BMW has given its X5 and X6 SUVs a mid-life makeover that’s far more than skin deep. While the exteriors of each receive only subtle styling tweaks the changes beneath the surfaces make the the sporty off-roaders more powerful and easier to drive. Those styling updates don’t include the split-headlamp treatment seen on the facelifted X7, but the conventional lamps fitted to the X5 and X6 are slimmer this time around and feature arrow-shape daytime running lights. The X5 gains the illuminated grille option first offered on the X6 a couple of years ago, plus a redesigned front bumper with vertical vents, while the X6 gets the M Sport treatment as standard and features a blacked-out octagonal section of bumper below the grille.

The changes are fairly low-key and might go unnoticed, but the interior upgrades are much harder to miss. Every X5 and X6 gains BMW’s latest curved dashboard screen that combines a 12.3-in digital gauge cluster with a 14.9-in infotainment screen mounted behind a single pane of glass that gives the appearance of one huge digital display. BMW expects customers to use touch and voice activation for many of the system’s controls, but it’s great to see that the now 22-year-old iDrive rotary controller lives to fight another day. It’s bye-bye to the traditional gear shifter, though. That’s replaced by a toggle located close to the iDrive dial on a console that now features a smattering of touch-sensitive buttons below super-slim air vents and a version of the BMW ambient light bar seen on the new 7-Series and X7.

 

Also borrowed from the X7 is a new engine lineup that provides most models with a handy power boost. Starting at the bottom of the range the rear-wheel drive X5 sDrive40i, all-wheel drive xDrive40i and X6 xDrive40i all benefit from a new 48V mild-hybrid, 3.0-liter, twin-turbo inline six that makes 40 hp  more than the old six for a total of 375 hp and 540 Nm. That’s enough to drop the zero to 96 km/h time by a tenth to 5.2 seconds in all-wheel drive models. That same engine is also used in the new X5 xDrive50e PHEV (you still can’t get a plug-in X6), where it yields even bigger gains. The electric motor built into the 50e’s eight-speed Steptronic transmission produces 194 hp, up from 111 hp for the motor in the old xDrive45e, and a pre-gearing stage helps amplify the torque, providing 449 Nm of twist to deliver some solid overtaking muscle and strong off-the-line dig. Combined, the system produces an output of 483 hp and 699 Nm of torque versus the older 45e’s 389 hp and 600 Nm. BMW says the latest X5 PHEV gets to 60 mph in an impressive 4.6 seconds when both motors are pulling, compared with 5.3 seconds for the outgoing 45e.

But of more use than that, or the now-standard BMW IconicSounds Electric noise generator, to your average PHEV driver is the fact that the xDrive50e can travel 64 km on electric power, an increase of 16 km on the previous U.S.-market SUV. That’s down to a battery that has grown from 24 kWh to 29.5 kWh and whose 25.7 kWh useable capacity is a massive 8.1 kWh bigger than before. There’s also a new on-board charging unit that can handle 7.4 kW loads, compared with just 3.7 kW for the old car, and charging can be controlled from the comfort of your smartphone. It all adds up to a hybrid that sounds like a big improvement over the 45e, but then so it should be given the price has climbed by US$ 6,800 to US$ 73,495, when most other versions have only gone up by around US$ 3,800.

 

BMW claims no power or torque gains for the new X5 and X6 M60i models, but both are more advanced than the M50i models that make way for them. The new 4.4-liter S68 V8 under the hood of each is once again cribbed from the facelifted X7 lineup and features 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance delivering 523 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. We hope the still-secret fuel efficiency figures will reveal a benefit because the performance ones definitely don’t: BMW quotes 4.2 seconds to 96 km/h for the 2024 M-lites, and the company’s U.S. retail website shows 4.1 seconds for the 2023 cars. We’ll have to wait for details to emerge about the facelifted X5 and X6M, but changes to the chassis on lower-spec models means you might not feel compelled to upgrade. All X6s now get adaptive dampers as standard, the X5 xDrive50e comes standard with the air suspension optional in other models, and M60i versions of both the X5 and X6 feature Integral Active Steering, otherwise known as four-wheel steer.

The revised SUVs also offer more for drivers who don’t care so much for driving. Highway Assistant is a Level 2+ autonomous package that lets you take your hands off the wheel at up to 137 km/h on certain pre-mapped stretches of major road networks. It’s part of the optional Driving Assistance Professional Package, and something we’ve already seen on the iX and X7. Other new tech includes 5G connectivity, phone-as-key functionality for both Apple and Android users, augmented reality navigation and enhanced voice operation of vehicle features including the windows and air conditioning. The new SUVs also come standard with a reversing assistant that will automatically get you out of a parking bay with bad visibility, while optional smartphone-controlled parking assistance can store up to 10 different parking manoeuvres from different locations.

The 2024 X5 and X6 will start rolling out of BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant in April 2023, and carry a premium over the 2023 cars