For the past few years, BMW enthusiasts have been wondering if the brand’s newfound goal to reach a broader spectrum of customers has robbed it of the driving dynamics it was once known for. It’s not an uncommon question, nor an unfounded one, as BMW’s have become increasingly soft as of late, eschewing the brand’s typical “Ultimate Driving Machine” ethos for more comfort, more tech and more luxury. If you’re one of the enthusiasts who believes this notion to be true, you won’t like Motor Trend’s new BMW 530i long-term update.
The BMW 5 Series is one of the biggest culprits of the brand’s new direction. Ever since the E39-generation, the 5 Series has gotten bigger, more complicated, far more technological and more luxury-oriented. While we will say that the new G30-gen 5er is a step in the right direction, especially after the F10-generation, it’s still not perfect. Motor Trend has had a long-term BMW 530i in its fleet for some time now and feel as if it still lacks the famous BMW character we had all come to love.
“The 530i feels big and heavy and has no sense of urgency or excitement. It is hindered by dead handling and vague steering response—not what people expect from an Ultimate Driving Machine.” said MT’s Mark Rechtin. A sentiment shared by MT’s International Bureau Chief Angua MacKenszie, who said “Has the desire to broaden BMW’s appeal come at the cost of losing the dynamic purity that made the cars so desirable in the first place?”
However, they didn’t have only bad things to say about the 5er. While it may not be the precision tool it once was, its larger, more comfortable nature makes it an excellent cruiser. “On the plus side, once up to speed, the Bimmer bombs down the road like a budget 7 Series—a slightly less-prestigious version, for sure, but still a very relaxed and comfortable luxury car. It absorbs road rot and expansion joints with aplomb, making for a very quiet, secure cabin at autobahn speeds.” said Rechtin.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the new BMW 5 Series and MT’s sentiments aren’t necessarily wrong. Though, my most recent experience in the new 5 Series was in a BMW 530i with both the M Sport package and the Dynamic Handling Package and I actually thought it was a surprisingly good handling car for its size and I really enjoyed my time with it. Yes, it’s unfortunate it needs those packages to feel remotely like what a 5 Series is supposed to feel like but that’s the BMW we have today.
[Source: Motor Trend]
What Car?’s long term review of their 520d pretty much polar opposite.
Rubbish. “The 530i feels big and heavy and has no sense of urgency or excitement.” is like saying Peter Dinklage cannot slam dunk and makes a terrible basketball center. I’ll given them the statement about steering but setup a G30 with a proper suspension which is not the Dynamic Handling Package and you have the closest thing to an E39 in an automatic transmission since… well… the E39. By the way, remember how bad the E39 540i steering was? No? It was. The V8 E39 had the horrible recirculating ball steering setup and people seem to forget that. The I-6 engine had a proper R&P steering.
All motor trend do is just slam BMW’s at the moment.
I tend not to believe them, as many other reviews I read ALL say the opposite to what they think. It’s not like one or two websites either – it is quite a few. Makes their credibility somewhat damaged.
MT gave Alfa the win in most recent comparison test, despite fact it broke down during testing. Car and Driver did the same.
This will not change my decision to buy a new G30/31 al all… BMW’s are just nice cars to drive (My current F11 is my 6th BMW)….
And rightfully so, nearly all reviews on the G30 say exactly the opposite. It does give good feedback and is more sporty and better in every way than the F10 gen.
If you love your F11 (which is a great car), I’m sure you’ll love the G31 as well. :)
I blame publications like MT for this change in direction from BMW. The biggest complaint from publications like this was that the ride was too harsh and unsettling which meant it lost out to more relaxing bruisers. Now that BMW gave them what they want, they’re complaining again.
There will be no winning for BMW – you simply can’t be everything to everyone. But the bias against BMW is just so blatant and frankly, unexplainable.
EXACTLY!! They were always complaining about the harsh ride etc. Now that they’ve made compromises it’s all complaining still. Luckily BMW doesn’t always listen to the “fans” and “journalists”…