Review of the new BMW 5 Series range

1972 was the year that BMW began the 5 Series dynasty. If you took the stub-nosed original and parked it beside this sixth generation car, it wouldn't be difficult to pick out some family resemblance, even if the technology lurking inside the modern iteration would seem light years ahead.

That's the 5 Series, an executive car that has occupied the cutting edge of automotive engineering and technology for decades but done little, from a styling perspective, to let on. A more adventurous shape was tried with the fifth generation car and traditional buyers were less than impressed. With this model, it's business as usual - major innovation beneath a sober but finely tailored business suit.

So what has BMW given us with the latest 5 Series? The MK5 car was good, very good, but a resurgent Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi's blossoming brand profile must have focused minds in Munich on the need to move the game on. Finding scope for big improvement can't have been easy but they have managed to deliver more space, some intriguing technological features and a completely revised suspension set-up. That's not bad going for starters.

Impacting on the way the 5 Series performs on the road is a wheelbase that's 80mm longer than the fifth generation car at 2,968mm and a double wishbone front suspension system that replaces the previous MacPherson struts. The power steering is electronic and speed-dependent, varying the amount of assistance to provide security at speed with a light touch around town. At the top of the range, the balance between dynamism and comfort is managed by the DDC Driver Dynamic Control system, with its Normal, Comfort, Sport and Sport+ settings. It can act on the steering, throttle, gearbox and the adjustable dampers to create the right driving experience for a given situation.

"BMW didn't really need to surprise anybody with its sixth generation 5 Series and it duly hasn't."

In the engine department, BMW appears to be attempting its old trick of comprehensively overshadowing rivals. As usual, the model names are familiar but you can bank on the powerplants they refer to reflecting the current state of the art. Highlights include the big selling 520d with its 2.0-litre common-rail diesel generating 141bhp and a huge 380Nm of torque. 0-60mph can be covered in 8.1s and this is the entry-level 5-Series. Six cylinder power begins with the 525d offering 204bhp, plus there are 245bhp 530d and 300bhp 535d options. Most choose the 530d which offers a crushing 540Nm from just 1,750rpm: it can hit BMW's 155mph speed limiter and do the 0-60mph shuffle in 6.3s only half a second slower than the 535d. With M Sport trim, it's even more desirable. There's also the option of xDrive intelligent all-wheel drive to get all that power onto the tarmac more effectively.

The diesels might get the most attention but the petrol range is similarly packed with quality. The 535i is the first engine to use BMW's High Precision Direct Injection Valvetronic valve timing and a turbocharger. The result? 306bhp, 400Nm of torque and a 6.0s 0-60mph time. Propping up this technological tour de force are a couple of normally-aspirated straight-six units and above it sits the V8-engined 550i which produces 407bhp thanks to two turbochargers and makes you wonder just what the M5 will do to top it.

It's back to business as usual with this 5 Series from a styling perspective. There's nothing that's likely to offend the traditionalists but it does look a very handsome and imposing car. The front end is flatter than we're used to seeing, with the famous grille almost vertical. The deep bonnet contours and lines cut into the flanks are as close as it gets to standout features. The wheels are pushed right out to the corners of the car, creating very short overhangs front and rear and a planted stance.

The expanded wheelbase is made to count inside where there's lots of rear passenger space, including an extra 13mm of knee-room compared to the MK5 car. The seats split 40:20:40 and fold down but even without them lowered, 520-litres of capacity is on offer beneath the boot lid.

The design of the cabin throws up few surprises with much of the switchgear being similar to items seen before on the larger BMW products. The minimal design is appealing and there's still a button for all the important functions with only the more arcane stuff accessed through the iDrive menu system.

BMW is well aware that the fine toothed combs are going to be out for the 5 Series. Private and business customers will be vigorously comparing specifications, matching up performance figures and interrogating costs to determine if the 5 or one of its rivals is the best destination for their order. As a result, the value proposition needs to be watertight. More than the prices, it's the specification where BMW is attempting to get ahead. All models get leather trim, a high quality stereo and a Bluetooth telephone kit along with all the usual appendages while six-cylinder models gain a USB audio connector and ambient lighting around the cabin.

Six speed manual gearboxes come as standard but many will look to the options list and either the eight-speed automatic that comes as standard with the 550i or the Sport automatic which also has eight speeds but gains steering wheel paddle shifters. Also on the options list are such temptations as an automatic parking system, four-wheel-steering, a 360-degree camera system and a head-up display that projects important into on to the inside of the windscreen and makes you feel a bit like a fighter pilot.

The running costs of the 5 Series will be integral to its success or failure in a market sector that still largely hinges on the whims of fleet managers. BMW has left little to chance. Having rolled out its EfficientDynamics programme across the entire fifth-generation range, it tweaked the sixth generation car to new heights of parsimony. The 520d returns nearly 57mpg on the combined cycle with 132g/km emissions. It's startling stuff for a car the size of the 5 and even the muscular 530d manages 45mpg with 166g/km of CO2. On the petrol side, the 523i manages 37mpg combined and even the 535i comes close to that figure with 33mpg and emissions dipping under 200g/km.

How? Aside from the advanced combustion systems whirring away within the engines, there are a number of clever features grouped under the EfficientDynamics banner. The 520d features Auto Start-Stop as standard to cut the engine when it's stationary in traffic. There's an optimum gear shift indication with all the manual models, brake energy regeneration recovers kinetic energy to charge the battery and active aerodynamics help with the car's efficient movement through the air by sealing off the front grille at speed. Low rolling resistance tyres also play their part.

BMW didn't really need to surprise anybody with its sixth generation 5 Series and it duly hasn't. Unless, for some strange reason, you weren't expecting a car that moves the executive saloon game on in most of the major areas, incorporating a swathe of advanced technology and engineering trickery in the process, there's little to get excited about. BMW isn't in the business of rocking the boat for the sake of it and will be looking for 5 Series number six to continue where the fifth left off.

TOP 5 5 SERIES DEALS

The results below show the top 5 SERIES deals on buyacar

BMW 5 Series 520d SE 4dr Diesel Saloon
Price £27,235 Read 5 Series Reviews	Save £2,795
BMW 5 Series ActiveHybrid 5 4dr Step Auto Saloon
Price £41,712 Read 5 Series Reviews	Save £5,133
BMW 5 Series 520d SE 5dr Diesel Touring
Price £29,191 Read 5 Series Reviews	Save £3,114
BMW 5 Series 520d SE 4dr [Professional Media] Diesel Saloon
Price £29,093 Read 5 Series Reviews	Save £3,097
BMW 5 Series 550i SE 4dr Step Auto [Professional Media] Saloon
Price £48,986 Read 5 Series Reviews	Save £6,214
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