Hot on the heels of the new 5 Series Saloon comes its Touring sibling and from these first images it looks like BMW has another winner on its hands as the five-door looks even better than its four-door stable mate. The UK model line up will feature two petrol and two diesel engines and like its Saloon counterpart two trim levels will be offered – SE and M Sport. Kicking off the range is the 520d SE with an on-the-road price of £38,385 and it will be powered by the familiar 190hp four-cylinder diesel. Performance stats are a 0-62mph time of 7.8 seconds and economy and emissions figures of 65.6mpg and 114g/km respectively but unlike the Saloon there will be no 520d EfficientDynamics or xDrive models at the start of production. The second diesel model is the 530d and this will be offered in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive guises in both SE and M Sport trim. It develops 265hp and has 0-62mph times of 5.8 seconds (RWD) and 5.6 seconds (xDrive) with economy ranging from 56.4 for the rear-drive and 51.3 for the four-wheel drive versions. 530d prices start at £46,235 for the RWD SE and rise to £51,535 for a M Sport xDrive.
The two petrols are the familiar 530i and 540i with the former being powered by the 252hp version of the four-cylinder 2.0-litre while the 540i has the turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder unit that develops 340hp.
The 530i is rear-drive only while the 540i is can only be spec’d with xDrive. The BMW 530i G31 accelerates to 62mph in 6.5 seconds and will return 46.3mpg on the official cycle while the 540i is genuinely rapid at 5.1 seconds for the benchmark sprint while its economy is an excellent on-paper 37.6mpg.
When compared to the previous generation Touring the new car is 36mm longer, eight millimetres wider and 10mm higher than the outgoing F11 and despite these larger dimensions BMW reckons it’s up to 100kg lighter depending on model. BMW says that the interior is more spacious, especially in the rear, thanks to new backrest contours, greater seat depth and extended knee room while the interior is now wide enough to accommodate three child seats in the rear.
Boot capacity is increased to 570-1700 litres and its permissible load is up by 120 kilograms, to 720-730 kilograms depending on model. Exceptional functionality is provided by 40:20:40 split/folding rear seat backrests and there’s also an electric remote backrest release operated by a button in the boot. There’s a stowage compartment for the load area cover and partition net underneath the boot floor and like all BMW Tourings there’s the very useful separately-opening rear window while the tailgate has automatic opening and closing as standard.
Like the Saloon the Touring will come very well equipped as standard and SE spec models come with 18-inch alloys (17s on the 520d), auto air con with two-zone control, automatic transmission (sport auto on all models bar the 520d), cruise control, LED headlights, Bluetooth and voice control, Professional Navigation, heated front seats and front and rear PDC. M Sport models add 19-inch alloys (18s for the 520d), LED fog lights, M aerodynamic styling, M Sport braking system (not on 520d) and a whole host of upgraded interior and exterior trim items.
The new 5 Series Touring goes on sale in the UK in June this year and will have its first public outing at the Geneva Motor Show.
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