Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) are becoming more and more welcome in North America because they’re relatively adaptable to the varied roads surfaces and are more superior to any kinds of vehicle. In my opinion, an SUV is the best choice for those people who live in North America. Now, I would like to compare two SUVs which we can find in Vancouver. The BMW X5 and the Mercedes-Benz ML both are German vehicles. I am going to compare the BMW X5 to the Mercedes-Benz in the following categories: base price, base engine, fuel economy, passenger volume, basic warranty, and final assembly. I chose the 4.4i as an example for BMW and the ML500 for Mercedes-Benz.

First of all, the X5 4.4i is $3,350 more expensive than the ML500 in price; however, both are very expensive compared to other SUVs. The X5 4.4i has a 4.4L V8 engine, it can offer 315 horse power. This is really high performance by a 4.4L engine today. The ML500 has a 5.0L V8 engine; it can provide 288 horsepower at 5600 RPM. Now, it is easy to know which engine is more powerful and has higher performance. Secondly, the BMW X5 4.4i and the ML500 are quite different in fuel consumes due to their different V8 engines. For example: the X5 4.4i needs 15L gas for 100km when driving in city, but the ML 500 needs 17L gas at the same situation. Also, the ML 500 needs 3L more gas for 100km on the highway. Thus, if you want to save money on gas, the X5 4.4i is a better choice. In addition, SUV’s comfort is as important as SUV’s performance. Passenger volume is the most important point in comfort. The X5 4.4i has 2764L room for passengers and driver; in contrast, the ML 500 has just 4134L. People can add the third row seats in the ML 500, which means that the ML 500 can carry 7 people totally, but the X5 4.4i only can carry 5 people. On the other hand, the BMW X5 4.4i resembles The Mercedes-Benz ML 500 in many ways. Both have 48 months or 80000km basic warranty. As we all know, the BMW and the Mercedes-Benz both come from Germany, but actually those SUVs which sell in North America are all made in the USA. American manufactories order the main parts from Germany, and they assemble these parts in the US.

As a conclusion, comparing both the BMW X5 4.4i and the Mercedes-Benz ML 500 in the aspects including base price, base engine, fuel economy, passenger volume, basic warranty and final assembly; therefore, in my opinion, the BMW X5 4.4i is the first choice for most North American customers.

August 2004