The sixth generation of the 5 Series, debuting this year, addresses the only weak point in the car — the previous generation's head-scratching styling — with a debonair new profile, serious and unfussy, sporting a rakishly long hood, short overhangs front and rear, and a sleek, aft-oriented cabin that whispers menace. But only whispers. This is not a car that demands to be noticed, just admired.
Only BMW would replace a state-of-the-art, award-winning engine — the previous generation's twin-turbo 3.0-liter producing 300 hp — with another 3.0-liter turboed unit also producing 300 hp. The reason: The new engine (code-named N55) is yet more fuel efficient and even more responsive, using a Mensa-level twin-scroll single turbocharger and BMW's Valvetronic system to elevate torque at lower rpms. Peak torque comes in at a mere 1,200 rpm and stays constant past 5,000 rpm. Combined with the car's Tomorrowland transmission — an eight-speed automatic with more brains than the Yale College Chess Club — the 535i summons eerily smooth, hydrauliclike power at any speed and in any gear. Zero to 60 mph goes by in an effervescent 5.7 seconds. The monster engine option, should you choose to be so rash with your hydrocarbons, is a 4.4-liter V-8 with 400 hp, dubbed the 550i.
Technophiles will want to take their clothes off and roll around in the new 5 Series: Among the performance options is something called Integral Active Steering (nicknamed Intergalactic Steering). Essentially four-wheel steering, this system deflects the rear wheels as much as 2.5 degrees in the opposite direction of the front wheels at speeds under 37 mph. What good is that? It allows the car to turn in a much smaller circle — great for urban maneuverability and parking.
Other marquee systems include an active antiroll bar, which essentially nulls out body roll on fast corners, and a distance-keeping cruise control that actually manages stop-and-go commuting for you. Holland Tunnel, here we come.
The virtue of the 5 Series could also be its vice: Compared with the Cadillac CTS-V or the Infiniti M, its demeanor is sober, Teutonic. But like a fine suit you can wear every day, elegant and refined is often far better than brash and bawdy. And no car in this class is more capable, versatile, and comprehensively evolved. The BMW 535i is always the right fashion choice.
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