Conservatively styled and lavishly appointed, the BMW 530i is the archetypal large luxury sedan – though the segment has to fight harder than ever for recognition in a crowded marketplace.
If you don't want to blend in with the crowd driving yet another SUV, why not consider a wagon? A great-looking wagon. Paul Maric gets behind the wheel of the BMW 530i Touring, but does it fit the brief?
Traditional large luxury wagons are thin on the ground these days, but BMW’s extra-practical 5 Series variant is a persuasive alternative to a posh SUV.
The new G30 BMW 520d looks familiar, but this new model does almost everything with a refined, effortless ease, while offering an impressive array of modern technologies for those who want to very latest.
While Bill Murray began every Groundhog Day at 6AM back in the early ’90s, the perpetual time warp I’m currently finding myself in starts with ‘5’ and ends with ‘Series sedan from BMW’. Since the all-new seventh-generation 2017 BMW 5 Series range lobbed locally in March, I've sampled both petrol 530i fours and 540i sixes, spent a week with diesel six-cylinder 530d in May, and attended the 530e iPerformance PHEV’s local launch in June...
It's time for the final showdown, where the winner of last month's luxury sedan test goes wheel-to-wheel in a winner-takes all fight against three of the established, premium (and German) stalwarts. That means our Jaguar XF has returned to battle for the British against the Teutonic might of the establishment: the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class...
Some might argue this is a pointless test. They’d say there’s not a chance in a fiery underworld that luxury car buyers entranced by the German badges could be swayed by one wearing the Hyundai ‘H’. Yet if it were accepted that unexpected upstarts couldn’t challenge the Germans, then everyone might have ignored a car that in 1989 spooked Audi, BMW and Mercedes with its remarkable build quality and regal levels of refinement...
The 2020 BMW 5 Series facelift has once again been spied, this time in sedan guise. As with the Touring we spied last week, the new 5 Series sedan wears what appears to be a mildly-revised front end. The lights have been reworked to feature a signature in keeping with the latest 3 Series, while the kidney grille is heavily camouflaged...
The 2021 BMW 5 Series Touring has been snapped in the open for the first time, featuring a tweaked nose and a hybrid powertrain. The most notable changes to the 5er have occurred at the front, where the test mule has a revised headlight design and graphics. With LED detailing on the bottom edge of the light clusters, there's more than just a hint of 3 Series about the new design...
You could argue BMW invented the fast sedan class with the M5, but recent developments in the industry have left its internal-combustion offerings looking a bit slow. After all, the Tesla Model S will hit 100km/h in just 2.4 seconds with Ludicrous Mode, making the latest M5 Competition's sprint time (3.3 seconds) look a bit leisurely...
BMW has announced running changes for the 5 Series range this week, headlined by a new V8 engine for the M550i xDrive M Performance model. From July 2019, the M550i xDrive will get a new-generation engine seen in the M850i xDrive, a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 making a healthy 390kW of power and 750Nm of torque – not that far off the M5 Competition's 460kW and 750Nm outputs...
If you’ve ever wondered about buying a used prestige car, you might find my experience interesting. There are many articles saying to not do it – you’ll get burnt. While I’d agree to an extent, if you can handle getting ‘mildly toasted’ rather than ‘completely burnt’ and don’t mind taking a risk, you may find it gives you the chance to drive something that little bit more special...
This is my second E39 – both cars over the 200K mark, and both genuine second-hand vehicles. What a privilege it is to drive the E39. As soon as you sit in this car, you are wrapped in the leather seat, all controls are readily at hand, gauges clear and simple, and walnut trim understated but clearly rewarding you for your choice of vehicle...
BMW E39 – The Pinnacle of Timeless and Uncompromised Automotive Driving Pleasure There was a time when German meant better. And that was from 1996–2003 with the BMW E39 5 Series. Globally acclaimed as the best luxury saloon car ever made, the E39 still sets benchmarks in modern cars, notably the VE Holden Commodore and the Hyundai Genesis...
Depreciation is both a gift and a curse, depending on who you speak to. For the first owner of this 2003 BMW 525i Sport (series E39), I think she might be the latter. For a car approaching 15 years old, it has lost over 90 per cent of its value, or over $90,000! I would be pretty upset myself. But I am not, as I am on the other side of this capitalist construct...
