Few reviewers have been running for nearly as long as the guys from MotorWeek and if you don’t believe me, all you need to do is just listen to the voice of John Davis which sounds like it came straight from a ‘50s radio show. The guys know a thing or two about cars, so if they say the new BMW 5 Series is the best yet, we tend to believe them.
Furthermore, the review kicks off with claims that some of the editors found this car a life changing experience and that’s quite impressive off the bat. They did have two models to test back to back, both the entry level 530i and the most-popular 540i xDrive as well, the cars featuring different powerplants set apart by more than just the horsepower reading.
On the 530i, even though you’d expect it to use a 3-liter straight six engine, you’ll find just a 2-liter four-cylinder turbocharged mill making 248 HP and 358 lb-ft of torque. Those figures make sure you won’t be crawling around on the highway, as we showed you a while back. Furthermore, this particular review seemed to find that the 530i was even more efficient than the official government ratings and that’s something you rarely see.
As for the 540i xDrive, the same surprising fuel consumption result was achieved while every other performance factor was right on par with what BMW claims. Their 0-60 mph runs were in the 4.7-second region, while the BMW numbers sit at 4.6 seconds. On the skid pad and the ¼ mile run challenges, the mid-size sedan performed admirably as well.
Therefore, taking everything into consideration, in the end it’s quite clear why MotorWeek considers this the best BMW 5 Series ever made. Chip in the tech it has and the luxurious interior and you get a package that’s hard to beat, even by the best rivals in the class.
