BMW 520d Sedan 2008 Review

RRP: $79,900
Price as tested: $88,600 (metallic paint $1700, Professional Package $2500, sunroof $3300, electric driver's seat adjustment $1000, sports steering wheel $200)
Crash rating: Four stars (EuroNCAP)
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.1
CO2 emissions (g/km): 162
Also consider: Audi A6 TFSI sedan, Mercedes-Benz C220 CDI, Volvo S80 D5

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 4.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 4.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 4.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.5/5.0

When the 520 badge appeared on the back of a BMW, it was once a signal to avoid the model. Add the letter 'd' and even the most hardened petrol engine 5 Series driver has reason to pay attention. Throw in the $79,900 entry price that makes it the cheapest in the 5 Series range, a 0-100km/h time of 8.6sec, highway fuel consumption of 5.0L/100km and a range of over 1200km, and it really is an Australian first for a large rear-drive prestige model -- especially one with 5 Series engineering refinement.

Before you are captivated by the 520d's capabilities, that entry price warrants a closer look. Unless you order it in 'hire car' white or 'spooks' black, you will need to find $1700 for metallic paint - considerably more than most manufacturers charge. If you want parking sensors, they will cost you an absurd $1680.

If you order the Professional Package for $2500 which gives you the outstanding heads-up windscreen display, satellite navigation, Bluetooth, colour TV and voice recognition, BMW will throw in park sensors as part of the package, however.

Before ticking the massive $3300 ask for a sunroof, consider that it limits headroom so severely in the centre rear position that it will reduce the 520d to a four seater. Instead, consider the electric rear blinds and manual side blinds for $1650 which leaves the balance for a fold-down rear seat ($1110), enough to make the 520d flexible and spacious enough to be an only car.

After adding these features (which buyers have every reason to expect as standard in a $79,900 car), the bottom line will quickly grow to $86,850. That's before you spend another $1000 on full electric driver's seat adjustment with memory -- essential in some shared driving situations.

There is something else worth noting. The 520d is only one of two non-M 5 Series models (the other is the 523i) that comes without runflat tyres. Before spending $1700-$5300 on the optional wheel styles, ask yourself whether you really want to lock yourself into expensive runflat replacements -- especially when the space saver spare is still going to take up boot space either way?

The 520d with the standard 225-section 16-inch non-runflat tyres generated one of the best ride and handling packages we've experienced recently in any car and did so over a wide variety of Australian roads. If any current BMW model can confirm that runflats are best limited to the railway goods wagon industry, it is this one.

It highlighted what the worthy runflat philosophy really costs Australian BMW owners, when this technology still doesn't deliver its best on lumpy Australian roads.

The 520d's normal tyres seem to have spared the vehicle's structure from the thuds, rattles and squeaks that appeared in several recent test BMWs with runflats as soon as they left smooth blacktop. You have to wonder how long a car can take it -- a concern that doesn't apply to the 520d with the standard wheel spec, which is a bonus for rural owners.

So when medium-size diesels at half the price such as the Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo can match the 520d on equipment and safety, is the BMW 520d worth all this extra loot?

The answer must be no, especially when these latest medium cars can actually provide more room in the cabin. The 5 Series despite its mid-position in the BMW pecking order, is not especially spacious in the rear seat.

So why would you buy a 520d? Despite the controversy on its October 2003 release, the E60 5 Series does not look like it's approaching five years old. Following last year's mid-life tweaks, it remains a stand-apart design -- a position enhanced by several ham-fisted attempts to imitate it.

If there is a criticism, its expanse of paint and lack of detailing is starting to look a little cheap. Of course, BMW will quite happily part you from another $6500 to rectify this with the M-Sport package.

The interior has several traps for the casual shopper. Everyone who sat in the test car felt it was too clinical with the light coloured interior and bland high gloss bamboo grain anthracite highlights.

This era of German no-frills cabin design with its lack of cabin storage and overall blandness, as replicated in the latest Holden Astra and Commodore, has dated very quickly. To get a prestige feel into the cabin will take some careful juggling of the option charts but at least it can be done. The extra $200 for the Sports steering wheel is money well-spent in this context.

Go to the extra effort and you could end-up with one of the most functional and pleasant cabins in the business. Now that BMW has replicated most iDrive functions elsewhere in the dash (which sort of defeats the purpose), you now have the choice between wasting time playing computer geek or going straight to the required control.

Despite the dead indicator and wiper stalk controls that don't physically move their position with each change in function, they are much easier to keep track of than most. After driving more than four test cars with BMW's new transmission selector, which looks and behaves like a mobile phone on a stick, it does make more sense.

Yet you must pay attention until the indicator light shows that you have engaged the correct gear or function when the stick itself does not physically move into a new position. Where engaging a gear or Park was once a split-second and intuitive move into a slot, you now have to wait until the electronics tell you. The wait is minor but this extra remoteness all tallies up.

Perhaps it is just as well that the 520d is so competent that it can do virtually everything you could wish for once you are on the move, almost intuitively. And that is what you pay for.

The 520d's diesel might seem small and a little clattery at idle but that's the last you would know of it. The 520d has a big and almost silent heart once on the move. The marvellous six-speed auto covers the slight delay before it climbs onto its torque peak to the point where you don't notice it.

Shift the selector into manual mode and it won't be long before the dead spot under 1000rpm is exposed unless you keep your eyes peeled on the tacho and keep the gears one step ahead. For those who like to rev their engines out and feel the progressive rush of power, it doesn't work like that but don't dismiss it just yet.

The 520d impresses in a very different way when it hits its torque peak of 340Nm at 1750rpm and just keeps pulling with little discernible change in engine noise as it slurs between ratios. Not even the big 530i petrol engine can match that.

Thus it is better to leave the six speed auto to its own devices and marvel at how quickly and effortlessly the 520d covers the countryside regardless of hills and bends. Then marvel again when it is costing you just nine bucks for every 100km at today's diesel prices.

Part of the equation is the outstanding wheel angles maintained by the front and rear suspension which help conserve momentum (and fuel) through corners and changes in road surfaces. The 520d exposes the term "handles as if it is on rails" as the cliche that it is when it actually handles more like it is part of the road. It is uncanny the way it absorbs every dip, change of camber, edge and break in road surface without the slightest hint of deviating.

Just how quickly it can corner without impacting on passengers is also a revelation when there is no lurch, pitching or squirm. Indeed, the fact that it can still deliver a firm but supple ride at the same time is just astonishing.

It can be a hugely satisfying knowing how much it achieves on so little. Because it provides so little indication of its true speed, its broad speedometer calibrations are a real trap which is why the optional digital read-out on the screen ahead of the driver is probably essential. When you know it is hardly using fuel, the fluctuating fuel usage gauge would be better replaced by a temperature gauge but apart from that it is hard to fault from the driver's seat.

The reason why the 520d works so well is its 1520kg dry weight, about 250kg short of a similarly-equipped Falcon or Commodore despite the presence of every safety control, most luxury features and no less than eight airbags! The extra agility is tangible -- no mean feat when it sits on a wheelbase significantly longer than the Falcon and near enough to the Commodore! Its turning circle is also outstanding.

Even by Australian standards, the 520d is a big car yet it always feels and drives as fleet and light of foot as a 3 Series while delivering fuel consumption that you would expect from the Toyota Yaris class of car. It never used much above 7.0L/100km even on the crippling short runs that form part of the test loop.

The way it drives and what it achieves is probably much closer to what most family car buyers think they are getting in a 3 Series.

Providing you can afford the entry ticket, it is hard to think of a better buy in terms of prestige, reduced carbon footprint and owner satisfaction. Indeed, the latter just seems to grow as you spend longer with the 520d.