With much fanfare BMW India announced and launched the 8th generation 5 Series in long wheelbase guise, to take the new generation E Class head on.
BHPian sawnilrules recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
BMW 5 Series- A Knife To A Gun Fight
The team at Infiniti BMW had invited me to their dealership to take the new 5 for a quick spin. I have been talking to them intermittently about the X5, as the lease of my Taigun gets over next year. Right now, I am in two minds, whether to continue to hold the Taigun or hand it over back to the company and upgrade to a proper SUV. Thus, these conversations.
Coming back, last week I had to attend a meeting towards town which was bang opposite the BMW dealership, and that is how is decided to drop by to check out the 5 LWB and take a hard look at the X5 once again.
With much fanfare BMW India announced and launched the 8th generation 5 Series in long wheelbase guise, to take the new generation E Class head on.
But has BMW India done enough and more, because the new generation E Class is coming well prepared.
Here are things that I loved in the new 5 and things I felt BMW should have done differently, after a quick spin on Mumbai’s famed coastal road.
Positives
- Seat cushioning front or back is phenomenal, the car wafts you in utmost comfort.
- The five link suspension front and back keeps the occupants unfazed with what’s underneath.
- The illumination bar feels suave and modern, and the M Sport steering wheel feels funky.
- Yes, the looks are subjective, but when viewed in certain angles, the car looks good.
- Managing 50-50 weight distribution with this length is surprising
Negatives
- While the seats have natural 30 degree recline, but still, reclining seats could have been wow
- Bowers and Wilkins is good, but not Volvo good, the audio setup does not come with B&W sound staging features, that is available only in the 7 Series.
- Blinds, Blinds, Blinds… many have spoken about it, it’s a glaring omission here, common BMW you are selling an executive sedan for the CXO’s and expecting them to travel without any privacy.
- Those 18-inch alloy designs look yuck, less said the better, however the 19-inch profile does make up for the losses, but at an additional cost of 4.5 lacs.
- This and in bold DOES NOT DRIVE, like how a BMW should, thanks to the omission of adaptive dampers and super soft suspensions
- Not much to keep the rear Sethji occupied with the car, he/she is soon going to be bored sitting behind, no rear tablet, no touch screens or even the fancy centre screen that the 7 Series gets.
Priced approximately at 86 lacs on road Mumbai, while the pricing isn’t steep at all and in line with the competition, but then the car feels properly incomplete.
There is something missing and what’s missing is that pure BMW DNA, that we all love BMWs for.
Below are some pictures I managed to click at the dealership.
5 Series with 18 inch alloys
Same 5 Series with 19 inch alloys (looks so much better)
The Aggressive Looking Front
5 engraved on the c-pillar
A Very Disproportionate rear, not to my liking
I quite liked this particular angle of the car, looks really long
Front seats are quite supportive, notice there are no thigh extenders like the outgoing car
The dashboard looks modern with the illumination bar and a very futuristic and funky steering wheel
No blinds at the rear, but a comfortable 30 degrees pitch angle and soft cushions
The Parting Shot
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