2021 BMW 5 Series Review: Sweet spot between sportiness and luxury

At one point, things were simple. If you wanted a luxury car to be driven around in, you bought a Mercedes-Benz E-Class. If you wanted to stand out a little, you bought an Audi A6, or perhaps a Jaguar XF. If you loved to drive, but also wanted top-notch comfort, you bought a BMW 5 Series. End of story.

Now, however, it’s not as straightforward as that. Mercedes has made the E-Class nicer to drive and even more luxurious, and BMW has made the 5 Series more E-Class-like in terms of overall length and comfort, so what’s a captain of industry to do, especially when the car in question – the 2021 BMW 5 Series – hasn’t changed radically? I thought I’d go and try and find the answer.

The current-generation BMW 5 Series was launched around four years ago, and since then, the segment has expanded – and matured – greatly.

On the outside, the 5 Series has always been a handsome and distinguished sedan, and the changes on this car give it a little more pizzazz if you will. The principal changes up front are a new and bigger grille, bumper and headlights, and thankfully said grille isn’t the size of the Batcave, like on other new BMWs; it’s slightly pointier as well.

The headlights get adaptive LED lighting as standard, with M Sport models getting LaserLight high beams. The LED taillights are also more prominent, and the exhaust tips look slicker as well. Viewed from its side, the 18-inch alloy wheels are the most striking aspect of this car.

The cabin also sees incremental changes rather than wholesale ones. The most prominent is the touchscreen for the i-Drive infotainment, which is now a larger 12.3-inch unit. It’s absolutely superb, and has a reversing assistant, which essentially remembers your last 50 metres of going forward, and then replicates that moving backwards; this is rather useful when you’re stuck in a narrow lane, for example.

Another party trick is the remote park feature, which lets you move the car back and forth using the key fob – while you’re outside the car. Oh, and the key is very cool – it has a touchscreen, and you can start the car remotely, check your fuel status and pre-cool the car by turning on the AC. Other features include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital assistant, a 360-degree camera and auto parking assist.

The instrument panel is also BMW’s new digital 12.3-inch unit. It’s very hi-res and swish, but frankly, it’s a bit difficult to read when you're driving. What I appreciated was that BMW hasn’t (yet) gone all full-touch on us – the i-Drive controller wheel is still there, even though voice, gesture and touch controls abound. Seating-wise, you’ll be generously supported by the leather seats front and back (and the ones in front now have adjustable lumbar support, thankfully).

The rear seats are best for two people, and get touch A/C blower controls; four-zone climate control comes as standard. The sunroof isn’t a panoramic one, if that’s your thing. Overall, the E-Class still takes the rear seat stakes, but that said, you will not at all mind being driven around in this car.

Part of the reason for this is that the car has excellent ride quality, even with those big 18-inch wheels. The steel springs are great at absorbing the road, and you have to really hit a bump at speed for the 5 Series to crash through it.

Adaptive dampers help the ride as well as the handling, and you will not really miss having an air suspension. Despite its increased length and the fact that it has a plusher ride, the 5 Series is still a joy around corners. The feel from that meaty steering wheel is just fantastic, and the harder you push it, the firmer the steering feels, along with super-sorted body control.

I was at the wheel of the petrol-engined 530i, with 252 bhp and 350 Nm of torque from its 2-litre four-cylinder powerplant, and it really is a beautifully nuanced piece of machinery. There’s power, refinement, an exciting engine note and lots of grins on offer, especially in Sport mode.

Comfort is the mode you’re likely to be in the most, given its mix of smoothness and ride quality, and Eco Pro is best left for crawling traffic. If you must have diesel engines, two different options are also available.

As I mentioned earlier, the 5 Series faces off not just against its competition but against its own stablemates. It has a better-kitted cabin than the 3 Series GT, and it’s cheaper than the 6 Series GT (but not as lavishly equipped); as such, it hits the sweet spot between sportiness and luxury particularly well.

At Rs 62.9 lakh for the 530i M Sport (and hitting Rs 71.9 lakh for the 530d M Sport), the refreshed 5 Series is more expensive than the older car, but if you have that kind of money, you will appreciate the finer aspects of motoring that it brings to the table.