BMW 5 Series review

Prices start from £51,000 for the 520i, £59,455 for the 530e and £76,605 for the 550e xDrive, all in M Sport trim. Yep, the UK loves M Sport so much that it's now our only option. In mainland Europe you can still get a diesel and a spec below M Sport.

On our shores there's also the option of one up M Sport Pro trim, which costs an extra £3k no matter what's under the bonnet. Oh, and the electric i5 starts at a shade over £77k.

On lease, you’re looking at around £685, £790 and £1,030 (and £950 for the i5) per month respectively, on a four-year agreement with a £4.5k down payment and 10,000 yearly mileage allowance. Shopping outside of BMW's own finance scheme might bring those numbers down.

For reference, a Jaguar XF starts from £35k (but has been around since the dawn of time), an Audi A6 from £45k, and a Mercedes-Benz E-Class from £47k. So the 5 Series doesn’t come cheap, but if you want the best in class then this is still the executive saloon to go for. No question.

Gotcha. What's included?

Entry-level kit includes 19-inch alloys, adaptive LED headlights, M Sport suspension and brakes, rear lip spoiler, M Sport steering wheel, blue brake callipers, heated seats with front lumbar support, vegan/Alcantara upholstery, anthracite headlining, ambient lighting, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging, a Harman/Kardon sound system and digital key. Not so entry-level after all.

M Sport Pro adds 20-inch alloys, an illuminated kidney grille (yuck), fancier exterior lights, entry/exit ground lighting, black exterior mirror caps and a rear lip spoiler, red brake callipers, and M Sport seat belts. On both trims the standard colour is white, with anything else an extra £900 on top. And worth every penny, we reckon.

Options on top of that mostly boil down to four packs: the Comfort Pack (£1,700) brings a heated steering wheel and electric bootlid, while the Comfort Plus Pack (£5,000) adds front ventilated seats, rear heated seats and four-zone climate control.

The Technology Pack (£2,000) brings a head-up display, gesture control and interior camera; the Technology Plus Pack (£3,300) adds more advanced camera/radar-based driver assistance systems. We'd probably avoid the latter.

We were mighty impressed by the 520i, and for most people it'll do a fine job indeed, though fleet and business users will perhaps be more attracted to the plug-in hybrids – and their handy electric range, with a full recharge taking around three and a half hours on a home wallbox – thanks to their 12 per cent Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) rate.

Either way, we reckon the not-so base-spec M Sport trim is more adequate, particularly as it avoids the illuminated kidney grille. A win-win in our books.