2018 BMW 520d Review
Car Tested: 2018 BMW 520d; Road Test No. 884
Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 62.68 – 67.26 lakhs
The new BMW 5-Series has so many USPs and it scores really high on desirability
As usual, I was getting late for work and as I hurried towards my parking, I realised that some bugger had parked his car so close to mine, there was just not enough space for me to open the driver side door and get inside. A large wall on the other side worsened matters. On an ordinary day, I would have gone looking for the person who wrongly parked, but this time, I wasn’t fretting because all I had to do was to take out the touchscreen remote key of my car, activate the R/C Parking mode and reverse the car out of the slot. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, I’m talking about the all-new G30 BMW 5-Series.
Motor Quest: BMW cars have always been known for their sheer driving pleasure and the E60 5-Series was super fun to drive. When BMW came out with the F10, not many were happy because the car didn’t feel very interesting to drive in comparison but this time the automaker has brought back the fun-to-drive factor and how.
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The G30 5-Series looks gorgeous and how!
Exteriors – I have a lot of interest in the evolution of styling that you see on these premium cars. The 5-Series used to have a squarish design from the E12 to E34 series and then the E39 model added a small tinge of modernity to the styling. Post that came the infamous E60 which was also known as the Bangled 5-Series and that still remains my favourite 5. Then came the F10 which made the 5-Series grow much larger in size with generous dimensions and now the G30 is here, which combines just the perfect balance of luxury, technology and style.
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The new 5-Series looks like a mini 7-Series of sorts
The front face is reminiscent of the new 7-Series and if you’re looking at both the cars from far, you’re likely to not find any difference. The highlights of the front are the striking LED headlamps and the large kidney grille. Since we have the 520 Luxuryline here, it doesn’t come with the M-Sport kit but it does get some neat chrome outlines on the body. The side profile is pretty much simple save for the chrome trim at the bottom of the fenders. The design of the rear is straight forward derived from the previous generation and many styling elements are similar, though the new car does look sleeker in comparison.
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The dashboard is well sculpted and feels very premium with its materials
Interiors – To say that the cabin of the new BMW 5-Series feels modern would be an under-statement. There is so much attention-to-detail on the inside and the top-class materials that have been used everywhere right from the dashboard to the seats to the door pads lend a high sense of richness. The design of the dashboard is driver-centric in true BMW sense.The new steering wheel feels very upmarket and so does the redesigned instrument cluster. The iDrive knob also gets a new design finally too. The front seats come with electric adjustment and they are splendid in terms of comfort and support. The seats are large in size suiting well-built people too, but the driving position is set quite low.
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The 5-Series has excellent seats but they are set low
The interior of the new 5-Series feels so much plusher and pleasant now
The doors have a very wide opening but since the the seats are set low, getting into the rear seat could be an issue for elder people. The rear feels plush too, with the rich leather giving a very pleasant feel. The rear seat again has decent space for 2 people but 3 people could be a tight squeeze. Leg room is good but definitely not the best-in-class because we all know which rival takes the cake here, while headroom and shoulder space are fairly decent. Even the boot is well-shaped but the India-spec car gets a cavity made to house the spare wheel and hence the usable boot space is just 400-litres compared to 530-litres on the European trims.
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BMW has crammed the sedan with all possible equipment
The BMW 520d Luxuryline comes with a lot of features on offer. The best party trick is the remote-controlled parking feature. In this, you need to activate the R/C mode using the touchscreen key by standing in close proximity of the car. Once it is connected, you can reverse the car or take it forward. However, the car can be moved for a distance of only around 10 feet, post which it asks you to drive it. Also, while you cannot turn the car using the remote, the car will automatically take small turns if there are any obstacles or other cars parked close by. The remote also has some other cool features like it shows the DTE, car status, AC status, etc. The key also needs to be charged regularly using the wireless charging port in the centre console. Another cool feature is the gesture volume control for the audio system. With this, you can control the volume by simply rotating your finger clockwise or anti-clockwise in front of the screen.
