BMW 5-series – design

Design wise, the 5-series has been one to deliver one of a few different things over the years. Sometimes it's the definition of a chisel-jawed, staid yet sturdy, handsome saloon – see E39 and the last 5-series, the G30. Sometimes, it's a hair more adventurous, sometimes not to a positive end – see E60 and F10. 

The G60? It was odd to begin with certainly but there’s a familiarity to it that we couldn’t quite put our finger on. Then we saw a G90 M5 next to an E60 M5 at the Sunday Scramble and it suddenly dawned – there’s a huge amount of E60 in those upswept lights, a lot of the surfacing and this new car’s bulbous proportions. It’s most handsome (and most conventional BMW) in Touring form. 

It’ll surely stick out like a bit of a sore thumb even more as BMW’s other models transition into their (hopefully) more conventionally good-looking ‘Neue Klasse’ era. It’ll no doubt be interesting to see what the Neue Klasse-flavoured ‘LCI facelift of the 5-series will look like, to crowbar it into line in that respect. But for now, it’s a weird thing – the kidney grilles especially, which aren’t all that functional, are too big and are hugely ostentatious thanks to the light-up ‘iconic glow’ feature. Yet somehow, the latest 5 is a grower, especially in pumped-up M5 form. Weird Bimmers often are (iX and buck-tooth M3 and M4 not included), even if it took some time for them to make any sense.

The 5-series has physically grown, substantially. In fact, it's closer to what we’d traditionally understand as a 7-series. While a sixth-generation 740i (2015 - 2022) is 3cm longer than the latest 5-series, the new mid-sizer near-on matches or tops it for width and height. This is now a very physically large car that'll have you sweating and swearing in most multi-story car parks. Tuck the tail against the wall and the nose will still sit well proud of most spots.