The latest BMW 520i is all grown up. It isn’t as sharp as its predecessors, but gains an additional dimension of comfort and refinement that older 5 series cars never had.

It allows a greater pool of buyers the opportunity to unlock the true BMW luxury saloon experience, as it genuinely feels like a scaled-down 7 series, instead of merely being the middle child in the German automaker’s line-up.

Sensible and Elegant Styling

BMW opted to not style the G60 5 series with their now-ubiquitous enlarged kidney grilles. That, however, isn’t to say that the units on this 520i aren’t sizable. The growth is especially apparent when you pull up alongside the car it succeeds.

But it appears to have been done fairly tastefully, and has been neatly integrated into the rest of the front-end bodywork. The in-grille lights, first found on the current generation BMW 7 series and the XM, also make an appearance here. No chrome or gloss-black trim on our tester – every external trim panel has been finished in a champagne hue with a satin finish.

And these design touches have been accented with some intricately styled alloy wheels. They are a homage of the M-sport rims fitted to BMWs of old, but with additional elements (and colour) added to the styling.

The car definitely looks more ‘grown up’ than its predecessor. It has gained an air of elegance and class in the way it has been penned. In fact, it doesn’t really look like a 5 series at all. Rather, think of it as what the 7 series should have been, but at 7/8ths the scale.

There’s Luxury in Minimalism

All of your infotainment needs are taken care of by a singular, curved screen assembly. This iDrive 8 system is the same unit that has been fitted to many of BMW’s other cars. It consists of two separate screens, including a 12.3 inch digital driver’s display, and a central 14.9 inch touchscreen that handles navigation, climate as well as to toggle between various car settings. 

The air vents in this G60 5 series, like in the present 7 series, are completely hidden. You control the vents using integrated D-pads flush mounted underneath the vent openings. These are then hidden behind what BMW calls its “Interaction Bar”. You can change the ambient lighting and colour of the cabin through the touchscreen via its “Each My Mode” tab.

In terms of cabin space, the car does a good job in ensuring passenger comfort regardless of the seat you happen to find yourself in. The traditional three box design of this executive saloon means there’s sufficient headroom – not a guarantee these days, considering car manufacturers are increasingly hopping on the coupe-roofline bandwagon.

Another element in passenger comfort comes from the design and ergonomics of the seats themselves. The padding and foam offers a good mix of support and comfort. These have then been upholstered in a quilted brown Veganza faux leather, which looks and feels properly premium, and befitting of a German executive saloon.

Sensible Speed

At present, the only petrol G60 you can buy is the 520i. In this specification, you’ll find a B48 2.0 litre motor under the bonnet. For this application, BMW has reworked the engine to develop roughly 190 bhp, and about 310 Nm of torque.

It has a 0-100 km/h time of 8.1 seconds, though the car doesn’t actually feel that quick in reality. This is partly due to its overall stability, but also because the engine sounds strained when you really give it the beans.

And this is where you’d start to find that the car has been built to be more of a comfort-oriented cruiser, rather than a sharp-handling sports saloon. Whilst the suspension does a good job of mitigating body roll, it does an even better job at ensuring road imperfections are mostly soaked up. 

Similar traits can be found in the steering too. Sure, it still feels quick and the front end still feels decently agile. But again you feel more insulated from the road than in other BMW offerings. Which may be a change that 5 series buyers welcome, since a cosseting ride is probably higher on their priority lists than cornering performance.

All-Grown Up

All things considered, the G60 5-series does seem like tremendous value. It has flagship luxury levels of ride quality, coupled with a solid list of standard features and refreshingly different (as compared to its German rivals) styling.

The only major drawback that we can really point out, is its lack of low-end torque. Requesting for high levels of torque at low road speeds result in a noticeable roar from the engine bay. But don’t worry, BMW has a solution for you, and it comes in the form of the i5. We’ll be getting our hands on the car in a little bit, and will report back with our findings!

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