SUVs began life as trucks. Trucks are bouncy and push a lot of air, which requires a lot of gas, and they're hard to maneuver. No fun. So SUV makers with sports car genetics, such as BMW and Porsche, have tried to marry fun driving with truck utility.The BMW X5 is a V8-powered SUV aimed to provide the driving fun of a sport sedan. A mid-size luxury SUV, the first X5 was introduced for the 2000 model year. It was a trim-looking, tightly handling, tall-riding wagon. We drove this model with its 4.4-liter engine several thousand miles. It was short on utility, which is these days described as the ability to carry bikes and boards (sand, surf, sail, skate and snow), which the original short X5 could barely accommodate. In fact, it had less cargo space than a 5 Series wagon. A bigger BMW X5 would better meet the requirements of luxury SUV buyers, more in line with SUVs from Cadillac, Mercedes, Acura, Audi, and Volvo.Click here to read more