The Little Things Make the BMW five Series the Best Sedan for the Money

BMW has made its five Series sedan since 1972.

It is the company’s second-bestselling model, after the three Series. This is fairly a feat, considering that passenger cars (as opposed to SUVs and pickup trucks) composed thirty nine percent of the car market last year, down from forty three percent in two thousand fifteen and as much as fifty two percent in 2012.   

The two thousand seventeen BMW 540i has a 335-horsepower engine and a 60-mile-per-hour sprint time of Four.9 seconds.

In the current automotive landscape, crossovers are king.

But the five Series and its rival sedans—the more homogenous Audi’s $47,600 A6 and heftier Mercedes-Benz’s $52,150 E-Class—have something the fresh-faced sport utes don’t: longevity. And the seventh-generation version of this six-cylinder 335-horsepower sedan, codenamed G30, has lasted so long because it excels at getting the little things right.  

The Technology

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG has long been rightly acknowledged for crafting superior chassis, suspension, and treating. But the Bavarians have been a little behind on the technology front—early versions of its iDrive earned derision for coming up brief on what drivers actually needed. Meantime, since the early 2000s, Daimler AG's Mercedes unit has led the pack with progressive innovations.

The console is shifted slightly to concentrate on providing the best practice to the driver. 

BMW has been working furiously to narrow that gap, and this year's five Series offers a surround view system with 3D view exterior cameras. The system uses four cameras that work together to create three-dimensional views of the space surrounding the vehicle. The effect is that you can see obstacles in the entire neighborhood, not just slivers of it, including things so low as curbs. When I drove the 540i last week in Fresh York, I was transfixed. It’s like watching a movie of your actual drive. After using it, anything less feels vastly inferior.

The version of the five Series I drove cost just over $82,000, including upgrades. Standard versions commence near $56,000. 

Yes, everyone has rear-view cameras, but the ones in this car are better thought-out in how they display the car and its surroundings. The screens are clearer. The angles of the camera shots are better. Heck, the entire thing is slightly angled to please the driver very first.   

What’s more, this technology is displayed on a fresh, Ten.3-inch display touchscreen that syncs with features that you can control with buttons on the steering-wheel and center console. It's also sensitive to voice guidelines and forearm gestures (results may vary), and even the top of the iDrive knob, which has a touchpad on it.

The 540i comes with adaptive LED headlights and LED fog lights, with chrome-lined exterior trim. 

This is perhaps the best setup in the game, not because it’s revolutionary, but because it executes the little things well. (It’s the system BMW's Rolls-Royce subsidiary also uses.)

BMW excels at painstaking attention to details that add up make this sedan striking in a sea of ho-hum contenders.

The Design

The challenge when driving—and writing about—midsize luxury sedans is that they are ubiquitous, innocuous, and frequently bland in style and temperament. They are the cars you buy so you don’t get accused of being ostentatious. It’s difficult to find anything about them—good, bad, or otherwise—outside the lines.

That is also the reason for their popularity. A $56,450 car such as the two thousand seventeen BMW five Series 540i I drove last week in Fresh York permits you to wield something precious without inciting class warfare. The BMW five Series is why we can have nice things. (In fact, at $82,610 with upgrades, the one I drove was very nice.)

This car won’t leap out at very first glance, but here’s what to look for on the 2nd: the way the crenellations on the rubber hood are slightly pinched compared with previous models, making it look just a bit leaner; the way the figure is made of high strength steel, magnesium, and aluminum, which means it’s lighter and stronger than products made from mere aluminum and steel.   

The remote key fob is enormous. It can park the car into a spot remotely while the driver stands outside the car, which is helpful when parking in taut garages. It costs $750 and is suggested only in the 5- and seven Series cars. 

Fresh this year is an etch along the lower part of the sides, which you'll notice the way you come to appreciate a fresh set of six pack after you’ve been working out a while. The door height and treats are placed and weighted for flawless entry; you don’t even notice getting into and out of the car.

What’s more, the adaptive LED lights (larger than in previous years) complement slightly larger kidney grilles that now contain automatic shutters for the very first time, helping stir air around the car for improved aerodynamics and therefore, improved efficiency. It’s a puny switch, that grille engorgement, but it makes the car just that much more memorable.

The bottom line: While the Audi’s gaping grille may be more noticeable on the street, the five Series as a entire, with its structured figure and bulbous rubber hood, is the more hard ripped option in the segment.

The rear of the 540i is roomy but intimate. It seats three adults. 

The Interior

In this midsize luxury sedan segment, a place potentially as sexy as the floor of a movie theater, details matter—especially details that feed the five senses. The 540i has many, beginning with the sound of the improved soft-close automatic doors. The Dakota leather trim (richer, softer) smells like a saddle shop, and will keep its odor for months. The way the rear-view mirror gently auto-dims after you turn off the car will please you like the last pop in a sheet of bubble wrap. 

And the fresh, optional, 20-way ergonomic seats, which can inflate to switch from bucket-style racing seats to plush loungers, will make even mother glad.

The version I drove came with 40/20/40 split-down rear seats and load-through capability to the trunk. 

I also loved the full-color, heads-up display. This technology is nothing fresh—except this version was clearer and seventy five percent larger than in previous generations. This was noticeable, and it mattered. The controls on the center console, set squarely around the center dial, were big, effortless to use, and clearly labeled. Dare I say foolproof? I daren’t, but still.

The interior is the part of the car we directly interact with, so it’s essential to get it right. Apart from the actual driving practice, the mood set in the cabin most closely reflects the caliber of the car.

Germans … uh, German sedans … can be cold. This one is warmer than most.

The 540i comes with rain-sensing wipers and a two-way glass moonroof.

Drive: Every Little Improvement Helps

Now for the good stuff. Driving the 540i provides a lesson in decent German engineering. As it picks up from the lower of its eight gears to topping out in sport mode, the balance of the car's lighter weight (BMW claims to have trimmed one hundred thirty seven pounds from previous models) and renewed connection on its now-standard run-flat tires harmonize beautifully, better than in previous years.

Why? We now have an upgraded dynamic treating package and an M Sport package ($Two,600) that is lowered. We also have a freshly stiffened suspension; adaptive drive mode, which automatically adjusts the electrified power steering and automatic transmission to your driving style and road conditions; and optional integral active steering, which combines rear-wheel steering with variable-ratio steering up front. That means the steering becomes quicker the more you wind the wheel, even as it remains consistent in velocity. This all makes for a more predictable car.

Predictable, yes. But not boring.

Bowers & Wilkins sound ($Four,200) and a cold-weather package ($800) merit the extra costs.

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