Category: Executive 
Price Range: £27,430 to £65,330
Handling, refinement, comfort, quality.
Too much of the clever kit is confined to the options list.
Brilliant all-round package, impressively updated.
The 5-Series just gets better and better. The 2003 model has, in mid-2007, been given the slightest of facelifts and some smart under-the-skin modifications that make it lighter and less thirsty without any loss of the poise and performance that's always made the 5-Series more desirable than other executive saloons and estates from a driver's point of view.
There are now two specification levels: the relatively basic (but not cheap) SE and M Sport, which includes sports suspension and slightly more macho detailing. (The M5 saloon and Touring are covered in a separate road test.) The current engine range - much of it new or substantially modified - now consists of five petrol engines and four diesels. The 523i is a 2.5-litre straight six; the 525i and 530i are 3.0-litre straight sixes; the 540i is a 4.0-litre V8; and the 550i is a 5.0-litre V8. Bar the 540i, all the engines are available in both bodies. The diesel range consists of the 520d, a 2.0-litre inline four; and three 3.0-litre straight sixes: the 525d, the 530d and the twin-turbo 535d.
Even though most British buyers opt for the six-speed automatic, a six-speed manual gearbox is standard on everything apart from the 535d. From mid-2007 the 550i, 535d, 530d and 530i will all be available with the new Sports Automatic Transmission, which has paddles.
