By Miles Downard
The âbusiness athleteâ is BMWâs tagline for the all new 5 series. Itâs a car thatâs been tagged as the ultimate driving machine for executive level titans of industry. I read that as the kind of person whoâd rather drive to work than be driven, because the reverse would mean you buy a 7 series instead.
With that in mind BMW let some of us local journoâs loose around the twisty roads around George down in the Western Cape. Itâs a marvellous setting and definitely one that tests the competence of both car and driver. Itâs also a setting which attracts many an executive with the array of world class golf courses in the areaâ.
Let’s start with the exterior. I see this as more of an evolution over the previous 5, than a redesign. Truth be told I mistook the old G30 for this 31. Overall it has a distinctly BMW shape, only they’ve squared off the front end which really neatens up the headlights. The old one looked a bit ungainly in that area. Nice package overall, but nothing mind-blowing.
Read also:Â All new BMW 5 Series, now with steering assist up to 210km/h
The new 5 series was touted as a mini-7 on the interior and technology fronts. That’s quite a standard it must be said. The models I spent time with, the 520d and 530i didn’t quite give off that impression, though. The 7s interior is, of course, of a much higher quality in fit and finish, and materials. From a tech point of view you can indeed specify a lot of 7 series features in your 5, like gesture control, self parking, autonomous driving etc. But if you just buy a bog standard 5 off the shelf there is not much more than you’d get in a 3 series, with the exception of dual zone climate control and real time traffic navigation. That dulls the hype somewhat in my books.
What you can spec however is a vast list of things. BMW connected apps is something they harped on about in the presentation. It allows your car to access your calendar etc via your phone and then calculate necessary departure times for meetings based on traffic. Not sure if they’ve heard of Google Now and Apple’s Siri, both of which have done that for a number of years now, and both of which are far more useful as your car isn’t always on your person. What is potentially quite useful is having your car read your emails to you, though. You can have a look at our 7 series video for more of those fun features.
Initial impressions of comfort were good. The seats are nice and cushy, but in fact the longer I sat in the car the worse that impression got. By the end of our fairly lengthy drive my back was a bit worse for wear. The 5 is quite a large car and accordingly the cabin is very spacious. Good boot size too – easily enough for a set of clubs and luggage for a family weekend away.
Now we come to the 5s driving prowess, because after all that’s what the tagline boasts. The 520d, with 140kW and 400 Newton’s surprised me with its drivability. Just shows how all the lightweight tech BMW has in the vehicle’s structure has paid off. The 530i is more exciting of course but if you’re going petrol it you may as well be in the 540 instead.
Read also: Pics you may have never seen beforeâŚ30 years of the BMW M3, 4 models
On the road the BMW felt more planted than the Mercedes E class I drove recently, but at higher speeds the steering goes exceptionally light which is rather unnerving. And given that the 5s comfort isn’t up to Merc levels I’m not sure the additional sure-footedness is worth it. This is after all a car that executives are going to cart their families around in, and otherwise be stuck in traffic with on the way to the office, so that ounce more grip at the limit is pretty meaningless most of the time. Aside from the light steering, there isn’t any feedback provided to the driver either (although the same goes for the competition) so that doesn’t drive home the athlete tagline. Rear wheel steering further muddies the pond as it’s integration into how the vehicle corners isn’t smooth enough.
Overall I think the new BMW 5 series is a solid offering and of course comes from a well established brand. What I donât think the 5 series does very well is stand out from the other segment offerings in any significant manner – and in some instances falls short. That doesnât make it a bad car, not by any means, it just doesnât make it a great one either.
Standard model pricing starts from:
520d – R770,500
530i – R838,700
530d – R952,500
540i – R985,300
