This BMW X5 Is Crossing 1,700 Miles of Desert With out GPS

BMW is heading again to the Rebelle Rallythe eight-day off-road competitors that trades GPS methods for maps and compasses. From October 11 to 17, Rebecca Donaghe and Rebecca Dalski will take a BMW X5 xDrive40i by means of roughly 1,700 miles of California and Nevada desert, competing towards 67 different all-female groups. The Rebelle Rally is much less about pace and extra about precision. Opponents must find hidden checkpoints throughout huge stretches of desert utilizing solely analogue navigation. Getting it improper can price hours — or worse, an opportunity to complete.

Maps, Compass, and a Inventory X5

Rebecca Dalski, a BMW product supervisor based mostly within the U.S., is taking up navigation duties for the primary time. Her teammate, Rebecca Donaghe, is a Rebelle veteran who has pushed all the things from purpose-built off-road rigs to luxurious crossovers.

“Journey is worth it in itself”, mentioned Dalski. “With an off-road bundle that includes xSand, xGravel, xSnow and xRock modes, the BMW X5 is well-equipped for this problem. Add to that Rebecca Donaghe’s glorious driving abilities, together with the analog navigational strategies I’ve been sharpening, and I’m certain that we’ll cross the end line proudly in October. The Rebelle Rally was described to me as a recreation of chess performed out on the planet and I can’t wait to see what we’ll encounter.”

The X5 competing on this 12 months’s occasion is sort of utterly inventory. Other than off-road tires, tenting gear, and restoration instruments, nothing main has been modified. Underneath the hood is BMW’s 375-horsepower inline-six with a mild-hybrid system, working energy by means of the model’s xDrive all-wheel drive setup.

Placing the X5 to the Take a look at

The Rebelle Rally is a reminder that the X5’s skills lengthen properly past asphalt. Over its 25-year lifespan, it’s been known as all the things from a household hauler to a track-day SUV. However whenever you strip away the electronics and GPS methods and level it at a 1,700-mile dust maze, you get to see a special facet of it — one that also carries a little bit of the unique “Sport Exercise Automobile” spirit that BMW launched again in 1999. Is it a real off-roader? Not in its primary definition, however it could actually definitely maintain its personal and now we could have an opportunity to see it in motion.

This 12 months’s occasion will run by means of distant components of California and Nevada, the place the X5’s mix of consolation and traction management will face all the things from rocky trails to free dunes.

BMW’s involvement within the Rebelle Rally has grown steadily over the previous few years. After debuting in 2023 with an X2 M35i that completed second in its class, it was adopted by an X3 M50 entry in 2024 that continued to showcase how succesful BMW’s crossovers will be when pushed off pavement. The 2025 return with the X5 xDrive40i brings issues full circle — identical driver, new co-driver, and the identical purpose of proving {that a} almost inventory BMW can tackle 1,700 miles of desert the laborious manner.