BMW's frugal, clean and bargain-priced new 520d shows that 21st century luxury cars don't have to be about ostentation, wastefulness and excess.
Value for money
Pricing
The 520d is the least expensive model in the 5 Series range, priced at $79,990.
Warranty
Three years/unlimited kilometres.
Standard equipment
The 520d includes leather upholstery, stability control, eight airbags, timber interior trim, navigation, Bluetooth preparation, an in-dash single CD player plus a six stacker in the glovebox, USB/audio interface for music players, dual zone automatic air, cruise control, trip computer, tyre pressure monitoring, Data Dot identification and basic power adjustment for the driver's seat.
Selected options: front and rear parking sensors $1680; metallic paint $1700; Comfort seats $4100; sports seats $1340; sunroof $3300.
Retained value
The 520d is a new model. Given the increasing popularity of diesels, its resale values are likely to be at the higher end of the 5 Series range. The 530d, introduced in December 2005, is returning a high 65 per cent at the time of writing.
Design and function
Ergonomics
A weak point in the 5 Series since its introduction, BMW moved in mid-2007 to address some of the form over function inefficiencies and annoyances of the car's dash layout and other driver interfaces.
It replaced the vertically angled driver's door handle/power window switches, for example, with easier to use horizontally oriented ones, so it's much easier now to close the door and operate the windows.
iDrive was given another tweak with eight "favourites" buttons for fast, one touch access to frequently used functions to supplement the complex cursor/screen/menu system.
Sorely needed extra storage for bits and pieces was also added in the form of larger door bins, but if you like to travel with a water bottle there is still nowhere handy to put it.
That said, the 5 Series' slim, sleek convex dash is a beautifully elegant, contemporary design that makes many other luxury cars look very dated.
The instruments are easy to read, well lit at night and the iDrive favourite buttons are a worthwhile improvement.
There's plenty of adjustability in the driving position and good vision around the car, though parking sensors should be standard at the price rather than optional.
Technical details
- BMW's latest 2.0 litre, four cylinder, direct injection turbodiesel engine produces 125kW of power at 4000rpm and 340Nm of torque from 1700rpm.
- It's made entirely of aluminium alloy. Piezo injectors generate up to 1800 bar of pressure.
- It's matched with a six speed sequential automatic transmission with electronic shifting.
- The latest ABS brakes/stability control system includes fade compensation, hill start assistance, pad wiping in wet weather and pre loading of the pads when an imminent emergency stop is detected.
- Cruise control now includes an automatic brake function to hold the set speed on descents.
- Suspension is MacPherson strut front/MacPherson strut multilink rear.
- The 520d has conventional hydraulic power steering; the rest of the 5 Series range now has electrically assisted variable ratio steering as standard.
- The 520d weighs just 1520kg, which is very light for a mid size luxury car.
- 16 inch alloy wheels with 225/55 tyres are standard. The rest of the 5 Series range has runflats, but the 520's tyres are conventional items. A temporary spare is included.
Safety
The 5 Series scored five stars out of five in Euro NCAP tests.
Security
The 5 Series has not yet been rated by NRMA Insurance, but standard Data Dot identification usually ensures than BMWs score well here.
Comfort
The driver's seat is a big, broad item that's comfortable on a long journey and offers good support for taller drivers. The luxurious "Comfort" seat, with extra padding and every which way power adjustment, and the more heavily bolstered "Sports" seat, are optional.
Space and practicality
The back seat is a comfortable, spacious place, with easy access. It's wide enough for three but shaped for two, with each occupant seated quite low on a deep, supportive cushion. This maximises headroom, but kids might feel a bit boxed in by the low seating position and the high window sills.
Air vents and temperature controls, plus two 12 volt outlets and a socket for music player plug in, are provided on the centre console. Small door bins, front seat back pockets and a small storage bin/cupholders in the fold down centre armrest are provided for storage.
The reasonably spacious boot has a wide opening and a long floor, with securing lugs and a netted side bin but no shopping bag hooks. You have to pay extra for a fold down rear seat back to extend boot space, which is a bit ridiculous.
Build and finish quality
Excellent. The 5 Series feels as though made from a single piece of metal, the interior is trimmed in high quality materials and completely squeak and rattle free.
On the road
Fuel efficiency
All car companies make a lot of noise about this subject, but BMW is one of the few that actually demonstrates it as a core engineering principle.
It's evident not just in drivetrain technology either. The fact that BMW also goes to great lengths to minimise weight is equally significant.
The 520d's kerb weight of 1520kg is 170kg less than a base model Commodore. The 2.0 litre diesel is 20 kg lighter than its predecessor, yet it produces 10 kW more power with a fuel consumption reduction of 10 percent.
European standard tests have the 520d using 8.1 litres/100 km in town and 5.0 litres/100 km on the open road. Our 1200 km test confirms that these figures are achievable; we averaged 5.0-5.5 litres/100 km on the highway and 8.0-8.5 in town.
A Toyota Corolla uses more fuel than this.
Carbon dioxide emissions are 162gkm. The 520d has not yet been rated by the Green Vehicle Guide.
Performance
If you think a 2.0 litre four cylinder diesel is going to struggle in a luxury car, think again.
The 520d is no rocket, but it can still reach 100 km/h from rest in a respectable 9.3 seconds. BMW quotes 8.6 seconds, but we couldn't achieve this. It also quotes 9.1 seconds for the 2.5 litre six cylinder petrol engine 523i - half a second slower than the diesel.
Outright speed is not the diesel story. Of greater relevance is its abundance of pulling power from idle and an effortless midrange. Not so long ago, when you put your foot down in a diesel automatic, you had to wait for about three months before anything happened. High speed data processing networks that link the accelerator, engine and transmission are making diesels much quicker to respond, eliminating turbo lag and modulating the turbo's contribution to produce a progressive, linear delivery.
The BMW engine is one of the best in the business in this regard. It trickles along in the traffic at barely above idle, and at 80 km/h in sixth is pulling just 1450 rpm. At 100 km/h, it's pulling 1800 - right where the torque peak occurs.
The transmission's timing, speed and smoothness are outstanding. It always seems to find the right gear, but the light detent action of the new lever does mean you can accidentally flick it from Sport mode back across to D.
Handling and steering
The 5 Series is regarded as the best handling sedan in its class. It has the lightness, precision and agility of a sports car, with the rock solid stability and confidence of a top class luxury sedan.
Most BMW press test cars we've driven over the years have been fitted with optional sports suspension and/or bigger wheels and tyres than standard. So the fact that our 520d came with the base spec suspension/wheels/tyres was an eye opener.
In most situations, you really don't gain much by ticking the options boxes for the sports specification. The standard suspension is quite soft, but the damping is finely tuned to the weight of the car and on the open road the handling is still outstanding.
BMW does seem to have lost the plot a bit with steering though. Every test car we climb into now feels different through the wheel. As the only model with conventional steering, the 520d's wheel is heavy and remote. It goes where you point it, but without the pinpoint accuracy and intimacy with the road surface characteristics with which BMW made its reputation.
Ride
Runflat tyres, as fitted to other models in the 5 Series range, are improving in their compliance and comfort, especially on rough local roads. However none comes close to the absorbency or quietness of the conventional Pirellis on the 520d. It's almost Mercedes-like in the smoothness of its ride, and yet another reason to forego the extra cost of larger wheels and runflat tyres from the options list.
Braking
The brakes bite hard on light pedal applications, which takes a while to adjust to, but power, fade resistance and stability under brakes are excellent. The stability control system is state of the art, and can often be operating without you even being aware of it.
Smoothness and quietness
Like all diesels, some intermittent vibration is felt through the wheel under acceleration. It's not annoying, but the diesel's refinement isn't in the same league as BMW's impeccably smooth petrol engines.
As mentioned previously, the 520d's base spec suspesnion/wheels/tyres combination is the best in the range for smoothness and the minimisation of road noise on our coarse bitumen.
Summary
The 520d might be the base model in the 5 Series range, but in real world driving conditions - rough local roads, 100 km/h speed limits and $1.50 per litre fuel prices - you could mount a convincing argument that it's in many ways the best. The 2.0 litre diesel/six speed auto drivetrain really works, and at $79,990 the BMW is by luxury car standards great value for money.
The writer of this report does not necessarily represent the views of the NRMA and this report is provided for you as an alternative to our own NRMA car reviews.
The writer of this report does not necessarily represent the views of the NRMA and this report is provided for you as an alternative to our own NRMA car reviews.
