F10 5 Series Reviews From Around the Web

With the international media launch of the new 5er underway, we’re starting to see all sorts of reviews from the major publishers. Here are a few of our favorites:

Autoweek

The new electro-mechanical steering system with rear-wheel steer makes the 535i even more maneuverable around town than before. With optional adjustable suspension in comfort mode, the low-speed ride is sufficiently supple to soak up broken surfaces with authority. This car is terrifically composed with great stability, a nice tied-down feel and hugely impressive refinement at higher speeds.

In fact, the one fundamental change in character that immediately captured my attention is its apparent calmness. I worried that the sportiness that has been a hallmark of the 5-series may have been compromised.

Those worries were put to rest when I found a challenging coastal road. The combination of steered front wheels and counter-steering rear wheels greatly reduces the work rate for the driver. Even on winding roads, you rarely need to call up more than a quarter-turn of the steering wheel.

Edmunds

The combination of BMW’s new four-wheel-steer tech with electric-assist steering felt superb throughout all of the hundreds of quick left-right-left maneuvers we negotiated at speed. We preferred the Sport mode in the DDC, especially the ability to make customized modifications within that mode through the fourth-generation iDrive interface. (Portuguese roads and drivers are not of the highest quality, so a little electronic oversight is best.)

All the while, the calm within the redesigned though still driver-oriented cabin was up there with the finest we’ve ever experienced (excepting all Rolls-Royces, of course). The Dunlops transfer a modicum of road sound while the wind noise, even during our top-speed run, proved incredibly low (the bodywork has a 0.29 Cd).

Five laps of Estoril showed off the ability of this big car (the biggest in the segment) to feel less big than all of its competitors. The 2011 BMW 535i comes with the new turbocharged 3.0-liter N55 inline-6 with its single twin-scroll turbo, and when the car weighs in with the new eight-speed automatic, the scales register 3,880 pounds. This is some 177 pounds more than the outgoing car (even though the new eight-speed automatic actually weighs 7 pounds less than the old six-speed automatic), but that’s the price you pay for a larger package and a 55 percent increase in structural rigidity. Fortunately the combination of 302 horsepower at 5,800-6,400 rpm and 295 pound-feet of torque from 1,200-5,000 rpm gets the new 535i four-door to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 5.9 seconds.

Automobile Magazine

As an evolutionary design, the new 5 seems to ignore the previous-generation car and jump back to the 1995-2003 E39-series for inspiration. The kidney grilles are more rectangular, and the headlights are less stretched back. Recalling the original 1972 car, the front fascia is slightly canted forward, a look that worked much better on the crisper shapes of that era. The character line has also been lowered, cutting through the door handles. In all, it’s more conservative than last year’s 5, but also more attractive in our opinion.

Summed together, the adaptive controls create a car that is impressively competent in any driving situation, but dilutes a bit of the purity. As we wound up the coast of Portugal, we found the variable steering to be a bit unpredictable, causing you to slam the wheel against the stops when winding on full lock at low speeds. Driving with turned rear wheels also changes the experience, eliciting a bit more kick as you apply throttle mid-corner. The ride is comfortable, but it appears that BMW’s adaptive dampening has encouraged the engineers to quell bumps with less suspension travel than a traditional car. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but it does create a distinctive sensation compared to the traditional suspension.