After eight lengthy days and almost 1,700 miles throughout the California and Nevada desert, the BMW X5 has claimed first place within the Bone Inventory class and second general within the X-Cross class on the 2025 Rebelle Rally. Behind the wheel had been Rebecca Donaghe and Rebecca Dalski, BMW of North America’s Product Supervisor, who guided an almost factory-stock X5 by way of one of many hardest navigation challenges in North America.
An Previous-Faculty Rally for Trendy Machines
The Rebelle Rally isn’t about pace. It’s about accuracy, endurance, and teamwork. Over eight days, rivals use solely maps and compasses to search out hidden checkpoints scattered throughout huge stretches of desert. GPS gadgets are banned. Getting one bearing improper can imply hours of misplaced time — or lacking the day’s purpose totally.
From October 11 to 17, the 2 Rebeccas piloted their BMW X5 xDrive40i throughout each kind of terrain the desert may throw at them: dunes, rocky washes, dry lakebeds, and gravel tracks. The occasion checks not solely driver and navigator but in addition the sturdiness of the autos they bring about.
Inventory Means Inventory
The X5 competed within the Bone Inventory class, the place groups are allowed nearly no modifications. Except for off-road tires within the authentic measurement, a roof rack, and important restoration gear, this X5 was the identical as one inbuilt Spartanburg, South Carolina. Energy got here from the acquainted 3.0-liter inline-six engine with xDrive all-wheel drive and a mild-hybrid system producing 375 horsepower.
That setup — plus drive modes like xSand, xGravel, xSnow, and xRock — was sufficient to hold the staff by way of a few of the rally’s hardest sections, together with the notorious “Dunes Day.” Staying on tempo by way of deep, shifting sand required cautious throttle work, momentum, and a gentle hand.
For Dalski, the rally was a hands-on method to expertise BMW’s engineering in circumstances few prospects will ever face. As navigator, Dalski relied totally on analog instruments — compass, ruler, and map — whereas Donaghe centered on the driving.
Not BMW’s First Participation
BMW’s Rebelle program has grown steadily lately. In 2023, an X2 M35i finished second in its class. The next 12 months, an X3 M50 carried the brand’s colors by way of one other sturdy exhibiting.
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