BMW 5-Series Saloon (03-10) - Review

Although front seat occupants are well catered for (even the lowest specification cars have partial electric adjustment for the front seats as standard), rear seat passengers don't have as much space as they would in an Audi A6. Air conditioning is standard, and road and engine noise are impressively low. However cars on larger wheels transmit more road noise into the cabin while ride comfort is also adversely affected.

The 5-Series saloon offers approximately 520-litres of boot space, which although useful, is slightly smaller than the Mercedes E-Class and Audi A6 - although it's larger than the Lexus GS. It's important to note that folding seats don't come as standard so you'll have to pay extra if you want to carry larger items.

The slabby design of the 5-Series cabin has a very modern feel and the quality of materials used is superb - as is the finish. All the controls and switches feel solid while the dials are easy to read but thankfully the central console isn't cluttered with buttons thanks to the iDrive system which controls the main functions (such as audio, navigation, Bluetooth, etc) through one large dial. Improvements in 2007 make the system even more straightforward - eight buttons can be programmed with shortcuts to the drivers favourite functions, such as a particular radio station or your home address on the navigation system. A useful optional feature is the head-up display which projects important information (such as speed, navigation, etc) into the drivers line of vision on the windscreen.