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By EWAN KENNEDY
in LISBON
15 February 2010
BMW has introduced its all-new 5 Series to the world’s motoring
press at a function based in Lisbon and which included track time
on the Estoril racing circuit, the home of the Portuguese Grand
Prix.
It's not unusual for cars that feel good on the road to become
rather ordinary when subjected to the extremes of racetrack
driving. But BMWs are a major exception to this rule. They feel as
good in the harsh world of track driving, because they are set up
to provide pleasure for the keen driver. Yet they do so without
compromising on-road comfort.
At Estoril we found the 5 Series to be composed and controllable,
even on a greasy uneven surface created by rain showers and
intermittent sunshine. These are tough conditions at the best of
times and the ability to cope with them in extreme circumstances
show the Bimmer will be as safe as possible under all on-road
conditions. Most impressive.
The number one talking point on the lips of all BMW enthusiasts is
undoubtedly the styling of the new 5 Series. The just superseded
model was something out of the ordinary and as many people
disliked it as approved of the Chris Bangle penned shape. The new
model is more mainstream in its lines. We like the elegance of the
shape and the upmarket look it creates. Combined with the elegance
there's a neat dash of sportiness – and the overall style could
never be seen as anything but BMW, with its trademark ‘kidney’
grilles and C-pillar ‘Hoffmeister’ kink.
Inside, the new ‘5 is neat in execution; we particularly like
the design of the dash area, where the large central screen for
the satellite navigation and in-car monitoring complements the
layout of the major instruments.
So important is the Australian market to BMW that our initial
imports are coming off the assembly line within days of those
destined for the European market. The new ‘5 goes on sale in
Australia early in April and potential buyers are already
enquiring of local dealers about specification details.
These specs have just been revealed to Australian motoring
journalists by BMW Australia's newly-appointed product planning
chief, Toni Andreevski. Over and above the features of the about
to be superseded 5 Series, the new generation cars will have
18-inch alloy wheels (19 inches on the V8), an eight-speed
automatic transmission, the safety of a head-up instrument
display, ambient lighting in the cabin, bi-xenon headlights, and
quite a few other detailed changes.
Additionally, the petrol engines will have the apparently
contradictory features of higher power and lower fuel consumption.
Capacities of the engines are 3.0 litres, either naturally
aspirated (up from the 2.5 litres of the old model) or with twin
turbochargers; and 4.4 litres with twin turbochargers. The latter
engine is a V8, the other two are the latest BMW straight sixes.
This substantially increased specification list doesn't result in
any real increase in price when you take the value of the
equipment into account; with the 528i coming in at $99,900; the
535i being priced at $128,900 and the topline 550i carrying a tag
of $178,900. Government and dealer charges need to be added to
these figures.
Turbo-diesel engines with four cylinders will come later in 2010,
with six-cylinder units expected to arrive in Australia early in
2011, their prices are yet to be calculated.
There's less legroom in the rear seats than we had anticipated
given the size of the car. Headroom is good despite the sporty
sloping of the roof as it approaches the stubby tail.
The 2010 BMW 5 Series four-door sedans are bigger than ever
before, indeed they’re being built on a slightly scaled down
platform of the latest 7 Series, the largest car in the range. In
the interim BMW Australia will introduce the first variant of the
new 5 Series, the interesting five-door hatchback GT to Australia
midway through February. We will attend the local launch to report
in detail on that car.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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