Picking holes in perfection

MONTH 5 BMW 530D

Watch the throne

Our 7-series wasn’t blessed with seats that suited me. But the 5-series’ are seriously good, as an eight-hour trip proved. Falling into the £1265 comfort seats elicits groans of pleasure every time. The massage function is good, though there must be a quicker way to activate it than my 30-second iDrive input marathon.

The masterpiece

As Ben Barry discovered on his epic Morocco adventure earlier in the year, the 5-series is a ine car in 520d form. But you’d be unlikely to regret the £8k push for the 3.0-litre diesel six, which is returning high-30s mpg. One day I’ll summon the patience to do some grown-up driving, and hit high-40s, if not BMW’s 53.3. BEN MILLER

Turn this all o !

I’ve taken to disabling many of the G30 5-series’ assistance systems. Active Cruise Control is accomplished, and you can leave it in charge down to a standstill, but Steering Assistant is unsophisticated, Lane Change Warning is irritating and the Approach Warning klaxon goes o• constantly, even when it’s set to ‘Late’.

Thumbs up

The head-up display neatly integrates sat-nav and the adaptive cruise control, showing both your speed and the new speed limit (picked out with unfailing accuracy by the car’s stereo cameras and mapping data), so that all you need do is click up or down on the cruise speed control to go straight to the new limit.