24 May 07
BMW 335d Touring
I've been looking for a challenge for the 335d, because I feel it's been having things too much its own way of late and, as a journalist looking for a bit of balance, I thought it high time I asked it a question to which it might not have an instantaneous answer up its sleeve.
And what better way to test its mettle than to put it up against another estate from the same stable but with, shall we say, a trick or two up its sleeve - like a 5.0-litre, 507bhp, V10 motor and a seven-speed sequential gearbox.
Until the M5 Touring nosed its way onto the premises, the idea of there being an estate I'd rather drive than the 335d was, frankly, laughable. But as it sat there, with smoke curling out of its quad chromed exhaust pipes at one end and a V10 rumbling malevolently at the other, I was not so sure.
So I resolved to live with the M5 for a few days in exactly the same way as I've lived with the 335d these last few months. When the occasion presented itself I'd make full use of what performance could be used, the rest of the time it would take me to work, take the kids and dog to the beach and try to fit in with real life in the same way as the 335d had so effortlessly.
