plans to only make about 1,000 of these X5 Silver Anniversary Edition models, so there’s a chance they’ll go fairly quickly. I must admit, I didn’t expect BMW to amp up the dirt appeal to celebrate a quarter-century of its landmark SUV, but it seems like the right call. By avoiding M Sport cliches and offering an actually desirable bundle of equipment, the makers of this X5 have created a special edition that’s indeed special. Not bad, BMW. Not bad at all.
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one of our friends brought an x5 to our camping trip one time. he ended up not being able to make through til the end of the trail and into our campsite, popped a tire.
we all made fun of them during that weekend. what ended up happening was that they traded in the x5, as soon as they got back, for a Raptor.
These are gonna sell like crazy here in Arizona, everybody loves lifting their SUV’s and trucks and pretending like they go off-road, pure brain rot.
This or a loaded GX 550…I’m taking the GX.
But why? That’s a rhetorical question, I get why. Every normie on the face of the earth wants to cosplay as an off-roader. But the X5’s entire ethos is that it’s NOT an off roady SUV. It’s always been brilliant because it drives and handles like a car. It completely changed the market specifically because it wasn’t a truck.
And so now BMW is trying to make it…more truck like? It just seems so silly to me but then again no one cares what I think and BMW left us enthusiasts behind years ago in favor of the conspicuous consumption crowd…and this is certainly provides an opportunity to consume even more conspicuously than your neighbor with their pedestrian X5…
I kinda assumed these upgrades are not for David Tracy style off-roading, but more for New England style dirt roads and to better get through snow- it is surprising how little of the right type of snow can get you stuck in the trailhead parking lot – although I must say I was almost never stuck with the BMW traction control that was introduced in the 1990s. I had friends who once lived on a mountain with a mile long driveway where more than once I drove by their abandoned 4x4s with my RWD 3-series (I don’t think I even had snow tires on the car). So maybe I can just get a regular X5.
don’t think the skid plates are required for snow. or fire roads.
A perfect addition to the poseur class. Very clever of BMW to offer discounted dealer-installed off-road tires that will never see dirt. It allows them to skirt EPA fuel economy testing, I assume.
In all honestly, if I lived in a community where one-upping your neighbor’s X5 was your civic responsibility, I’d probably pick this over an X5 M.
and the grabber (while a great name) isn’t the M3 of off road tires. I didn’t think of why the dealer is installing them. smart of them to do and you to recognize
Oh shit – this looks really good – why don’t they offer these as options on the base car?? Seriously you cannot configure a base car this way with their configurator.
Now I need to stop eating out so much so I can save up. This is absolutely perfect for how I want my car to go – down dirt roads to the trailhead or my cousin’s cabin driveway that I currently have to carefully ride the sides of the ruts to not bottom out.
I hope this sells well, so that BMW can eventually do away with the XM and do a real G-Wagon competitor/Halo product. Offroad all the things!
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