Buy/Drive/Burn: 2018 High-end Luxury SUVs for Over $100,000

by Corey Lewis

Published: April 27th, 2018

buy drive burn 2018 high end luxury suvs for over 100 000

Obviously the B&B are all about brand-new imported luxury SUVs, as their great value, utility, and long-term prospective ownership costs put them in a class all their own.

Trolling opener aside, we’re going to talk about expensive SUVs today. Up for grabs are three contenders around the $140,000 price point, from Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.

Range Rover Supercharged Autobiography

The most commercially popular of our trio is up first. The Supercharged Autobiography trim is third from the top, and as high as you can go without adding an SV to the trim name. Base price is $141,995, and the Autobiography piles on unique features over the standard Supercharged with its 5.0-liter gasoline V8 (518 horsepower). Terrain Response 2 ensures you don’t get stuck in off-road situations, and pairs with a locking differential. Upgraded LED headlamps light your way outside, while a panoramic glass roof brightens up the interior. Semi-aniline leather is yours as well, and rear seats recline and are heated and cooled. A full driver-assistance package is standard, as well as eight boring colors (other colors cost lots extra).

Mercedes-Benz G550 Designo Manufaktur

Tracing its roots right back to a military SUV from 1979, the 2018 G550 is a last-of moment. For 2019 the G-Wagen enters its second generation and picks up much modernization. This is your last chance to buy a new O.G.-G. There are many ways to configure the G550 to your liking. All are powered by a 416-horsepower, 4.0-liter bi-turbo engine, driving all four wheels all the time. Three lockable differentials ensure you can take your lux box off-road (don’t scrape the dual side exhausts). Driver aids have been added to the G over the years, with adaptive cruise and parking assist among others. The Designo Manufaktur is the top trim of the G550, and opens up a world of exterior and interior colors to mix and match. Nappa leather and wood are here, as well as rear seat entertainment and the adaptive suspension package. Total cost ends up at $141,995.

BMW X5M Individual

Rounding out our trio is the most powerful X5 that money can buy; the one with the M badge on the back. Stomping the other two competitors, 567 horsepower is provided by BMW’s familiar 4.4-liter V8 and two turbochargers. Sixty miles an hour occurs in just four seconds, and must feel shocking with this sort of mass underfoot. The price of this performance is less off-road capability than either of the others here today. With a lower starting price than the other two competitors, we can load up the X5M with every option. An Executive Package adds driver assist, head-up display, surround exterior cameras, WiFi, and heated and ventilated everything. It’s easy to spring for the Bang & Olufsen sound, rear entertainment package, night vision, and M driving package. All this is layered on the Individual trim, allowing you to pick from a selection of premium exterior and interior colors. The speedy X5M is the value option even when fully decked out, at just $123,350.

Which gets your nod and the Buy title? Common and modern, prestigious but old, or less capable but blisteringly fast?

[Images: Jaguar-Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, BMW]

#BMW #BmwX5 #Buy/Drive/Burn #G550 #Mercedes-Benz #Mercedes-BenzG-Wagen #NewCars #NewsBlog #RangeRover #Supercharged

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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MercedesDieselGuy72 on Apr 30, 2018

Buy: G550 - Resale, looks, ability. (Disclaimer: I used to own a 2002 G500. NOT a good year, or truck... many issues...) Drive: Range Rover. Assuming you're under warranty. Burn: X5. Meh.

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DEVILLE88 on Apr 30, 2018

Burn em all, give me an Escalade or a Suburban.

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Recent Comments

NJRide Let Cadillac be Cadillac, but in the context of 2024. As a new XT5 owner (the Emerald Green got me to buy an old design) I would have happy preferred a Lyriq hybrid. Some who really like the Lyriq's package but don't want an EV will buy another model. Most will go elsewhere. I love the V6 and good but easy to use infotainment. But I know my next car will probably be more electrified w more tech.I don't think anyone is confusing my car for a Blazer but i agree the XT6 is too derivative. Frankly the Enclave looks more prestigious. The Escalade still has got it, though I would love to see the ESV make a comeback. I still think GM missed the boat by not making a Colorado based mini-Blazer and Escalade. I don't get the 2 sedans. I feel a slightly larger and more distinctly Cadillac sedan would sell better. They also need to advertise beyond the Lyriq. I don't feel other luxury players are exactly hitting it out of the park right now so a strengthened Cadillac could regain share.
CM Korecko Cadillacs traditionally have been opulent, brash and leaders in the field; the "Standard of the World".That said, here's how to fix the brand:[list=1][*]Forget German luxury cars ever existed.[/*][*]Get rid of the astromech droid names and bring back Seville, Deville, Eldorado, Fleetwood and Brougham.[/*][*]End the electric crap altogether and make huge, gas guzzling land yachts for the significant portion of the population that would fight for a chance to buy one.[/*][*]Stop making sports cars and make true luxury cars for those of us who don't give a damn about the environment and are willing to swim upstream to get what we really want.[/*][*]Stop messing around with technology and make well-made and luxurious interiors.[/*][*]Watch sales skyrocket as a truly different product distinguishes itself to the delight of the target market and the damnation of the Sierra Club. Hell, there is no such thing as bad publicity and the "bad guy" image would actually have a lot of appeal.[/*][/list=1]
FreedMike Not surprisingly, I have some ideas. What Cadillac needs, I think, is a statement. They don’t really have an identity. They’re trying a statement car with the Celestiq, and while that’s the right idea, it has the wrong styling and a really wrong price tag. So, here’s a first step: instead of a sedan, do a huge, fast, capable and ridiculously smooth and quiet electric touring coupe. If you want an example of what I’m thinking of, check out the magnificent Rolls-Royce Spectre. But this Cadillac coupe would be uniquely American, it’d be named “Eldorado,” and it’d be a lot cheaper than the $450,000 Spectre – call it a buck twenty-five, with a range of bespoke options for prospective buyers that would make each one somewhat unique. Make it 220 inches long, on the same platform as the Celestiq, give it retro ‘60s styling (or you could do a ‘50s or ‘70s throwback, I suppose), and at least 700 horsepower, standard. Why electric? It’s the ultimate throwback to ‘60s powertrains: effortlessly fast, smooth, and quiet, but with a ton more horsepower. It’s the perfect drivetrain for a dignified touring coupe. In fact, I’d skip any mention of environmental responsibility in this car’s marketing – sell it on how it drives, period.  How many would they sell? Not many. But the point of the exercise is to do something that will turn heads and show people what this brand can do.  Second step: give the lineup a mix of electric and gas models, and make Cadillac gas engines bespoke to the brand. If they need to use generic GM engine designs, fine – take those engines and massage them thoroughly into something special to Cadillac, with specific tuning and output. No Cadillac should leave the factory with an engine straight out of a Malibu or a four-banger Silverado. Third step: a complete line-wide interior redo. Stop the cheapness that’s all over the current sedans and crossovers. Just stop it. Use the Lyriq as a blueprint – it’s a big improvement over the current crop and a good first step. I’d also say Cadillac has a good blend of screen-controlled and switch-controlled user interfaces; don’t give into the haptic-touch and wall-to-wall screen thing. (On the subject of Caddy interiors – as much as I bag on the Celestiq, check out the interior on that thing. Wow.)Fourth step: Blackwing All The Things – some gas, others electric. And keep the electric/gas mix so buyers have a choice.Fifth step: be patient. That’s not easy, but if they’re doing a brand reset, it’ll take time. 
NJRide So if GM was serious about selling this why no updates for so long? Or make something truly unique instead of something that looked like a downmarket Altima?
Kmars2009 I rented one last fall while visiting Ohio. Not a bad car...but not a great car either. I think it needs a new version. But CUVs are King... unfortunately!