What's the news?
This is the handsome new BMW 5 Series Touring and while we might be on the seventh generation of the Munich company's mid-sized executive car, this is only the fifth incarnation of the estate. It'll go on sale later this year, with Irish prices starting at €56,590.
Exterior
The obvious differentiation between a 5 Series Touring and its four-door progenitor is the large boot area aft of the C-pillar. Styling-wise, it follows a familiar theme for BMW wagons and you could argue that from dead-on rear, the latest edition is visually very similar to the 'G11' model that went before. However, it's bigger and therefore more practical - load space has grown to 570 litres with the 40:20:40 split rear seats up and 1,700 litres with them folded away, while (spec-depending) the car can carry up to 120kg more than before, the Five wagon able to accommodate up to 730kg of payload in its boot. As has been the case on 5 Series Tourings for generations, you can open the rear hatch glass independently of the tailgate and BMW also says the new car is lighter than its predecessor by, on average, 100kg model-for-model, so fuel consumption and emissions are reduced by up to 11 per cent.
Interior
With the same high-class interior as the 5 Series Saloon, the cabin taking inspiration from the tech tour de force that is the 7 Series, the Touring has a stylish dashboard array made up of large TFT instrumentation. The fact that the Five estate is bigger in all external dimensions than its forebear means head-, shoulder- and legroom are all improved - so much so that BMW claims three child seats can be fixed side-by-side across the rear bench - while there will be a huge array of comfort and driver assist technologies offered as either standard equipment or cost options across the board, as per the 5 Series Saloon. And one final note: the 5 Series Touring now comes with option of having the fancy big display key of the 7 Series, which means functions like Remote Control Parking will be available on the wagon.
Mechanicals
There are four models at launch, but of course more will follow once the initial line-up has come on stream. Two petrol engines and two diesels make up the powertrain offering, three of them come with an eight-speed automatic transmission only (there's just one variant available with a manual gearbox), and there's a choice of rear- or four-wheel drive; however, the word 'choice' implies you can specify BMW's 'xDrive' four-wheel drive system on all models, but that isn't quite the case, as we'll outline later.
More neat splitting of the range means that, despite some familiar historical BMW badging, only two of the four launch models are actually inline-sixes. The 530i is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol unit, making 252hp from 5,200- to 6,500rpm, with 350Nm available from 1,450- to 4,800rpm. That means 0-100km/h in 6.5 seconds and a 250km/h limited top speed, with best eco-stats of 5.8 litres/100km (48.7mpg) and 133g/km of CO2 emissions. The 540i, meanwhile, is a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo, delivering 340hp at 5,500- to 6,500rpm and 450Nm from 1,380- to 5,200rpm. That's enough for a 5.1-second 0-100km/h sprint, along with 7.3 litres/100km (38.7mpg) consumption and 167g/km of CO2, with the same 250km/h limited maximum speed.
Moving over to the more important diesels, the 520d is bound to be the biggest seller here in Ireland and it packs a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine rated at 190hp at 4,000rpm, with 400Nm from 1,750- to 2,500rpm. The 520d is the sole Touring that can be had with a six-speed manual gearbox for now, although the auto is more efficient and more accelerative: it records 7.8 seconds for 0-100km/h, with best figures of 4.3 litres/100km (65.7mpg) and 114g/km CO2; the manual's equivalents are 8.0 seconds, 4.5 litres/100km (62.8mpg) and 119g/km. The manual only has bragging rights flat out (not relevant here in Ireland, obviously), where it will run to 230km/h compared to the 520d auto's 225km/h.
If all that isn't enough for you, then the 3.0-litre straight-six 530d will be your estate of choice. It packs 265hp at 4,000rpm, with a huge 620Nm backing it up from 2,000- to 2,500rpm. It can do 0-100km/h in 5.8 seconds and run on to a 250km/h limiter, while it'll use 4.7 litres/100km (60.1mpg) and emit 124g/km. Now, remember what we said earlier about rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive? Well, the 520d and 530i can only be had with rear-wheel drive; the 540i goes the other way, as it comes with xDrive alone. However, the 530d can be specified with either rear-wheel drive or xDrive - and so the figures we've already quoted are for the rear-drive model. Choose to have torque going to the front axle as well and the 0-100km/h sprint drops to 5.6 seconds, although fuel consumption and CO2 emissions increase to 5.3 litres/100km (53.3mpg) and 139g/km as a result.
Finally, rear air suspension with automatic self-levelling is part of the Touring's standard specification. Options will include Dynamic Damper Control, the Adaptive Drive system with active roll stabilisation, Integral Active Steering (now available in conjunction with xDrive) and M Sport suspension with a 10mm drop in ride height.
Anything else?
"The BMW 5 Series Touring was developed specifically for the European market, where it has enjoyed great success over the last 25 years," said Dr Ian Robertson, member of the board of management at BMW AG, Sales and Marketing. "I am sure that the versatility of this new, fifth generation will prove even more popular with those customers who appreciate the 5 Series Touring's characteristic roomy, variable loading space combined with its distinguished appearance and - of course - its BMW-typical driving dynamics."
Thus, to Irish prices. Two specifications are available across all cars, so factoring in the option of xDrive (+c.€6,500 over the rear-wheel drive cars) on the 530d, that means we have ten different models at launch. SE vehicles are anything between €4,470 and €5,730 cheaper than their M Sport equivalents, with the 520d SE Touring the entry point at €56,590 and the 540i xDrive M Sport Touring the flagship at €89,650.