BMW 5 SERIES

You know that rotating movement you make with your index finger to indicate that someone has lost the plot? Well, if you trace a circle in the air aboard the new BMW 5 Series, a 3D sensor near the centre console translates the action into a command, and Rihanna’s Love on the Brain subsides from a captivating ballad to a gentle background murmur. Rotate the same digit in a clockwise direction, and the volume is cranked up just in time to catch the soulful plea, “Can we burn something, babe?”

Forty-five years and 7,9 million sales later, BMW has every expectation of setting the market afire with the 7th generation of its “athletic business saloon”. It’s lighter (by up to 100 kg), quicker, more spacious and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor, with an all-new chassis that contributes to excellent driving dynamics and utterly predictable handling.

Four model variants are up for grabs now, with a fifth and sixth offering (the much-anticipated 530e iperformance plug-in hybrid and petrol-powered 520i) possibly arriving by the third quarter. All are equipped with the proven 8-speed Steptronic gearbox. The 530i (R838 700) comes with a 4- cylinder petrol engine producing 185 kw; the 540i (R985 300) features a vigorous 250 kw 6- cylinder engine; the 520d (R770 500) has a 4- cylinder 140 kw diesel, and the 530d (R950 500) features a 6-cylinder diesel developing a very useful 620 Nm of torque at 2 000 to 2 500 r/min.

Of course, these are the prices for the standard model; that is, sans optional extras. Once you start loading the nice-tohave goodies, it becomes a different ball game. Integral Active Steering, for example (in essence, an electromechanical system that steers the rear wheels for extra agility and stability) adds R23 400 to the base price. Driving Assist Plus, a camera- and radar-based driver assistance system, costs R40 300; BMW Night Vision (which employs infrared technology that allows you to spot – and avoid – people and animals in the road after dusk) sells for R28 800; and if you fancy an amazing sound system, be prepared to cough up an eye- watering R67 000 for a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond set-up that will make Rihanna sound really, really good. As an aside, it’s worth knowing that the 530e iperformance hybrid, which boasts an electric range of around 50 km and a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 6,2 seconds, gives new meaning to miserly fuel consumption: would you believe a combined (that is, urban and highway) figure of 1,9 litres/100 km? The price has not yet been announced, but it’s likely to be steep. If you yearn for green credentials, of course, this is a mere bagatelle…