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The last of BMW's current generation X5 rolled off the line at their Spartanburg, SC plant on Friday. The Toledo Blue 3.0is X5 with Truffle Brown leather interior and Dark Grain Poplar wood trim will be kept by the factory and displayed in its Zentrum museum. BMW is one of the first manufacturers to take the SUV segment popularized by American companies and manipulate it into a sporty car-like vehicle while still maintaining the SUV stance. This model has been very successful for BMW, despite the initial outcry from BMW purists (I have to admit, I was one of them). This popularity has enabled BMW to design a new generation, which will now be built at the South Carolina facility.

MAKING WAY FOR THE NEW X5 - THE LAST OF THE FIRST GENERATION X5 MANUFACTURED
09/22/2006

The last of the first-generation X5 Sports Activity Vehicle was produced Friday at BMW Manufacturing Co. in Upstate South Carolina, making way for the production of the next generation X5.
The Toledo Blue 3.0is X5 sports a Truffle Brown leather interior with a Dark Grain Poplar wood trim. Due to its significance to BMW, the factory will keep the vehicle and display it in the Zentrum museum as part of the BMW Mobile Tradition Collection.

With the introduction of the X5, BMW opened a new market segment known as the Sports Activity Vehicle and the X5 as the first sports activity vehicle combined the powerful acceleration and exceptional handling of a car with the advanced traction technologies and all-wheel drive of an SUV.

The first X5 sports activity vehicle rolled off the production line on September 1, 1999. The X5 is built exclusively at BMW Manufacturing for distribution to more than 120 markets worldwide. Less than two years after its introduction, the 100,000th X5 milestone was reached on August 23, 2001 and on June 9, 2005, and the 500,000th X5 was produced, just five and a half years after its market introduction. The Spartanburg plant has produced 616,867 of the current generation of X5 Sports Activity Vehicle.

In 2000, the X5 was rated "Best Pick" by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, outperforming all other SUVs tested. The X5 not only rated higher than other SUVs, it earned a higher rating than all other vehicles previously tested by the Institute.

BMW Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of the BMW Group based in Munich, Germany, is the exclusive manufacturer on the Z4 and M Roadster, Z4 and M Coupe and the X5 Sports Activity Vehicle. Its website address is www.bmwusfactory.com. In addition to the South Carolina manufacturing facility, BMW's North American subsidiaries include sales, marketing and financial services operations in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America, and a design firm in California.