Benjamin M. Monroe Blog: Videos: 2017 BMW 5 Series Touring

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Videos: 2017 BMW 5 Series Touring – Design and Driving Scenes

The new BMW 5 Series Touring is larger and more spacious than its predecessor, but around 100kg lighter. That’s one story with the all-new sports wagon. The other is that the 5er Touring uses the same foundations as the 5 Series sedan – which was revealed late last year – with a choice of four engines and a focus on becoming a safety technology leader.

Four engine options are available at launch. On the gasoline front, there’s 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 252 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, mated to a standard eight-speed automatic transmission and posting a 0-to-62 mph time of 6.5 seconds. There’s also a 3.0-liter six-cylinder and eight-speed auto transmission, which puts down 340 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque for a 0-to-62 mph time of 5.1 seconds.

Diesel fans can get a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel with 190 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, which mates to a six-speed manual transmission as standard (the eight-speed is optional), and gives a 0-to-62 mph time of 8 seconds. Finally, there’s a 3.0-liter six-cylinder diesel with 265 horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque, offered with rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, plus an eight-speed automatic. All that twist yields a 0-to-62 mph time of around 5.6 seconds.

A massive 10.25-inch touchscreen dominates the interior, with functions able to be controlled by voice commands and gestures. The touchscreen is also compatible with Apple CarPlay, and is the first of its kind to offer the smartphone mirroring function wirelessly.

A large head-up display – which has increased in size by 70 percent – displays a range of information and it uses GPS location and road-sign software to determine whether or not to activate the engine’s stop-start function to save fuel.

Precise contours mark out the front end of the new Touring, and the standard LED headlights extend up to the forward-surging BMW kidney grille. The flanks, meanwhile, combine the car’s distinctive geometry with harmonious proportions. Another contributor to the sporting aura exuded by the new BMW 5 Series Touring is its long roofline, flowing into heavily raked D-pillars. The rear window is framed by a roof spoiler with integrated auxiliary brake light and air deflectors at the sides. Lower down, a series of prominent horizontal lines and the L-shaped rear lights reaching deep into the car’s flanks accentuate the body’s width.