New Five is the gentleman’s express
Most of the latest Seven’s tech has been wrapped up in smaller 5 Series packaging
ALL JOKES about ‘evolutionary design’ aside, while the seventh-generation BMW 5 Series launched in South Africa this week bears a strong family resemblance to its predecessor, a second glance will show you that the new Five is very much its own car.
The signature kidney grille is bigger and more upright while the new headlight clusters stretch all the way from the grille trim to within a hand-span of the wheel arch.
The car’s profile looks distinctly ‘stretched’ but it’s actually only marginally larger than its predecessor. At 4935mm overall it’s 36mm longer than the outgoing 5 Series but the maker claims it’s as much as 100kg lighter (depending on the drivetrain) than the previous model, due to more extensive use of aluminium and high-strength alloy steel components in the body shell and suspension.
But it’s the car’s electronics that have really evolved, starting with the head-up display, which is 70 percent larger and noticeably clearer, but projected slightly lower down so you don’t see it at all when you’re concentrating on the road ahead.
The infotainment system is built around a wide 26cm touchscreen; it shows its main menu as a row of tiles that can be re-arranged to suit how you use them, and can be controlled by means of the iDrive knob, voice commands, hand gestures or by touching the screen - all of which sounds very complicated but is in fact surprisingly intuitive.
The new 5 Series gets another step closer to driving itself with active side collision protection, which not only reads lane markings and nudges you back on line if you wander but also senses looming collisions and automatically steers away from them.
The system can also steer the car in slow-moving traffic and on long stretches of open road. In effect, it’s about as intelligent as a 10-year-old sitting on Daddy’s lap and ‘driving’, with adult hands poised to take over whenever the situation calls for it.
It’s also the first Five that can park and unpark itself remotely, and the first available with optional rear-wheel steering, which turns the rear wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts to make the car more manoeuvrable at low speeds and in the same direction at over 80km/h to make the car more stable.
The new 5 Series is available at launch in a four-strong line-up - two diesels and two petrols, each driving the rear wheels via an eightspeed paddle shift Steptronic - with an entry-level petrol variant and a plug-in hybrid to follow later this year.
BMW’s 520d two-litre turbodiesel four soldiers on, its rated outputs unchanged at 140kW and 400Nm, but claimed fuel-consumption is down from 4.7 to 4.1 litres per 100km; 0-100km/h is quoted at 7.7 seconds and top speed at 238km/h
The long-serving 530d three-litre straight six has been uprated by 5kW to 195kW and 60Nm to 620Nm. Claimed fuel-consumption is 4.5 litres per 100km (down from 5.1), while 0-100 is quoted at 5.7 seconds and top speed at an electronically limited 250km/h.
The new 530i two-litre turbopetrol four, which replaces the outgoing 528i, is rated at 185kW (up 5kW on its predecessor) and 350Nm. Claimed fuel-consumption is 5.5 litres per 100km (about 11 percent down from the 528i), while 0-100km/h is quoted at 6.2 seconds and terminal velocity is capped at 250km/h.
The 540i is your classic BMW prime mover - a three-litre straight six petrol with a twin-scroll turbocharger for an impressive rating of 250kW and 450Nm, at a cost of 6.5 litres per 100km. Take-off from 0-100 is quoted at 5.1 seconds.
I was able to drive both petrol models at the media launch on the Garden Route, starting with the 530i, and was struck by its unruffled competence and composure, even when pushed hard on tight, bumpy back roads.
BMW has tagged the seventh-generation 5 Series the ‘Business Athlete’ and it lives up to that with sports-seat bolsters that move in to hug your ribs as you start the engine, beautifully weighted steering, and firm but supple suspension, with never a bump or a thump even on the worst of roads.
It is possible to induce a suggestion of front-end push at silly speeds on tight back-roads, but the car’s torque vectoring set-up takes care of it almost imperceptibly; in fact all the new Five’s safety systems do their jobs quietly in the background without calling attention to themselves.
The new two-litre turbo four is happy to rev its nuts off whenever you want, with almost imperceptible turbo lag. It sounds a little gruff when pushed hard, but never strained or raucous.
The muscular 540i redefines the term ‘effortless’ with its rolling flow of torque and butter-smooth power, accompanied by a glorious straight-six sound track.
This is not one of those performance sedans that ‘shrinks around you’ when you start pushing the envelope; you are always aware that it is a big, heavy and very luxurious gentleman’s express, but that just adds extra gravitas to this superbly competent chassis.
The cabin has all the BMW signature styling cues but, thanks to the fact that the car does more for you with less supervision, the controls are simpler and more intuitive, and the finish is less busy than on previous iterations of the 5 Series.
Some who equate a complex layout of knobs and buttons with luxury may find it understated; I think it’s classy - and that goes for almost everything about this car. PRICES: 520d - R770 956 530i - R841 094 530d - R954 096 540i - R990 316