BMW 520d Touring

FIRST DRIVE New estate adds extra space to saloon’s mix of comfort and driving dynamics

- Kyle Fortune

BMW has sold over one million 5 Series Tourings since it was first introduced in 1991, which equates to lots of trips to the tip. With the new version that journey should be even easier, thanks to a boot that has seen its capacity raise by 10 litres (to 570 litres) with the rear seats in place and a maximum of 1,700 litres with them folded.

It’s not just the volume that’s up, either, but the weight it can carry, too. BMW has boosted the 5’s load limit by 120kg to 750kg – the standard rear air-suspension with self-levelling helping to achieve that.

It’s bigger, but not quite able to match the 640/1,820 litres of the Mercedes E-Class Estate, which has traditionally offered the biggest boot in this most practical of premium class sectors. Not that your 5 Series buyer is likely to mind, as for all its practicality, the Touring has always been the load-lugger of choice for keen drivers. Even so, the reality is that most models come powered by a four-cylinder turbodiesel, with many owners still concerned with economy and emissions. So the 520d Touring is the mainstay of the range, and it’s the car we’re driving here.

While we’d all like the 530d with its more prodigious punch and rousing six-cylinder growl, it’s a sizeable £8,000 more than the 520d, which is a premium that’s difficult to justify. Jumping out of the 530d and into the 520d is pretty revealing, because you don’t feel in any way short-changed.