BMW 530d Touring
New generation of BMW’S large exec estate harnesses muscular six-pot diesel
New-generation estate tested
Following the launch of last year’s award-winning saloon, BMW has moved on to the second 5 Series variant: the eminently likeable Touring. The estate version remains a European preoccupation (96% of the volume never leaves the continent), although that has hardly limited the model’s success. The outgoing generation was the most popular yet and accounted for almost a third of all 5 Series sold in the UK.
The new one is marginally larger in all dimensions than the model it replaces and improves on the saloon’s seats-up boot volume by around 40 litres. At 570 litres, it offers only 10 litres more than its predecessor, but the permissible load limit is up by 120kg to as much as 730kg. The reason for the latter enhancement is simple enough: alongside now standard self-levelling air suspension at the back, BMW has cut up to 100kg from the previous model’s kerb weight thanks to a more sophisticated mix of materials in the 5 Series’ new platform and body.
At launch, BMW will offer two petrol engines and three diesels in the UK – all mated to an eight-speed automatic. Most notable in terms of sales are the 188bhp 2.0-litre fourpot 520d and the 261bhp 3.0-litre straight six 530d, which is also offered with xdrive four-wheel drive.
Any concern that the wagon might not drive with quite the same elan as the saloon is dispelled in about a nanosecond. This is the 5 Series in its splendiferous latest guise: hushed, plush and never less than slavishly brisk. It’s quite possible that the Touring’s combination of air-fettled back end and optional variable dampers make it the finest-riding 5 Series yet. Either way, the isolation of occupants remains top drawer.
Its enduring soft-edged tolerance of the road isn’t necessarily an aid to incisiveness although, as with the saloon, any feeble grumble about the 5 Series’ slightly aloof dynamic is steamrollered flat by its thickset control weights and cosseting, cathedral-quiet super-cruise.
This temperament is best savoured with the siren song of the 3.0-litre six all around you. So persuasive is the 530d’s onslaught of seemingly bottomless sonorous twist that it makes the gravelly four-pot seem like a poor, put-upon relation, when in fact, 85% of the time, the 520d is going as quickly and as quietly as you could ever reasonably want – and burning less diesel while doing it.
Grafting a beautifully upholstered, neatly rectangular estate rump to either motor is no less of a masterstroke than it was with the first 5 Series Touring, the E34 generation. Both its usability and pomp have been dramatically enhanced since then. The tailgate and flop of the 40/20/40 back seats are electrically powered, and the parcel shelf lifts politely and inscrutably out of the way and can even be stowed under the flat floor when not in use. Not that you’ll use any of that lot half as much as the rear window tailgate, a Touring model USP and still as brilliantly convenient as when it was first introduced.
Apparently, 60% of all 5 Series sold in Germany are wagons and, frankly, it’s hard to fault that decision. The car’s gradual generational creep from potent driving machine to capacious Gt-glider doubtless helps – and if you’re buying one on the basis of the car’s current strengths (colossal mile-quaffing, luxuriousness, deft comfort), there seems no compelling argument not to opt for the extra practicality, especially as the entrylevel 520d SE stoops under the new higher-band road tax rate. The significantly pricier rear-drive 530d is undeniably captivating, although for anyone unconcerned by the cost, the xdrive version might yet prove one of the industry’s consummate allseason, all-purpose heavyweights.