Afraid I'm with the thumbs down camp as well as the kit makes the car look bulky and bloated to my eyes. An SE with 20" wheels and the dynamic package is a much more sporty looking SUV.

Looking a bit more closely the rear bumper now carries round in a straight line to the rear wheel arch which makes it look a lot heavier than the regular bumpers. It's the first M Sport variant that BMW have produced that looks worse than the standard car,maybe that's because the standard car looks so good. Also from a practical perspective the black platic bumpers are much better at concealing parking scrapes.

Totally agree. MSport styling used to be the most desirable option in the range but now seem to use Halfords as design consultants. (Sorry to those outside of the UK who don't know the Halfords company and the cr*p they sell for bolting onto cars!).

Wow! that is fugly!! I'll stick with the aero-kit.

Can any one explain this...






http://home.comcast.net/~saykin/E71.jpg



Here is my quick photoshop fix


http://home.comcast.net/~saykin/E70.jpg

The same vent is there on the standard car. it's just not as obvious with the black bumper. I bet there are some colourful conversations going on in dealers right now about the M Sport. How are they going to sell ANY ?

From Motor trend:
BMW has released an M sport appearance package for its new X5 - the first time such a kit has been offered for the ute. The package, which in Germany runs 6,350 euros (a whopping $8,532) for both diesel and gasoline X5 3.0 models and 4,840 euros ($6,503) for the X5 4.8i, gives the vehicle a substantially different appearance and adds some chassis modifications in the form of differing tires front and rear and a reworking of the active steering and adaptive drive systems.

Most noticeable are the new body-color front and rear fascias, side moldings, and extended wheel arches that host either 19- or 20-inch wheels. On the inside, BMW adds a set of sports seats, polished aluminum trim, an M steering wheel, and a generous sprinkling of M badging.

We're not really sure what BMW was thinking when designing this kit. The fascias look like they were penned by designers that used cheap body kits designed for mid-90s compacts for inspiration and there is nothing, at least as far as we can tell, about it that justifies the exuberant price tag. No official word yet if the package will become available for U.S. market X5s.

http://imgup-lb.automotive.com:8080/...04914.w600.jpghttp://imgup-lb.automotive.com:8080/...04920.w600.jpg
http://imgup-lb.automotive.com:8080/...23848.w600.jpghttp://imgup-lb.automotive.com:8080/...04926.w600.jpg
http://imgup-lb.automotive.com:8080/...23854.w600.jpg

Hi-res (not from Motor Trend)
http://www.xoutpost.com/members/lemansx5/bmwx5_m_10.jpg
http://www.xoutpost.com/members/lemansx5/bmwx5_m_12.jpg
http://www.xoutpost.com/members/lemansx5/bmwx5_m_11.jpg
http://www.xoutpost.com/members/lemansx5/bmwx5_m_14.jpg
http://www.xoutpost.com/members/lemansx5/bmwx5_m_13.jpg

From TopSpeed:
The M sport package features strong aesthetics, a sporty interior as well as a sporty chassis tuning. Thus, the new X5 has ideal conditions to become the leader in the competition.

The X5 equipped with the M sport package dynamic potential is revealed by the exterior color. The X5 features bumpers smolder-learn and door impact borders, wheels with the characteristic M Design. As an option 19" or 20" wheels are being offered.

The M Sport package for the new BMW X5 is priced as follows:

BMW X5 3.0si: 6,350 Euro
BMW X5 3.0d: 6,350 Euro
BMW X5 4.8i: 4,840 Euro

Not my cup of tea. I'll stick with the aero package.