The fellows at GT Spirit share us with their test drive review of the AC Schnitzer ACS5 Sport 3.0d. Unfortunately for those of us that live in the US, the sporty and elegant-looking 5 Series Touring is not available, in any form or setup.
Without any further ado, let’s have see an excerpt from their review.
“Even though the combination of a touring body and a diesel engine wouldn’t be our first choice, we took the AC Schnitzer ACS5 Sport 3.0d for a trip around the town of Aachen, the hometown of the German tuner.
The Alpine White 530d we tried was equipped with every possible electronic gimmick, a stiffer suspension kit by AC Schnitzer and the stock Variable Damper Control, or possibly Adaptive Drive, in either case incorporating the Drive Dynamic Control chassis configurator that has four ride quality settings to choose from: Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport+. The settings offered us a great way of adapting our setup while cruising through the city finding a place to shoot our photos.
The 530d’s 3.0 liter six-cylinder diesel engine allowed the journey to be done at effortless pace. The additional oomph added to the setup increases the horsepower to 286hp at 4,000rpm (+43hp) and the maximum torque to 620Nm between 2,000 and 3,000rpm (+80Nm). The difference in power is not readily felt by those who aren’t used to the turbodiesel engine, but the spokesperson at AC Schnitzer ensured us that an additional push had been accomplished in the mid-rev range. Also a twin sports rear silencer with chromed Sports Trim tailpipe trims was fitted to the vehicle and offered us an improved sound track while cruising.
At first the Touring doesn’t immediately feel that quick thanks to its 1,800kg kerbweight, but when you floor the throttle and take a glance at the speedometer it will always confirm that you’re travelling faster than you initially thought. Combine this with the ride, which is as comfortable as sitting in your luxury living room at home watching your favorite television series, and you have a wonderful combination of elegance, performance and practicality.”
Full review at GT Spirit.
