Foolproof

“Go ahead, do something dumb,” the instructor encourages over the walkie-talkie bouncing in the map pocket of the new '04 BMW X5 cross/utility I'm driving.

I happily comply, jamming on the gas and making a sharp turn around an orange cone going too fast. The tires howl, the body leans — a little — and suddenly I'm back on track, ready to make my next stupid move.

I nail the accelerator harder this time, charge into an even tighter turn on BMW AG's South Carolina Performance Center test track in Spartanburg and then completely let off the gas right when it feels like the two left wheels are going to leave the ground. This would guarantee a crash in some vehicles.

Instead, the X5 effortlessly settles itself and guides me down the track like a horse taking a drunken cowboy home.

Probably the most impressive part of BMW's new xDrive all-wheel-drive system is that it works its magic almost invisibly. Even when you screw up badly, you barely notice the system fixing your blunders.

Usually during this type of driving you hear and feel lots of mechanical grunts and pedal vibrations as electronic stability control, antilock brakes and traction-control systems work frantically to keep the vehicle under control.

The xDrive is different because — like some other new AWD systems entering the market — it actively apportions wheel torque to affect vehicle handling in the same way “traditional” stability control systems use selective braking of individual wheels.

The xDrive system shifts torque around to all four wheels to control excess vehicle oversteer or understeer, in addition to braking each wheel individually and curtailing engine power when necessary. And it does it all so seamlessly that it saves lead-footed klutzes like me from all manner of problems without my even knowing it.

The xDrive system is the biggest selling point for this year's slightly revamped X5, which also gets some minor sheet metal freshening and some powertrain upgrades. It is the benchmark for handling in its segment, even though the V-8 version weighs in at a chubby 4,927 lbs. (2,236 kg). The xDrive system only makes it better.

It's a great system and great vehicle, but is that enough to keep sales strong for two more years?

The luxury cross/utility vehicle niche has become far more competitive since BMW AG first entered it four years ago. The German auto maker is betting the original design of the X5 is strong enough to carry the vehicle thorough the '04 and '05 model years before it comes out with a major redesign in 2005 for the '06 model year.

The '04 X5 — which went into production in Spartanburg Oct. 1 — now looks a bit more macho than its predecessor, thanks to more pronounced hood contours and BMW “kidney” grilles that have been widened and set higher. The headlight clusters also have been subtly reshaped, and the taillights have been changed slightly as well.

BMW was criticized in some circles for being slow to develop an SUV or CUV, entering the fast-growing and high-profit market niche two years after archrival Mercedes-Benz AG introduced its then-revolutionary M-Class luxury SUV.

But when the X5 did finally come to market, the vehicle was a roaring success. Sales have been averaging about 40,000 units annually the past several years, and one of every three BMW sales in the U.S. is an X5.

Furthermore, BMW's decision to use car-like unibody construction rather than a truck-like body-on-frame design has proved prescient. The X5 — now more car-like than ever — still seems contemporary.

But according to Ward's data, X5's design and handling may not be giving it quite the edge BMW would like. Sales through September were down 10% compared with last year. Mercedes M-Class sales are off 26%, but sales of the segment leader — the Lexus RX 330 (enjoying an all-new design) — are up a whopping 21%.