Getting into the driving seat of the new fifth generation BMW 5-series took a long, long time. Our date with the Ultimate Driving Machine began on Thursday evening last: a hotel in Rome was the corralling point for a short early Friday morning flight to offshore Sardinia and Cagliari. Andrew Hamilton reports.;;;
It's Friday morning bright and early and sunny Rome is predictably chaotic and we always think of a senior motoring executive who described Italy as "a nice mess". We get to Fiumicino airport, morning becomes noon and afternoon and eventually we take off for Cagliari. Soon we will be driving the fifth-generation 5-series.
At Cagliari airport we are bused to an enormous terminal and there we see a row of new 5-series. But first there is a welcome address and a light lunch. The driving isn't far off now. But we are wrong! After the lunch, it's time to get to know the car better and that means attending six half-hour modules involving explanation, instruction and discussion. They cover the new technologies of the 5-series, like Dynamic Drive, the greater use of aluminium, head-up display instruments and run-flat tyres.
The outstanding one is Dynamic Drive, a world first system that varies the steering ratio but not the weighting. Interesting too is the head-up display putting virtually all the facia information right up on the windscreen, in front of the driver. It's aircraft technology.
It's 5 p.m. when we start the driving, nearly 24 hours after our arrival in Italy. Only 3.0-litre cars are available for testing, one petrol and the other turbodiesel. We take the latter and in a real-life buying situation that would be our choice. BMW's official figures say that it will reach 62mph in 7.1 seconds, compared with the 6.9 seconds of its petrol stablemate.
Well-surfaced Sardinian roads hardly presented a challenge to the 5 even in its diesel format. Reasonable chassis balance, good grip and unflappable composure means that it is still one of the best-handling cars in the class, if not the best. The Active Steering was tangible, giving reassuring feel on the windy roads. Next day, there was the petrol version which, as might be expected, showed marginally greater nimbleness and agility through the bends. Rear seat ride comfort was good in both cars. Rear seat space is greater than in the old model, although not significantly so.
We talk to Dr Michael Ganal, a member of BMW's management board and sales boss. He tells us 5-series accounts for one-quarter of all BMW sales and that it has been around for 31 years now. Dr Ganal is a Swabian from near Stuttgart which is Mercedes-Benz production territory. That's a reminder of the arch competitor of the 5-series, the E-Class?
How does the 21st century fifth-generation Bavarian match its Swabian counterpart? In our judgement, without its optional technologies, it's ahead but only just: it's a photofinish actually.