What's the news?
BMW has released full details of its seventh generation 5 Series saloon, in the process calling it the 'world's most successful business sedan'. We have hundreds of images of the all-new car in our gallery, we know which models will be available at launch and we've been given further details on how the line-up will be expanded later in the year with hybrid, EfficientDynamics and M Performance versions. Irish buyers can order their new 5 Series from this month (October 2016) and prices start at €52,800 on-the-road.
Exterior
At a glance, the 2017 BMW 5 Series looks like a facelift of the current model, but this is an all-new car, engineered from the ground up. At 4,935mm it is 36mm longer than before (though the wheelbase is only seven millimetres longer), six millimetres wider, at 1,868mm and two millimetres taller, at 1,466mm. In spite of the increase in dimensions, the new 5 Series is some 100kg lighter than its predecessor and BMW also quotes an incredibly low coefficient of drag, as low as 0.22. Up front, LED headlights are standard and they sit behind glass covers that butt up against the traditional BMW kidney grille. Adaptive LED Headlights will be optional.
The rear lights use LED bars as before, though they appear longer and slimmer and the rear end of all versions of the 5 Series will feature symmetrical exhaust outlets on each side of the bumper - circular, trapezoidal or rectangular and in a quartet. A total of 21 paint colours will be offered, including two BMW Individual Frozen (matt) finishes. There are almost as many alloy wheel designs to choose from, varying in size from 17-inch to 20-inch and including three from the Original BMW Accessories catalogue.
As before, the various trim levels will be visually differentiated and though we have not yet got confirmation of the Irish line-up, it's likely that the 5 Series Sport, Luxury and M Sport packages will be offered. The latter looks particularly aggressive with its M aerodynamic package, which comprises of a deeper front bumper with larger air intakes, side skirts, a diffuser-like rear bumper design and two rectangular exhaust outlets. Lowered suspension and 18-inch alloys are also expected to be standard.
Interior
There's clearly plenty of influence from the BMW 7 Series inside the new 5, which features a lower dashboard and standalone infotainment screen, plus a lot of new technology. The most attention grabbing will be found within the new high-resolution 10.25-inch touchscreen system; it can be fitted with advanced gesture control for a myriad of tasks such as zooming in and out, answering or declining a call and, amusingly, using the 'two-finger victory sign' for a custom command. If you'd rather keep your hands on the wheel, there's also a new voice activation system BMW calls Intelligent Voice Assistant, which it claims is the most advanced level of natural voice control currently available. Should be interesting to see how it copes with some of the more 'distinctive' Irish accents...
Other highlights, optional no doubt, include a new BMW Head-Up Display, which is full-colour and 70 per cent larger than before; a Bowers & Wilkins Diamond surround sound system with diamond dome tweeters and 1,400 watts of output; seat adjustment using touch-sensitive sensors; massaging seats; inductive wireless smartphone connection and charging (certain phones only, obviously); and Wi-Fi for up to 10 devices.
In terms of interior space, focus has been on the rear of the cabin, which is accessed via larger door openings. There's a little more knee and legroom back there, along with increased space for shoulders and elbows. The boot, at 430 litres, has also been modestly enlarged.
Mechanicals
The most important version of the new BMW 5 Series to Irish buyers will be the 520d. Its 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine produces 190hp and 400Nm of torque, yet emits as low as 108g/km and returns 68.9mpg on the combined cycle. It's expected to account for the vast majority of sales of the 5 Series in 2017 and will be the only variant available with a manual gearbox. All others use an eight-speed automatic. The 520d EfficientDynamics Edition arrives a little later, with emissions dropped to 102g/km and a modest improvement in combined economy to 72.4mpg. Sitting above the 520d in the diesel hierarchy will be the 530d, powered by a 3.0-litre straight-six engine producing 265hp and 620Nm of torque. It emits just 124g/km and returns 60.1mpg.
Buyers shouldn't automatically dismiss petrol power though, especially those travelling low annual mileages. The new entry-level petrol 5 Series is called the 530i. It features a turbocharged 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine making a chunky 252hp and 350Nm of torque, while still managing an emissions rating of 132g/km. Six-cylinder petrol power kicks off with the 540i, powered by a 3.0-litre turbo unit that puts out up to 340hp and 450Nm of torque.
Later in 2017 we'll see the launch of two highly interesting new developments, from a technical point of view, if not Irish sales potential. The 530e iPerformance is a plug-in hybrid that mates a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for 252hp, 420Nm of torque, 0-100km/h in 6.2 seconds and an emissions rating of just 49g/km. And if it's performance you're after (and you can't wait until 2018 for the new-generation BMW M5), there'll be the M550i xDrive. This comes with a turbocharged 4.4-litre petrol engine sending 462hp and 650Nm of torque to all four wheels. BMW quotes four seconds dead for the 0-100km/h time, which is faster than the current BMW M5 manages, leading us to suspect that the next M5 might use xDrive... Indeed, all versions of the 5 Series, other than the 520d EfficientDynamics and the hybrid, can be specified with xDrive all-wheel drive, though naturally they're rear-wheel drive as standard.
Anything else?
Given the level of near-autonomous technology launched on the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, it's of no surprise that BMW is following the same path for its 5 Series, so all versions will come as standard with a 'stereo camera'. New features include Evasion Aid, Crossing Traffic Warning, Lane Change Assistant and Lane Keeping Assistant with Active Side Collision Protection. The optional Active Cruise Control can also be extended to take over braking, accelerating and steering from zero to 210km/h.
Irish pricing
BMW 520d: €52,800 on-the-road
BMW 520d xDrive: €56,340
BMW 530i: €60,570
BMW 540i xDrive: €77,240
BMW 530d: €65,710
BMW 530d xDrive: €69,480
Update
We published our first drive of the 2017 BMW 5 Series on November 28, 2016.
We also had a chance to sample three engineering prototypes, so read our test drive on them here.