Taken out of context: First test of the new BMW 5 series

Price: NIS 470,000

Competitors: Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6, Genesis G80

Likes: Driver environment, comfort, handling, quality

Dislikes: Engine, entry threshold, equipment, price

Score: 8/10

For over 50 years, each generation of the BMW 5 Series has faced high expectations. While no one scrutinizes the 3 Series for luxury or the 7 Series for sporty agility, the 5 Series is where the two core axes of this manufacturer meet. It is expected to be a luxurious car that comfortably covers hundreds of kilometers on the autobahn and enthusiastically tackles winding mountain roads. And that's before even mentioning its competitors—Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6, Volvo S90, Lexus GS, Genesis G80, Cadillac CTS—each wanting to challenge it. For many, simply being compared to the 5 Series was an achievement, but the BMW 5 Series has consistently remained at the top.

However, all this beauty is now at a turning point. For the first time, it faces competition in two forms—a fully electric version and a gasoline engine version. Additionally, changing consumption habits mean that traditional concepts such as performance, history, legacy, and reputation are being reexamined by customers. This includes Chinese brands that declare themselves as legitimate luxury brands, and it's hard to argue with NIO…

Design: With all these thoughts in mind, I head down to meet it in the parking lot. There it is, large, stylish, and very white. I know some associate white with luxury, but to me, a white car is like walking into an art gallery, looking at all the works, and ending up buying a blank canvas. Because it shares a chassis with the electric version, it momentarily seems like one, with a sealed grille, recessed door handles, and sharp lines—it's unmistakably distinct, not just from other BMWs but from any other car. However, the black plastic strip at the bottom of the body creates an optical illusion of an overly tall car, somewhat ruining what are otherwise very elegant proportions.

Interior: Time to step inside. The door opens wide to reveal a bright and tech-savvy driver's environment, but first, you need to practically stumble into the cabin. It starts behind one of the highest door sills I’ve ever encountered, reaching just above mid-shin—this means a very high leg lift to get in and out.

For several years now, BMW has managed to create its own "language" inside its cabins. And language is a means of communication, and BMW excels at communicating with the driver—delivering information clearly and understandably. The displays are excellent, the colors are rich, they are clear and easy to navigate despite the abundance of information they hold. The menu layouts make sense in terms of order and location, and most can be consolidated into a short list of quick shortcuts.

The problem with this "language" is when you need to interact with it. There are too many touch surfaces, too many hidden buttons beneath shiny plastic covers, and too many "smart" solutions for problems that don't really exist—like adjusting air vents with small "joysticks." It looks great, but it's quite impractical to fumble and wonder if your finger is in the right spot. And the fingerprints and dust that collect on all these shiny surfaces? Not ideal. The material quality is excellent, and the build quality is also very good. BMW didn’t forget the basics as they moved forward. The driving position is excellent, the seats strike a balance between hugging and offering comfortable relaxation, and visibility outward is very good thanks to the generous window area—a hallmark of BMW. The steering wheel (again) is too large. It’s not the first time I’ve encountered an oversized steering wheel from them, and I miss the smaller BMW steering wheels of the past. Spare me the joke.

After sitting in the front, it's time to check out the rear seats. Again, there's the high door sill, and behind it, a very pleasant seating area. The generous wheelbase allows for plenty of space, and the seats themselves are deep and comfortable, even for very long trips. There are air conditioning vents (without separate controls) and two USB ports. The backs of the front seats are made of hard plastic, which will be greatly appreciated by those who need to clean off footprints, but it’s less appreciated by people paying nearly NIS 500,000, who likely no longer transport little kids in this car.

Trunk: Pressing the trunk release button energetically pops it open. Yes, I was surprised to find that at this price point, it’s not an electric opening. The trunk itself is large, though its 520 liters are primarily in length, and the trunk is relatively shallow. This is the price of sharing a chassis with the electric version, even when there's no battery underneath, the trunk remains in the same structure. I was happy to find a spare tire under the floor. There aren’t many storage, anchoring, or hanging options.

Equipment: As of now, the 5 Series comes with a gasoline engine in one version, the 520i, and in one trim level, the M Sport, which is quite basic. Aside from an M-inspired package with white-red-blue colors and some of the best faux leather upholstery in the industry, there’s not a lot of luxury equipment here. Yes, the front seats are electrically adjustable, as is the steering wheel. Yes, the screens are large—14.9 inches for the multimedia screen and 12.3 inches for the dashboard. There’s app-based unlocking, Apple and Android connectivity, a panoramic sunroof with an electric shade, and dual-zone climate control—it's an impressive list, but we've seen longer lists in cars that cost much less. It mainly means there’s a lot of quality and attention to detail, but less abundance in the classic sense of the word.

Performance: And if we’ve touched on the classic aspects of BMW, there’s also the engine. Historically, BMW's top-tier cars always boasted long hoods, a hint that beneath them were inline-six engines, V8s, V10s, and even a V12 in the best 7 Series ever, the E38, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Lifting the hood of the 5 Series, you find a small block behind a lot of plastic. It’s still positioned where an engine should be—in line with the shock towers—but it’s tiny. A 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbo with 208 horsepower, supplemented by a 48V mild hybrid system. This powers the rear wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission. And it’s not that it’s a bad engine—put it in any other car, and it’s a gem—but here, in the BMW 5 Series, it just doesn’t belong. It doesn’t produce the thrust, the pull, the right sounds, or the silky-smooth character of a six-cylinder. It certainly doesn’t convey the image of power and abundance that a luxury sedan should.

Fuel Consumption: The engine didn’t impress us with thrilling G-force-inducing performance, but in terms of fuel consumption, it definitely deserves recognition. We ended the test days with a result ranging from 15.2 to 14.6 kilometers per liter, in a large 1.8-ton luxury sedan that covered a bit more than 800 kilometers in less than 48 hours.

Comfort and Handling: And for everything the engine lacked, this car made up for in chassis, suspension, steering, and brakes calibration, which is always a delight to experience with this manufacturer. True, the engine didn’t do justice to the capabilities of this chassis, and its power was far from challenging it dynamically. But while we would have liked at least double the output, and despite not feeling the surge of horsepower threatening to tear the rear tires from their grip, with enough momentum or a winding downhill road, you can really load it up with lateral forces, play with weight transfers, and genuinely put a smile on your face. By the end of the last twisty driving section, I had even convinced myself it was challenging—how BMW managed to extract so much handling with so few horses, which, by the way, in this generation, have become cheap and plentiful.

The Bottom Line

The new BMW 5 Series, in its 2.0-liter gasoline engine version, is a challenging car to summarize. It has a well-designed interior, which, when it strays into gimmicks, doesn’t maintain the high standard expected. It has excellent and rich material quality, but equipment that is far from impressive compared to what cars costing much less offer. It is well-made in dynamic aspects, but it lacks the engine to bring them to life.

In a market undergoing turmoil, with brands not only declaring themselves as "luxury" but truly offering highly competitive products (I'm talking about Genesis G80, for example), the BMW 5 Series can no longer rely on its aura and heritage alone.

In a market increasingly filled with electric vehicles offering supercar-like performance for much less, it needs to present a very serious value proposition. And it doesn’t, not in all areas.

At a price of NIS 470,0000, it costs almost as much as the outgoing generation's plug-in version. While this generation is more advanced, technological, and richer in its interior, in this entry-level version, it places too little emphasis on the "motors" part of Bayerische Motoren Werke, "the Bavarian Motor Company." And that's a shame.

Technical Details: BMW 520i

• Engine, Drive: Gasoline, Turbo, 4 cylinders, Rear-wheel drive
• Power/Torque (hp/Nm): 208/33.6
• Transmission: Automatic, 8-speed

Dimensions:

• Length (m): 5.06
• Width (m): 1.9
• Height (m): 1.52
• Wheelbase (m): 3.00
• Trunk (liters): 520

Performance:

• Acceleration 0-100 km/h (seconds): 7.5
• Top Speed (km/h): 230
• Fuel Consumption (Tested): 15.2 km/l

Safety:

• European Crash Test Rating: 5 stars
• Active Safety: Adaptive cruise control, lane departure correction, blind-spot warning with lane change prevention, door opening alert for passing vehicles, cross-traffic alert from the rear, automatic braking, reversing assistant for 50 meters.

Pollution: 13/15

Warranty: Three years with no mileage limit