BMW 5 Series

Introduction:

We evolve to adapt and when you adapt, it means you are making an effort to stay ahead in the game. It seems that BMW has taken this philosophy and applied it to its executive sedan the 5 Series in the face of evolving competition. The 2014 model is not a new car but rather one that has been adapted to the demands of its customers and various markets that it is sold in.
Launched for the Indian market in October 2013, this is the sixth generation 5 Series globally and is the first time that the car is only available for the Indian market with diesel power. Its major changes are cosmetic along with the ZF eight-speed gearbox. Of course, this being a BMW, even the diesel only option has not dampened its penchant to take corners and provide you with a mind blowing driving experience.

Exterior:

The front view is the most eye catching aspect of the 5 Series or for that matter any BMW. The Kidney grille has now been pushed out and sits ahead of the rest of the facia while the head lamps are now full LED double ring units that the give a car a truly ‘I’m all about business look’ especially when seen at night. The headlights now have an auto high beam function and work as cornering lamps as well.
The 530d with the M Sport package gets the same front bumper as the M5 so it’s got significant sporty credentials. The rather busy looking lines on the standard bumper and fog lamp housing have been replaced by an exposed mesh air intake and aerodynamically modified square shaped units in the case of the latter. The lines on the bonnet have been retained and further add to the car’s butch and rather sharp front view.
A view of the side profile reveals that BMW has continued with pretty much the same design as before and this includes the creases as well as the softly flared wheel arches which lend a squat stance to the overall look of the car. There is a very subtle line that runs just under the door handle that divides the side profile into two parts.
The side angle brings out the luxury feel of the car thanks to the steeply raked windscreen, chrome inserts in the body coloured door handles and rear roof line that flows into the boot. There is a slight lean towards the front in the stance when carefully observed, thanks to the grille, which is further forward at the top than it is at the bottom. The 5 Series is offered with a sun roof which isn’t a panoramic one, plus the M Sport package ensures that the car will stand out thanks to the 18-inch double spoke alloy wheels and prominently visible disc brakes behind them.
If the side of the 2014 5 Series looks bare, the rear is a more busy yet premium place. The huge wrap -around LED tail lamps dominate the overall appearance and have been a defining trait of the Bavarian automaker’s sedan.
There is minimal chrome except for the badging yet the premium appeal of the 5 Series has not been lost. While the standard design includes exhausts on both sides, this model has to make do with a double barrel setup on the left side. Working in conjunction with the flared wheel arches, the rear bumper further adds to the squat stance of the 5 Series.
The 5 Series much like the rest of the BMW range has sleeper looks and seems to convey a ‘Secret assassin’ like appearance. Its four direct rivals each have distinct design characteristics that let them stand out. The Audi A6 3.0-litre diesel much like what is there underneath looks all technical and business like while the Volvo S80 Summum D5 looks rounded and rather plain. The BMW 5 Series on the other hand looks all sporty and purposeful but in a subtle way.
The winner in the looks competition, however, is the Jaguar XF-S which has the most cohesive package when it comes to blending sportiness with luxury. Missing from this equation is the Mercedes-Benz E-Class which will soon be launched in a variant called the E350 CDI which should have similar performance figures and with an AMG kit look decently sporty.

Interior:

The heads up display is only visible from the driver’s seat and provides the driver with information like speed, navigation and door open warning. BMW has now fitted a larger display for the iDrive system and it can also be used in split screen mode also. An interesting feature we discovered nestled in the iDrive’s various functions was a screen that displays horsepower and torque, something that is sure to be useful when you are flooring the throttle with passengers in the car.  
The rest of the interiors in the front, as you would expect on car costing above 45 lakh, is a river of leather, high quality plastics, a whole host of electronics like seats with memory function, electrically adjustable reach and rake function for the steering, chrome embellishments for various bits of the centre console and manually extended under thigh support for the front seats. We did however; find that the door pockets in the front seats are quite inaccessible and that it takes a lot of effort even to slot a bottle in. The music system is a Harman Kardon eight speaker system and is specific to this model for the Indian market.  

Engine and performance:

he German automaker’s twin scroll turbo system allows for linear power delivery right from low revs. The engine is mated to a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox which sends power to the rear wheels.
There are four driving modes offered with the 5 Series- comfort, ECO PRO, Sport and Sport+ of which the last switches off the ESP a.k.a dynamic stability control giving you access to the car in its full mechanical madness. Oh be warned! In a BMW when you switch of the electronic aids, they stay off completely.
The standard mode is the comfort setting but to make the car appealing to the eco brigade, BMW has provided the ECO PRO which is basically a combination of a start-stop system and regenerative braking.  This mode also runs the car in a more efficient manner by reducing the amount of power at various levels of throttle input as well as performs upshifts at a lower RPM.
This version has been fitted with paddle shifters to add to the sporty excitement but you can also do rally style shifts using the rather phallic-looking gear lever on the centre console. BMW says the 530d M Sport will do 0-100kmph in 5.8 seconds but in more real world conditions we expect this number to be closer to seven seconds and like all BMWs sold in India it is limited to a top speed of 250kmph. It almost seems obvious that since most owners will be chauffeured, we expect that the car will be driven either in Comfort or ECO PRO mode for a majority of the kilometres in its lifetime.