2009 BMW 5 SERIES

Making an estate car equally practical and stylish is no easy task but the 5-Series Touring comes close. While the looks caused some controversy when the model was first introduced, the angled design has aged well but still stands out. It comes with a usefully large luggage area too and folding down the rear seats is fairly straightforward. True other estates like the Mercedes E-Class and Volvo V70 offer more space, but the BMW is unrivalled when it comes to driver appeal and enjoyment. In 2007 the 5-Series line-up was revised and the firm introduced the Efficient Dynamics technology to the range which brought more efficient engines with increased power – the frugal 520d is able to return an impressive 53mpg.A four-star Euro NCAP crash test score is below average when rivals from Audi, Volvo and Mercedes have achieved the maximum five stars. However the 5-Series Touring does come with six airbags as standard (two rear side airbags are optional) plus dynamic stability control. The 5-Series has a useful load space and with no boot lip, loading and unloading heavy or awkward objects is easy. However compared to the Audi A6 and Volvo V70, the luggage area is around 70 litres smaller – and compared to the E-Class it lags behind by almost 200 litres. Thankfully folding down the rear seats is straightforward – although they don't sit totally flat, and this boosts space to 1,650 litres. Up front there's decent storage, although the centre cubby under the armrest is a little small.The slabby design of the 5-Series cabin has a very modern feel and the quality of materials used is superb – as is the finish. All the controls and switches feel solid while the dials are easy to read but thankfully the central console isn't cluttered with buttons thanks to the iDrive system which controls the main functions (such as audio, navigation, Bluetooth, etc) through one large dial. Improvements in 2007 make the system even more straightforward – eight buttons can be programmed with shortcuts to the drivers favourite functions, such as a particular radio station or your home address on the navigation system. A useful optional feature is the head-up display which projects important information (such as speed, navigation, etc) into the drivers line of vision on the windscreen. Although front seat occupants are well catered for (even the lowest specification cars have partial electric adjustment for the front seats as standard), rear seat passengers don't have as much space as they would in an Audi A6. The 5-Series is roomer than the model it replaced, but customers are still left with a reason to upgrade to an X5 or a 7-Series. Check our website for more stock. Friendly and approachable sales team, check out our reviews.