It’s hard to imagine needing an armored vehicle, as an everyday person who has only, thus far, had regular attacks thrown at them on Twitter (and those are usually weak, anyway). But there are people in the market for these things, and with the new armored BMW X5, they now have even more to choose from when it comes to shielding themselves from oh, just the usual grenades and rifle fire.
It’s perfect, really: People can have their weapon protection and without having to abandon the crossover craze in the process.
BMW calls its new armored car the “BMW X5 Protection VR6,” with the latter part relating to rated protection level from weapons and attacks and not, say, an engine borrowed from Volkswagen.
It’s meant for “protection against violent attacks, kidnapping or organised crime,” BMW said in an announcement on Tuesday, and, like most armored cars, it’s designed to look like your average production X5 on the outside and inside. It’s better to be discreet out there, you know?
This particular armored vehicle can withstand things like AK-47 shots, certain amounts of TNT and types of hand grenades, and optional extra roof protection is meant to fend off drone attacks and hits from certain explosives.
The X5 also has other features to help passengers in case weapons rain down on them, like a system to protect from secondary attacks, a self-sealing fuel tank that closes to avoid fuel spillage, run-flat tires, an intercom to communicate outside of the vehicle without opening any doors or windows, and a system that locks doors, closes windows and sets off alarms when there’s an attack.
The X5 also gets a 530-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V8, the announcement said, an electronically limited top speed of about 130 mph, and massaging seats, because you might as well be comfortable in the midst of an attack. The brakes and suspension were also upgraded to deal with the extra weight of all of that protection, as is common with armored cars.
But the cool part isn’t those features, or the fact that real people actually need this kind of stuff. It’s all of the photos from attack testing, which BMW so graciously published for us to look at while we imagine launching grenades at empty vehicles for a living.
Enjoy.
