As most of you know, we will soon see a new 5-Series BMW, codenamed the F10. While there is no doubt the new 5-Series will be a modern marvel in and of itself, in this article we shall take a look back at one of the most advanced BMWs to date.
Whether you liked her or not, you can’t deny the numbers or the fact that she was one of the best cars sold since it hit American soil in 2004. She was as safe as she was sporty, and she was as luxurious as a 7-Series could have been, just with a little less interior space. But that didn’t stop us all from realizing that BMW could still build one hell of a car with one hell of a controversial body…
Apart from being a modern classic, the E60/E61 5er was, outside of the E66 7-Series, quite possibly the most controversial car BMW has ever produced. Since the first day it appeared at dealerships, people were thinking that it could be the end to BMW’s quiet and subtle nature.
Well, that was true, and it’s true for BMWs to come. Whether we liked it or not, BMW was entering the 21st century, and they was doing so in a very loud way. Some blame it on Chris Bangle, and others just blame it on BMW allowing Bangle and his team of designers to ruin their favorite cars. I say, a BMW will always be a BMW, no matter if it looks subtle or appears to radical.
By using the simple thought that a BMW will always be a BMW has helped a lot of people understand and come around to loving the E60 and its E61 Touring brother. It drove well, felt a little big, but was still as much a BMW as there ever were. The interior was more spacious than the outgoing E39, and offered more creature comforts and incredible and new technology.
When you first sat in the new 5-Series, you were welcomed by this odd looking, yet incredibly comfortable and rather thick rimmed steering wheel. In typical 5-Series fashion, the seats were relaxing, but extremely supportive, and could even be optioned with the 7s lounge chairs. Having any E60 with the optional sport package was an amazing plus, it was really no doubt meant more for the 545i and the latter 550i. When you sat in either of those cars with the sport package, you felt like you were in a baby M5, but no less incredible. The 4.4L V8 in the 545i put out 325hp and 330lb-ft of torque. More than enough to get all 3900lbs of it to 60 in around 5.4 seconds. That’s basically a 350Z from Nissan. And it carries four adults in safe comfort? That’s what I call a winner at all costs.
The 530i came equipped in the street race battle with BMW’s perfect inline-6 producing 225hp and 214lb-ft of torque, later to be updated in 2006 with 255hp and 220lb-ft of torque. The 525i did just, well, not much, with its 184hp and175lb-ft of torque. But when the E90 3-Series came out in 2006, the 525i, along with the 530i, got an updated inline-6 with 215hp and 185lb-ft of torque.
Continued at BMWBLOG.com
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