2011 BMW 5-Series

2011 BMW 5-Series

2011 BMW 5-Series

2011 BMW 5-Series

2011 BMW 5-Series

The BMW 5-Series is the most athletic of the large luxury cars. A driver's car, it is capable of cruising comfortably with five adults inside - but this car was built for a solitary drive down a winding road.

Inside, the accommodations are in line with its price tag, but sparse compared to the best interiors in its class. Well-equipped, a 5-Series can also cost thousands more than some very competent rivals. But if you buy a car for the sheer joy of driving it, this may be the best large luxury car you could find.

There are seven engines to choose from at launch; four gas and two turbodiesels. America’s choices, however, will be more restricted. BMW is still examining the results of its toe-in-the-water exercise with two turbodiesel cars presently on sale and it isn’t planning on increasing its U.S. population of oilburners anytime soon—so no diesel 5 Series just yet. The top U.S. model will be the 550i with a 400-hp 450 lb-ft 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 with a new eight-speed automatic transmission. There follows the 335i, a 3.0-liter 300-hp 300 lb-ft, turbocharged straight Six. The 528i is the poverty-spec model, with a naturally aspirated six-cylinder with 240 hp. The sixes have a choice of a six-speed manual transmission or the eight-speed auto. Fuel economy for the six-cylinder models should near 30 mpg on the highway.

As we slipped aboard for the first time, all was at once familiar yet utterly new. From its three-spoke steering wheel to its Brobdingnagian 10.2-inch navigation screen, sturdy switchgear, iDrive porkpie, finicky drive selector and general shapes and materials, the 535i reminds of the 5GT and the new 7 Series, yet it carries its own dashboard design. While evolutionary, it's a beautifully executed space, with long, clean lines and ergonomically sound primary and secondary controls. As with its newer stablemates, the 5 Series receives a much more intuitive fourth-generation iDrive all-in-one controller, and with its rationalized menu structures and direct-function buttons surrounding the central controller knob, it's a system that's finally beginning to make some sense.

The new 5 Series is better looking, more luxurious and more capable – yet it is also safer and cleaner. So is it ready to pick up the E39's torch anew? Well, not really. Without going so far as to suggest that that car was a primitive instrument of joy, BMW has moved too far down the field technologically to simply allow its engineers to pour old wine into new wineskins and call it a day. Besides, BMW's customers, competitors and various world governments have all gone and moved the segment's goalposts in the meantime. Having said all that, the 2011 5 Series is easier to use, easier on the eyes and far easier to find the magic in than its immediate predecessor. That might not be sufficient to proclaim it a neo-E39, but it might just be enough to move the Roundel to the head of the pack all over again.