GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Wagons-ho for new BMW 5 Series

BMW’s biggest low-rise load-lugger will lose weight, gain power and carry more than ever before when it makes its debut in March.

Developed and designed in conjunction with last year’s all-new 5 Series sedan, the redesigned 5 Series Touring will be up to 100kg lighter than the car it replaces, despite growing in almost every other significant area.

Long a mainstay of European business fleets while adding bonus versatility to the mid-sized 5 Series, the Touring will launch with four engines in Europe, ranging from a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel aimed at fleets to the 250kW 540i and the 620Nm 530d.

It will be available in both rear-wheel drive and (for the 530d and the 540i) all-wheel drive and while most models will use the eight-speed ZF-sourced automatic transmission, it will retain a six-speed manual gearbox for the 520d.

At the 5 Series Touring’s business end, the luggage area grown 10 litres to 570 in standard form, while its 1700-litre figure with the 40:20:40 split-fold seats dropped flat rises by 30 litres. The payload figure has also risen by up to 120kg, moving to between 720kg and 730kg, depending on the model.

It has picked up size in just about every area, with the 7mm boost in the wheelbase (to 2975mm) delivering increases in rear-seat legroom.

It’s still a sub-five-metre car, even if it’s not by much, with the overall length growing by 36mm (to 4943mm), while it is 8mm wider (to 1868mm and 10mm taller (now standing 1498mm high).

It has benefited from the sedan’s shift towards aluminium chassis architecture to weight between 1640kg in 530i form and 1800kg for the 530d xDrive.

Anybody plumping for the xDrive feature will be glad of the weight savings, because the all-wheel drive system works to cancel it out, adding 50kg in the only model with both powertrains, the 530d.

Among the aluminium parts under the skin are its double wishbone suspension system and the rear trailing arms, while it also carries itself on a sophisticated five-link rear suspension setup, designed to keep the cargo floor as low as possible.

Its front and rear track widths have grown 5mm at the front (to 1605mm) and 4mm at the rear (to 1630mm) for added cornering muscle, while the active electromechancial steering also swings the rear wheels into play when it needs to.

BMW has also added acreage to the panoramic roof, with the optional, power-operated, two-piece glass unit now stretching to 1052mm long and 900mm wide.

The petrol-powered versions all boast more power while claiming a theoretical NEDC emissions reduction of 10 per cent.

That side of the range begins with the 2.0-litre, turbocharged 530i. Its 185kW of power and 350Nm of torque (from just 1450rpm) push it to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds and on to a top speed that is reined in at 250km/h.

BMW claims it will run an NEDC number of 5.8 to 6.3L/100km (depending on the wheel size, which ranges from 17 to 20 inches), which translates to a CO2 emissions figure of between 133 and 143g/km.

Its bigger brother uses a 3.0-litre straight six, again with turbo power and direct fuel injection, to punch it to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds, making it a genuinely fast car until it, too, hits the limiter at 250km/h. It consumes 7.3L/100km and emits 167g/km of CO2.

The 2998cc engine delivers 250kW of power between 5500rpm and 6500rpm, while it only needs 1380rpm to swing 450Nm of torque into play.

The big-mileage 520d only comes with rear-drive and is strong enough to bump out 400Nm of torque from 1750rpm, with 140kW of power chiming in at 4000rpm. The entry-level wagon gets to 100km/h in eight seconds, but it sips 4.5L/100km on the NEDC cycle and only emits 119g/km.

The strongest of them all (at low to middle engine speeds, at least) is the 530d, with 195kW of power at 4000rpm and 620Nm of torque from 2000rpm from its 3.0-litre, turbocharged in-line six. The diesel motor is also good for just 4.7L/100km and 139g/km.

Both of the diesel motors use every NOx-scrubbing trick in the book, including a particulate filter, an oxidation catalyst and a NOx storage catalyst that includes AdBlue injection.

The longer 5 Series has been designed to add a layer of sportiness compared to the old 5 Series Touring, slipping through the air with a drag coefficient of just 0.27.

The tailgate can be opened with either the key, an internal button or (optionally) the foot-kicking action beneath the bumper bar. Its rear window still opens separately, allowing people to put things in and take things out without opening the tailgate itself.

All three components of the split-fold rear seat fold electronically, while there are optional levers to adjust the rear seat’s backrest angle. From those rear seats forward, though, the 5 Series Touring is almost identical to the just-launched sedan.