BMW 5 Series
Our favourite luxury car gets refreshed looks, extra standard kit and more ef cient engines On sale Now Price from £37,480
FIRST LOOK
THE BMW 5 Series is one of those rare things: a car that’s always at or very near the top of its class. Indeed, in its various forms it has won more What Car? awards than any other model, and it’s the only car that has ever received a lifetime achievement award from us.
Part of the reason for this sustained success is BMW’S habit of updating the 5 Series before it really needs to.therefore, it comes as no surprise to see that, despite still being our favourite luxury car, the 5 Series has been given refreshed looks and additional technology, in both saloon and Touring estate guises.
Perhaps the most obvious change is at the front, where the grille has been enlarged in an effort to make the car appear more imposing. But fortunately, it stops short of being oversized – unlike the ones on the latest 7 Series limousine and X7 luxury SUV,
RIVALS
which just remind you of a child wearing their father’s clothes.
You also get wider and taller air intakes in the front bumper, whether you stick with entry-level SE trim or upgrade to M Sport. Meanwhile, LED lights are standard front and rear, and the options list includes super-bright laser headlights that increase the range of illumination to 600 metres and bring distinctive, L-shaped daytime running lights.
The ‘bigger is better’ theme continues inside, where a 12.3in infotainment screen replaces the old 10.25in unit.this is allied to a faster operating system, Apple Carplay and Android Auto phone mirroring and, for the rst time in a BMW, remote software updates.
Elsewhere, the list of standard equipment now includes power-folding door mirrors, electrically adjustable lumbar support on the front seats and a Parking Assistant system, which can steer the car into spaces for you and reverse it for distances of up to 50 metres.
This comes on top of leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, ambient interior lighting, a DAB radio, sat-nav and cruise control. Meanwhile, M Sport cars get sportier details such as bigger wheels, black rather than chrome exterior trim and a dark roof lining.
To start with, there will also be a new M Sport Edition (limited to 1000 cars globally), featuring bespoke 20in wheels in place of the regular M Sport’s standard 18s, a boot spoiler, tinted glass and two paint colours that aren’t available on other 5 Series variants:tanzanite Blue and Donington Grey. However, you’ll have to be a big fan of one of these to justify the £3500 premium over the regular M Sport.
After adding an ef ciency-enhancing mild hybrid system to the 520d diesel last year, BMW has now tted this to most of the other conventional engines as well.the exception is the 523bhp 4.4-litre V8 in a new M550i performance model, which accelerates from 0-62mph in 3.8sec.
Alternatively, if you’re more concerned about lowering your tax bill, there’s a new six-cylinder 545e plug-in hybrid, which will be sold alongside the existing four-cylinder 530e. And from November, the two hybrid saloons will be joined by a 530e Touring estate. This model should match the 41-mile electriconly range of the equivalent saloon, while the 545e saloon is capable of 35 miles of zeroemissions driving between charges.
Prices have actually fallen slightly compared with the existing model, with the cheapest version – the 520i SE – now costing £37,480 and our favoured 520d SE coming in at £38,500. Both should be available with sizeable discounts from the word go, too, if you use our online New Car Buying service.