The BMW 5 Series has long been a benchmark in the world of executive saloons. Its household name is almost a byword for such things as reliability, class, and a means to go about your business with minimal effort. The 520d is a particular favorite of the people here in the UK, so we thought it only right to grab the keys and see if the 5 Series is still the king of the castle.
Competitors, Mercedes-Benz in particular, have really upped their game over the past few years with the new C and E-Class’ putting a lot of pressure on BMW’s 3 and 5 Series. BMW can no longer afford to presume that their product will be “the ultimate driving machine” with the battle for car sales in Europe being more fierce than ever.
Our 2013 BMW 520d saloon was equipped with the M Sport package and a whole host of other toys. £6,765 of them to be precise bringing the total on the road price tag to £34,330. The key option of note is the Variable Damper Control, something we shall come on to soon. In all its silver glory this 5 Series does look the part. The M Sport alloys compliment its sleek profile as the whole package exudes professionalism. I believe the Germans would describe this cars aesthetics as “fit for purpose.”
If you were completely clueless about cars, the one thing that the 5 Series will teach you is that BMW are very good at attention to detail. Sliding into one of the leather seats instantly conveys their perfect execution of ergonomics. The seating position is not only supportive, but oh so very comfortable in the way its bolstering grips you. Control layouts for the console are logical and the widescreen display integrates itself into the cabin masterfully. What gets you most about the cabin of this car is not the beautifully crafted steering wheel or the now easy to use iDrive system, its not even the practical amount of space or that everything you interact with feels durable. No, when you sit down and think about it the most striking thing about the interior is the fact that you take it for granted because BMW have made every interaction so effortless.
On the road the car is quiet and refined with its 2.0 litre in-line four producing quite the surge thanks to 181BHP and 380Nm of torque. However, the highlight of the 520d’s driving experience is found in its steering. It is direct and accurate allowing the driver the enjoyment of placing the car exactly where he/she wants. In fact, despite this being a very grown-up car, you often find yourself trying to kiss the apex of a corner just because it is pleasurable. The chassis still retains a slight sporting feel and the aforementioned adjustable dampers when in sport mode, provide a great setup for a B-road blast. This M Sport model also had ZF’s excellent 8 speed gearbox that silently swaps cogs seamlessly.
It is not very often I say this, but the new BMW 5 Series is very near faultless. Maybe my only gripe would be that it does its job a little too well and lacks a bit of character, but the people walking into the showroom to buy one aren’t necessarily the worlds greatest enthusiasts. The 520d M Sport; Handsome, comfortable, efficient with 57MPG and still the best.
In 2009 those crazy Germans unveiled to us the exciting looking 5 Series Gran Turismo and while most saw it as a strong move in to the GT market combining the grunt of an SUV with the comfort of the more traditional comfort focused grand tourer, others saw it as a bit of a wart on the BMW line-up. Now the 5 series is not alone and the Gran Turismo badge and treatment has been given to the 3 series and has had the mouths of car fanatics around the world drooling for months.
So with this in mind it would only make sense that the 1 series gets the same treatment and will add to the upcoming onslaught of front wheel drive BMWs which will undoubtedly be giving those FWD fanatics in camp Audi and Volkswagen a bit of a headache. Along with the release of the 1 series GT comes the Active Tourer Outdoor Concept which BMW hopes will be “combining sporting aesthetics and style with compact dimensions and functionality”.
The Concept Active Tourer Outdoor will be a hybrid which takes a 1.5-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and glues on a “high performance” electric motor. The total power output is 188bhp, and BMW claims a top speed of 125mph while 0-62mph can be hit in just shy of 8 seconds.
It isn’t all about speed though, and an aptly named “ECO PRO” will cut the energy used by the air-conditioning and other battery draining features while the driver will be given driving tips to improve efficiency. The Proactive Driving Assistant will give the driver the most economic route by working alongside the satellite navigation to look for roads with the least traffic.
Although this is still in concept stage we will be seeing the long awaited 1 series GT hitting showrooms hopefully in 2015 in long wheelbase and normal wheelbase forms, so for now we’re just going to have to fidget impatiently until it finally arrives.
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on in the BMW design department at the moment, but I can guarantee that not a single thought process of late is a rational one. The company recently have developed a real talent for designing cars that are completely unnecessary, the appalling X6 and its infantile sibling the X1 are two clear examples. The X6 has been deigned to look and drive like a sports car but deliver the high driving position of a 4X4. The result is that the supposedly sporty handling is ruined by the car being so tall thus making it horse manure for the road, and the sports suspension and tyres make it more than useless on anything other than tarmac. The X1 is in principle a 1 Series with the ugly X3 body plonked on top, creating an ugly midget 4X4 that is crap off-road because it’s too low and poor on the road thanks to the wrong underpinnings. What supervisor signs off these designs? I can only imagine one that aspires to be the mad hatter’s best friend. Regardless of this we must continue with reviewing this, the BMW 5 Series GT. Can BMW redeem itself?
In short, no, no it can’t. The 5 Series GT is designed to be a luxury saloon with increased practicality and usability. The car is allegedly meant to carry the elegant lines of coupe whilst being appropriately aggressive. Well to anyone who has eyes this car is only aggressive in its lack of elegance as innocent bystanders are visually clobbered by the cars sheer ugliness. You must question yourself as to who would consciously go out and buy one of these?
Ok, one of the cars specifications is practicality and thankfully that is one of the few things the GT can boast about. The boot, much like the Skoda Superb, can both function as a hatch or a standard saloon boot. This makes it useful for awkwardly shaped loads as its hatch function prevents the rear windscreen from blocking your camel shaped lampshades from entering the boot. An over exaggeration with the lampshades? Not in my opinion as your taste must be questionable to buy this car in the first place… Rear legroom is also something to be phrased as it is on par with the company’s luxury saloon the 7 Series. In truth the rear is a pleasant environment with ample amounts of head room along with some rather snug seats that are perfect for long journeys. However, if you are looking for those BMW toys and gadgets you had best turn your attention to the options list. Almost everything is an optional extra and this being promoted as an executive saloon, not one item is what you would call value for money. Up front the cockpit layout is the standard BMW functionality over aesthetics as ergonomically the layout is sound, but it does have a rather sterile look to it. This is much the same for the interior as a whole as it has about as much character as Gordon Brown.
On the road the 5 Series GT drives well but not to the same standards as a normal 5 Series, which I might add is cheaper by £6,000! The chassis is firm but not overly hard which makes for a pleasant ride but rather vague responses to inputs from the driver. The gearbox itself is one of the few things to marvel about this car as its 5 clutches, yes 5, make gear changes so secretive you barley notice them. Pared with BMW’s rather well balanced 6 cylinder 3.0 litre diesel, it makes for a good motorway cruiser. 242BHP is a rather feeble amount of power for this engine but this car has an ulterior motive of pleasing the green folk. The GT if fitted with a break energy recovery system that stores energy lost through deceleration in the cars battery. It may please the environmentalists but the car as an overall driving package is soul destroying thanks to its unrivalled dullness.
At £41,000 the 5 Series GT certainly isn’t cheap and I can think of many cars that tick all the boxes that this does for less as well as create a few new boxes of their own. To buy one of these you would have to either work for a bank and turn down the superior yet cheaper standard 5 Series, or just be criminally insane. I feel that if this car didn’t wear a BMW badge it would be the sort of car that would be stolen but then returned with a “sorry we don’t want it” note in the morning. In the circumstance of the 5 Series GT 530d it’s a case of go away BMW, and try harder.
It’s summer again and amidst the hordes of caravans that begin to clog our motorways yet again, flurries of convertibles are beginning to blossom. The British have very much grown accustom to the taste of alfresco motoring over the past years, and as a result we see a dramatic boom in their sales at this point in the calendar without fail. However this being Brittan there is also a major drawback to having the top down on your shiny new sports job, and that’s the fact that it rains whenever and wherever no matter the time of day or season. Being caught short in your new car isn’t particularly healthy for the interior, so what’s the solution?
Enter the BMW Z4 Sdrive 35i. Not the most delectable name I know but it is German so cut it a bit of slack. This is the latest Z4 from Bavaria, and I must be honest, I didn’t hold out too much hope for it. You see the cars predecessor, though well-built and functional, was unsuitably boring! The car at its most lively was when you went over a particularly bumpy road, where you could enjoy the cars rather firm suspension not doing an awful lot to save your spine. So as you can see I wasn’t going to hold my breath.
In complete contradiction to my predictions I am very pleased to tell you that this Z4 is an absolute joy. How did BMW solve theboredom I hear you ask? Simple, they put a nuclear weapon under the bonnet! The car is powered by a 3 litre, twin-turbo, fuel injected, 6 cylinder engine that produces 306BHP. Yeah, this definitely staves off the boredom as it will propel you and one other to 62MPH from standing in as little as 4.8 seconds, and keep going to its electronically limited top speed of 155MPH. Despite this the car still manages 26mpg, not bad for an engine that could be mistaken for a weapon of mass destruction.
The cars handling however, is its real party peace. When swooning around town or drifting down B-roads the suspension is supple and absolutely fantastic at softening the blows of rampant potholes. That said it also works in perfect synchronisation with the cars killer engine to produce a heart racing experience. Coupled with this cars 6 speed manual transmission the car works like a well-engineered watch providing functionality and style, not to mention the security to push this car to its limits. Its deep bellow and unquestioning loyalty though the corners makes for the perfect combination this summer. In terms of wind in your hair, the metal folding roof that tucks neatly into the boot can complete the Z4’s transformation in less than 20 seconds. This means whilst you’re in this country you can enjoy the sun when it’s there without the fear of the dreaded rain ruining the upholstery.
Upholstery… That’s another strong point of this car; in fact the interior in general makes this a very pleasant place to be. It feels very much a car of the 21st century with its smooth surfaces and deeply burrowed speedometer. Yes it has the usual BMW toys that to be perfectly honest make up the cars only real downfall. The gizmo’s themselves function adequately enough but with the roof down you would require the Hubble space telescope to decipher the symbols meaning on each button. So whilst being comfortable and benefiting from a more spacious cabin, the Z4 does have those little niggles that get on your nerves.
But let me ask you this, how many perfect cars can you think of? I mean really perfect, not a single fault. I can only manage 3 andnone of them are below £70,000 so with this only costing £44,220 its value for money is rather good. So there you go Great Brittan, the BMW Z4, your perfect companion this summer.
