5 SERIES: FIRST IMPRESSIONS
IT’S HALF-TIME FOR THE SIXTH GENERATION BMW 5 SERIES BUT IF THE EXECUTIVE SALOON STAR PLAYER WAS EXPECTING THE HAIRDRYER TREATMENT AS IT WANDERED INTO THE DRESSING ROOM WHAT IT GOT WAS MORE OF A FULL-BLOWN MAKEOVER.
THREE YEARS INTO THE 5 SERIES’ SIX-YEAR LIFECYCLE WITH A MILLION UNITS SOLD AND A ‘MOST SUCCESSFUL 5 SERIES EVER’ ROSETTE SLAPPED ON ITS GRILLE, BMW’S MID-LIFE FACELIFT WAND HAS BEEN WAVED. THE RESULTS DON’T APPEAR TO AMOUNT TO MUCH BUT A WIDE RANGE OF KEY REVISIONS TO STYLING, ENGINES AND TECHNOLOGY PROMISE A CAR THAT’S ALL SET TO BOUND OUT AND SHINE IN THE SECOND HALF.
WHAT’S CHANGED? HERE GOES. ACROSS THE THREE 5 SERIES BODYSTYLES (SALOON, TOURING ESTATE AND GT HATCH) THERE ARE TWEAKED TAIL LIGHTS, INDICATORS INTEGRATED INTO THE DOOR MIRRORS AND A WIDER AIR INTAKE BELOW THE REPROFILED KIDNEY GRILLE.
A 518D MODEL NOW OPENS PROCEEDINGS AND A NEW TWIN-TURBO V8 550I TOPS THE SUB-M5 UK LINE-UP WITH 449HP. BMW SAYS THE DRIVING DYNAMICS HAVE BEEN HONED FURTHER WHILE ALL 5 SERIES MODELS ARE NOW EURO 6 COMPLIANT THANKS TO GREEN UPGRADES ACROSS THE RANGE.
.png){kind=small}