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Many auto enthusiasts question whether a sport-utility vehicle can ever be made to handle like a sports car. But remember years ago when the same question was asked of sedans? Then sports sedans came along, cars that handled as well as or better than sports cars. More recently, some station wagons have managed to handle as well as their sedan counterparts.

The design of a traditional body-on-frame, truck-based SUV almost precludes it from ever becoming a great-handling vehicle. The answer is an SUV with a unibody or monocoque construction. Since several manufacturers have started producing such vehicles, poor-handling SUVs could become a thing of the past. However, to true-blue SUV enthusiasts, these unibody SUVs are not "real" trucks — which is why they are often referred to as hybrid vehicles.

The thought of BMW producing an SUV has sent chills through many Bimmer enthusiasts. How, they ask, could BMW, with its position as the "ultimate driving machine," produce an SUV that meets the criteria one expects of a BMW? The answer is, the X5 — a sport-activity vehicle (SAV), as BMW likes to call it. First unveiled at the Detroit auto show in January, the X5 looks like an SUV, but BMW has promised that it will handle and perform like a BMW sedan.

It is not the first monocoque SUV on the market — the Lexus RX 300 and Jeep Grand Cherokee take those honors. But until now, the best-handling SUVs have been hybrid vehicles, such as the Subaru Outback and Forester, that are more akin to car-based vehicles.

"You'll be stunned by the handling," a BMW official says to me privately as we sit in one of two buses full of journalists being escorted ("no cameras allowed") to watch a crash test of an X5 at one of BMW’s well-hidden research facilities in Bavaria. Was it a coincidence that an X5 prototype was seen being driven around the handling course at the BMW test facility just as we went by? The prototype X5 certainly looked stable as it was flung through a series of curves at about 50 mph by the test driver (who may or may not have been told that 50 eagle-eyed journalists were watching.)

The X5, to be built alongside the Z3, in South Carolina, goes on sale in November in the United States. The 2.8-liter six-cylinder model will cost "under $40,000" while the 4.4-liter V-8-powered model will cost "under $50,000," according to BMW. Although the X5 is an all-new model with a unique platform, it will use many suspension components from the 7-Series, which obviously goes a long way to help its handling capabilities.

An important part of the X5’s handling will also be the use of the various electronic stabilizing systems, such as ASC (Automatic Stability Control), DSC (Dynamic Stability Control), CBC (Cornering Brake Control), DBC (Dynamic Brake Control), ADB (Automatic Differential Brake), HBA (Hydraulic Brake Assistant), and HDC (Hill Descent Control). Many of these are already found on the sedans while others are new to the X5. Although no outsiders have yet been privileged enough to drive the X5, it does appear that BMW is going to extra lengths to make sure the driving characteristics will be worthy of a BMW and that active safety will be a key component of the vehicle.

Passive safety also has been a major part of the development of the X5. It has no less than eight airbags to protect occupants in a major crash. Each font-seat occupant gets a front airbag, a side thorax airbag, and a side headbag, while rear occupants (excepting the center seat) each get a side thorax airbag. The airbag system is essentially the same as in the 7-Series models. BMW’s internal crash testing indicates that the X5 will easily obtain a five-star rating in the NHTSA crash ratings, making it as good as the best sedans. Overall, BMW claims it will set new safety standards for this class of vehicle. "The X5 will be a benchmark for safety in off-road vehicles," says Anton Wadenstorfer, a senior safety engineer on the X5 project.

As continuing research into safety, BMW demonstrated the X5’s ability to withstand a side impact into a pole at 20 mph in front of 50 or so journalists from around the world. For many, this was the first time they had witnessed an actual crash test. The driver’s door caved in substantially, but the head and thorax side airbags cushioned the dummy’s head sufficiently that, had it been a real person, he or she should have survived the crash without serious injury. Side impacts are tough to counteract, as there is almost no crumple zone to cushion the impact. BMW also has taken into account potential damage caused to those outside the vehicle by integrating lower bumpers so that the vehicle does less damage to small cars in an accident.

Designworks, BMW’s design studio in California, created the exterior look of the X5 while BMW engineers in Munich engineered the chassis. Initially, the X5 will only be sold in the United States, where SUVs are most popular. BMW is hoping that the handling of the X5 will be so good that it will encourage more European buyers to consider an SUV — sorry, an SAV — in the future.