This is by far the hottest market segment right now. Crowded with more than 20 vehicles, midsize SUVs vary in size and type but nearly all seat five adults and offer V6 or V8 engines. Our Best Buys are the Acura MDX and Toyota Highlander. Both offer competence, convenience, and attractive pricing and design. They lack serious off-road 4WD systems, however.

Our Recommended choices feature more-traditional SUVs: the Dodge Durango, which offers optional third-row seating; the top-selling Ford Explorer; the utilitarian Nissan Xterra; and the refined GMC Envoy. If you don't venture off-road too far take a look at the car-based Lexus RX 300 as well.

The X5 bowed in 2000 and promptly added almost 27,000 sales to BMW's U.S. total for the 12 months. Sales were nearly 18,700 in the first half of 2001, a whacking 131-percent gain over the prior-year period. X5 is also selling well in Europe. With that, BMW is spending big to expand the Spartanburg, South Carolina plant that builds X5s and its Z-Series sports cars.

Our crystal ball is a bit cloudy, but X5 probably won't be fully overhauled until the 2006 model year. Industry moles now suggest the redesign will be more luxury station wagon than true SUV: much lower and sleeker, yet roomier inside. It should also come in two sizes: five-passenger X5 and a new long-wheelbase X7 with seating for up to seven. For reasons of performance, fuel economy and handling, BMW is watching weight on its "sport activity vehicle," which should be a useful change from today's rather porky X5.

Engines should again comprise two V8s and 3.0-liter inline-6, though tuned for more power. Reportedly due later is a 6.0-liter V12 with perhaps as much as 400 hp. The vee-engines are basically the same ones used in BMW's redesigned 2002 7-Series flagship sedans, which may also donate several other features like 6-speed automatic transmission, rear self-levelling air-spring suspension, Active Roll Stabilization, and "i-Drive" control system for audio, climate, navigation and other functions. However, like the original, the new X5/X7 will be derived from the 5-Series (the next-generation 2003-04 platform), not the 7.