BMW 5 Series

Get used to seeing it. This is the 5-Series in new Sport trim, and BMW reckons the great majority of Fives sold from now on will be wearing it. Perhaps because it's not usually their own money they're spending, 5-Series drivers don't seem to baulk a bit at what is effectively a three-and-a-half-grand option pack.

Lots of them will be shallow enough to be doing it just for the looks. Any resemblance to the M5 is entirely uncoincidental - the wheels are 18-inch M types, the front spoiler has M-ish flared air nostrils that make a determined face as opposed to the usual five's down-in-the-mouth look. The sills get a more muscular aero profile, the rear valance carries on the theme of the front one and it gets rear parking radar. Inside, aluminium trim and dark headlining complete the look, and well-bolstered leather-and-cloth seats hold on to you while you hold on to an M steering wheel.

More important, the Sport variants are the optimum 5-Series to drive. The suspension has been lowered and stiffened, and some of the bushes and links from the M5 are used. Unsurprisingly, the ride is pretty busy, but since the ride is always a failing of all new 5-Series, you might as well get the best handling set-up in compensation. The result is attentive steering, sharper responses, more dry grip than you'd ever want, and better feel for what's going on. While a standard 5-Series can be remote and occasionally wandery, this one feels much more like a 6-Series. And that's a good thing.

I tried the Sport pack in combination with the new 530 diesel engine. What's different is an extra turbocharger, and the pair of them (small for low revs, large for high revs) work in sequence. The little'un has low inertia so it spools up quickly to kill the lag problem. The big'un has the ability to pump lots of air so the engine will go on to 5,000rpm whereas a typical diesel isn't much use beyond 4,000.

Hooked up to a six-speed auto with sequential over-ride, the result is a wonderfully usable engine. They've even engineered the exhaust sound into something like a BMW straight-six song, so if you want to hold on to low gears and drive it like a petrol you can have fun. Sensational torque comes at almost any engine speed, which means this must be the easiest car anywhere to do DSC-off powerslides. Silly, but telling.

You can't really argue with 0-100km/h in 7.1 seconds, but as with any diesel auto it's not the standing-start figure that shows the engine at its best. It's the colossal surge of overtaking go, and for that you'll just have to take my word. Refinement is terrific, and it does 7.5L/100km combined. At $118,413 for the 530d Sport saloon, BMW certainly isn't giving it away. But why should it with a car this good?

Actually, I covet the Touring. It's all the car you could ever need. It's better-looking and more useful than the saloon. You can do wagon things with it - moving cargo, towing trailers - using the torque and the economy. Or you can point it down a good road and go tearing off into the sunset.

Paul Horrell