Driven! The all new BMW 5-Series

Posted by Harvinder

February 9, 2010

The all new 6th generation 5-Series is just slightly over two months old and I must say that it has a huge responsibility to carry. The previous 5-Series which is also known as the E60 did really well for BMW and became the most successful 5-Series to date. Although I feel that there is nothing to boast about the E60’s design, it did very well in the driving and comfort departments.

I feel that the exterior design is a little too different for a BMW. The cherry on the rather tasteless cake is the mundane interior. It is spacious enough but lacks appeal. It is definitely not something you can show off to your friends.

However this did not stop people from buying it. Now back to the all new 5 which drops the ‘E’ designation in its code name and is now called the F10 (which sounds a lot like the designations used to identify fighter jets).

We finally have the all-important test drive report to share with you as we flew all the way to Portugal to have a go in it. We also had the chance of driving the new premium mid-sized sedan at the Estoril Circuit. Continue reading to find out more!

The Design.

When I found out that the new 5 was about to be launched, I was looking forward to the reveal to see what BMW whipped up since the company managed to make a better looking flagship 7-Series with the F01. When I saw the images of the new 5-Series following its launch in Munich, I did not jump out of my seat for the good reasons. It looked okay, but something was missing. Just like the E60 the design didn’t hit the spot.

However I did give the new 5-Series the benefit of doubt thinking that it would look better in real life. So when I arrived in Portugal for the test drive and saw the new 5-Series for the first time in real life, I had nothing but praises for it and BMW. Trust me, it really looks much better in real life. It looks a hybrid between the new 7 and the facelifted 3-Series which sounds right doesn’t it?

The ‘kidney’ grille doesn’t want to be greedy and take up the entire front fascia, the various lines on the hood gives it a very dynamic look, the very prominent waist line at the side of the car gives it a good looking side profile while the Hoffmeister kink gives it an identity of a BMW.

The taillights are nice to look at night, thanks to its very tasteful glow, although I feel that the design outline didn’t really hit the spot. Nevertheless everything else about the exterior design was just right. But why it didn’t look as good in the photos? Well, my guess is that the 5-Series just has many design lines that require us to look at it in the flesh, especially the lines on the hood and on the sides of the car. You really need to look at it in real life to appreciate the design. The proportions are perfectly sized making it look aggressive and graceful at the same time.

When designing the new 5-Series, the designers had to work around stringent crash, aerodynamic as well as other engineering-based requirements and to be able to come up with this as a final product is commendable. I was also told that the designers had to go over quite a few things to enable the car to feature the Hoffmeister kink in the way the designers wanted and we think its an easy thing to come up with! Overall the new 5-Series looks good enough for a business executive to make a very good impression to his potential clients and at the same time it also looks the part when you take your family or friends out for a good time.

The Interior.

Lets move on to the interior of the new 5-Series. I have one word for it: Gorgeous! Just look at it! What else can you ask for? BMW made the right choice to have an interior that is inspired by the new 7-Series, meaning it looks very much like the inside of a smaller 7, which is a good thing in my books.

Everything is just rightly placed and I really appreciate BMW for bringing back the driver-focused centre dash. On top of the good looking design the feel is premium as well. The tactility is just perfect. Overall its a better place to be in compared to the E60 that it replaces. Features like the Black Panel instrumentation along with other high-tech fitments in the interior further establish the fact that this really is a resized interior of a 7.

The seats offered very good support from almost every angle as well. The window controls are placed where they should be (unlike the pre-facelift E60, thank God!) and I must also say that the steering wheel felt right as well. The steering wheel is something that connects you to the car so its important for it to give the right feel behind the wheel. I love the fact that the steering wheel has a thick rim. It offers good support for your hands during normal driving and gives a sporty feel as well which is good for those spirited weekend drives.

The F10 5-Series also has a good load of space for a mid-sized sedan vehicle. Both leg and head room are slighly more than adequate in the front cabin and its the same thing in the rear as well. Although the boot isn’t all that deep its definitely long enough. Just nice for long-distance drives up to Kuala Lumpur or to Thailand. Along with those luggages in the boot, carrying 3 moderately-sized adults in the back seat should prove to be easy.

The Driving.

Just like most test drive events we were given routes that were made up by a combination of curves as well as highway straights. Before we hit those roads we had to spend some time in city roads. In this part of Lisbon the 5-Series behaved well. City driving was a breeze. Just like how I feel that the new 7-Series feels like the 5 when you are maneuvering around town, the 5-Series now feels a little like the 3. You don’t feel like you are behind the wheel of a big car. Portugal is a left-hand drive market and even so driving in traffic jams and getting in and out of tight spaces wasn’t a problem with the 5-Series.

The model that I drove was the 535i and it was fitted with BMW’s optional Integral Active Steering which means the rear wheels can change their angle, depending on the driving situation. Thanks to this, making U-Turns was easier than ever as the turning radius became better when I needed it.

The 5-Series can also be equipped with Parking Assistant which works just like the versions found in certain Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz cars where the system tries to detect if a potential side parking spot has enough space to accommodate the vehicle or not. The car can then maneuver itself into the spot leaving just the braking and accelerating to the driver.

If that is not enough that you can also use a ’surround view’ system to see a bird’s eye view of the car. This is achievable thanks to various cameras placed on the car. The new 5-Series also has a reverse camera which isn’t surprising actually. The 5-Series also has Brake Energy Regeneration which is part of the EfficientDynamics’ list of features.

Beside the fuel consumption indicator on the instrument you can see a battery logo and the word EfficientDynamics written below. This area is illuminated in sky blue. This simply shows you what the Brake Energy Regeneration system is doing. Whenever I hit the brakes and whenever I let go of the accelerator, the indicator moved to show how much energy was being collected under braking and during coasting.

I then moved out of the busy streets of downtown Lisbon and got onto the highways. The 5-Series was rather quiet while cruising on the highway and it really felt composed and planted even at high speeds.

The model I drove was also fitted with the Lane Departure Warning system which monitors the lane markings on the road and will then vibrate the steering wheel if you are driving over them. Luckily the vibration wasn’t intrusive. It vibrated just enough to let me know that I was not keeping the car in my lane. To me the system really helps especially when I was driving in a left-hand drive country!

A yellow triangular light fitted in the wing mirror housing will also blink if the car thinks that the driver is making a dangerous lane change. I decided to try it out when I noticed there was a car on the right lane crusing at the same speed and was about one car length behind. The light blinked as expected and it blinked in a place that I could clearly see. This system is what BMW calls the Lane Change Warning.

The 535i has a turbo-charged direct-injected 3.0 liter 6-cylinder engine that is capable of 306hp and 400Nm of torque. It was hard for me to find turbo lag and torque dip. The throttle response was quick and sensitive but not too jerky at the same time.

The floor-mounted accelerator paddle (which I think should be standard in all cars!) felt well weighted as well. Power delivery overall was very smooth and it proved effortless when I tried to overtake while cruising on the highway. A good load of the 400Nm of torque can be felt through out the entire rev range.

If this engine is already so powerful then how does the 550i which has a 4.4 liter turbo-charged V8 perform? Its mind boggling! The upcoming M5 would be out of this world! The 3.0 liter engine was paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission. Thanks to this, gears can be changed at below 2,000 revs during normal city driving and this worked throughout all the gears! This should help reduce fuel consumption. The engine didn’t need to work extra hard. The engine and the transmission worked very well together and both felt very well-oiled. Everything was just smooth.

The ride was balanced as well, meaning it felt tight enough for those twisty roads and soft enough for normal cruising and for absorbing those bumps on the road. The model I had a go in featured variable dampers under the Dynamic Drive Package. These dampers adjust according to driving conditions. There were also four modes to choose from including Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport +.

A number of automakers can decide not to pay much attention on fine tuning the chassis just by using leaving most of the job to these dampers. To me BMW managed come up with a balanced chassis despite putting on such dampers. When I was driving in Normal mode, the car felt good over bumps and performed well on the twisty roads as well. Comfort mode gave a softer ride while Sport stiffened the dampers up. Sport + took a step further from Sport mode. Different modes also offered different throttle and steering responses as well as different gear shift patterns on the transmission.

After spending some time on the highway I went on to tackle some beautiful mountainous roads. As mentioned, driving in Normal mode was good enough. The car gave me enough confidence to push even more. I would be lying if I said that there is no body roll but the thing is it was minimal. The steering wheel was communicative enough and felt well weighted. It can even make you forget that there is actually an electric power steering in there!

I have not been a fan of such a power steering system as they tend to offer a rather ‘dead’ steering feel. But that has changed after driving the 5-Series. It was light enough for busy city driving and heavy enough whenever I needed it. Overall drivability was well-balanced which offered a beautiful drive.

Estoril Race Track Experience.

Unfortunately a rather dull looking sky a day before worsened into showers on the next day, making it an all-wet affair at the Estoril Circuit. It was just my bad luck as I really wanted to push the 5-Series on the track and see how it performed although I was already given positive hints about it when I was driving in the mountains.

A wet track meant that we couldn’t turn off the traction control and had to be very careful on track. Even a Formula 1 car will have to slow down tremendously when the weather isn’t friendly. Nevertheless, it gave me the opportunity to find out how the 5-Series will perform in such conditions.

The circuit was made up by a couple of short to medium length straights and slow to medium speed corners. I engaged the Sport mode and started my way around of the circuit. The car felt very good on the straights and braking was carefree as well. I just had to make sure that I did not brake too late and accelerate too early mid corner.

The wet surface proved to be a nuisance and I had to make sure that the tires didn’t touch the rather slippery kerbs but the ESP made sure that I didn’t over do it. The car behaved well through the corners. There were times that the backend stepped out slightly and times when it was about understeer, but all were at a manageable level.

Overall, considering that fact that it was raining the F10 5-Series did the job well on track with very predictable driving. I didn’t find it hard to drive it in such conditions even when I was pushing it at times.

Conclusion.

When you are in the market for a premium mid-sized sedan, apart from a more attractive price package, you will most likely look for something that looks good, aggressive and elegant at the same time, something that offers a luxury feel on the inside, something that drives like a dream and something that you can take your family with for those weekend trips.

If you are looking for all that, then the BMW F10 5-Series fits the bill. It has everything you need and want in a car from such a segment. Furthermore with that level of attention to detail, it makes it an even more attractive option. I tried to be more critical during the drive but I could’t find anything I didn’t like about the F10 5-Series. If I have a maximum of 10 stars to award the new 5, I will give it a definite 11!