Gmc Yukon vs BMW X5

What's the difference?

If you're in the market for a premium-style four-wheel drive wagon with eight seats and a petrol V8 engine and you live in Australia, your choices have been rather limited. You'd be looking at something like the Nissan Patrol or the Land Rover Defender 130. 

Well, that has now changed as General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV) is importing the GMC Yukon Denali to Australia. This top-of-the-range Yukon arrives here as a left-hand drive vehicle and is converted to right-hand drive at a facility in Victoria to suit our market. 

The Denali has a price tag just under $175,000, though, and that makes it a lot more expensive than most vehicles that could be considered rivals in the Aussie market. Is it worth it?

Read on.

The BMW X5 is a leading contender in the ‘Over $70K Large SUV’ division of Australia’s new car market, which is a hotly-contested segment boasting 15 marques and 25 models.

The X5 has hit an enduring sweet spot with Aussie buyers in terms of size, performance and price. BMW prefers to call it a Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) as distinct from its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) rivals.

Clearly, any word association with a utility is something BMW Group Australia wants to avoid after recently launching its latest X5 range, which brings numerous enhancements including design revisions, increased standard equipment, refreshed powertrains and more.

We were entrusted with the digital ‘Comfort Access’ key to one of the latest X5s, to understand from a family car perspective why this model range enjoys such enduring popularity with prestige SUV (sorry, SAV) buyers.