Test drive BMW 5 series E60 2003 - 2007 sedan

Fifth five

Eight years after the start of the production of its most successful model of the E39 BMW business class, I decided to change it and introduced a completely new car-five with the E60 index. She will take a worthy place between the scandalously known seven and the latest relative z4 ...
 
The fifth generation of the BMW of the fifth series is already on the conveyor. In the very near future, tens of thousands of buyers around the world will receive ordered and paid in advance new fives with the E60 index. Will they like it?
 
Judging by the interest with which everyone is looking for information about the new five on the Internet, this machine should become the most popular model in the history of the model. Firstly, she debuts just after not the most successful model of competitors-the Mercedes-Benz E-class in this generation slightly coincided, which Bavarians can use. Secondly, the previous generation of the five with the E38 index, known throughout the world thanks to its well-trained chassis and magnificent engines, significantly squeezed the positions of competitors, releasing the place for the new model.
 
According to the ideology of BMW, each generation of company models alternates: one is made revolutionary, following it - evolutionary. And in the fact that the new five is a revolution, no one has doubts. Look at the car: in my opinion, this is the best creation of Chris Banlla, unless, of course, the Z4 Roadster is considered. And although only a few saw the live new car, judging by the photographs, it will be something. Something special and unusual, although performed taking into account all traditions. Branded nostrils? There is, of course, as well as the back side stand that gives the car swiftness. There are semi -oval windows of the rear doors that we can observe on all generations of the five, starting from the very first. The car is absolutely identified as BMW, but at the same time there is no total similarity with the seven - the five are interesting in its own way, although some general solutions are still available. Take at least the turn signals located above the head light - this solution was first used on the seven, and now it applies to other models.
 
I migrated to the five and the famous I -Drive - the sensational system for managing auxiliary functions. He was modernized, greatly simplified the control algorithm, but the Joystick is still left. True, now he is deprived of a unique hydraulic motor, which imitated all the clicks and resistance of the joystick. The number of directions in which the Ai -Drive works is also reduced - now there are only four of them, instead of eight on the seven. During the revision, the Menu key appeared, which allows you to return to one window back. The screen on which I-Drive travels has also changed. Now it is made according to transflective technology and reflects the light that falls on it, thereby increasing the brightness of the image. And the brightness of the image increases at the command of a special sensor, which controls the degree of illumination of the screen. The screen also has special heating so that it can work normally at negative temperatures.
 
The structure of the body of the new five is unique. For the first time in the automotive industry, the front of the body is made of aluminum, while everything else is made of steel. Such an unusual solution is dictated primarily by the desire of the Bavarians to preserve the driver's character of the car - to achieve optimal weightlift along the axes of 50/50 as a percentage ratio. That is why the front end is made of aluminum - it is much easier than steel. The place of the compound of aluminum and steel, which, as you know, are not friends, processed by a special composition that excludes the chemical interaction of metals. Both heterogeneous parts of the body are attached to each other with special rivets, which are also treated with an anti -corrosion composition.
 
The wheelbase of the new model is increased by 58 mm, and the machine itself has become 66 mm longer. And now the five, having retained its driver in nature, has become much more comfortable and spacious. A characteristic disease of all previous generations is the lack of legs and knees of the rear passengers. Thanks to the increased wheelbase, on the E60 model, the rear passengers will be very comfortable.
 
The pendants, both the front and the back, are now almost completely made of aluminum. This decision is dictated by the desire to reduce the mass of suspension details and, as a result, remove such an unpleasant effect as the vibration of the unsubstantiated masses. At the same time, the suspensions did not produce any revolutions constructively: in front it is still time -tested and roads of the McPherson racks, and a multi -link suspension behind. The Bavarians did not fork out on the air suspension or electronic brakes, and that’s right - they can perfectly configure what they are. Although there is something from the bells and whistles. For a surcharge, you can install the Dynamic Drive system on the five - transverse stability stabilizers with active hydraulic controls of rolls. Until the moment, until the side overloads in the bend exceed 0.3G, the system completely extinguishes the rolls - the car goes along the trajectory as a real athlete. The same effect is usually achieved by installing much more hard springs on a car, but in the case of the five, Bavarians could not afford this - after all, it was rather a road car, and then a sports.
 
Another blunt is steering with a variable gear ratio, ASF system. At the command of the control unit, the electric motor can increase or decrease the speed of the gear rotation with respect to the one with which the driver rotates the steering wheel. Simply put, the steering wheel can become sharper, and at the same time the driver still remains, which is only characteristic of the Bavarians, a sense of road. The ASF system uses in its work many sensors of other systems and in emergency cases can even save a car from traveling to a ditch. How? If the car slides from the trajectory in the turns turned towards the turn, and the driver does not have enough experience, knowledge, or courage to slightly turn the steering wheel back, thus allowing the front wheels to catch on the coating, the system can do this itself. It will slightly reduce the angle of rotation of the front wheels, and the car will stabilize again. At the same time, ASF recognizes those situations when the car is deliberately torn into sliding. For example, if an experienced driver is turning a turn in a controlled drift, as they say, by a fan, ASF will not interfere in the driving of a car with his recommendations. So the drive remains!
 
The evolution of the model
 
The first generation of models of the highest middle class from BMW, which has already become familiar to the designation of 5-Serie, appeared in the early seventies of the last century. And more precisely, then in the distant 1972. The first five even then had the image of a driver, since a powerful and stylish rear -wheel drive sedan was one of the most high -speed in its class. Already in the seventies, the car had powerful four- and six-cylinder engines, a proprietary in-line configuration, with a working volume of 2.0 to 3.5 liters. True, initially the five were offered only in version 520i, and only since 1973 a more powerful version of 525i with a 150-horsepower engine appeared on the market. A year later, a relatively affordable 518th with a four-cylinder engine appeared, and the year 1975 was marked by the appearance of a top version with a 2.8-liter 165-horsepower engine. The release of the five with the E12 body was stopped in April 1981. Over the nine years of production, more than 566 thousand of the first generation of the BMW 5-Serie were produced.
 
The second generation at first at first it seemed to the restyled version of the previous model, since the design of the cars was largely similar. Although the new five, which received the E28 factory index, exceeded the previous model in almost everything. It was more spacious, wider, longer and higher and had completely independent suspensions of all the wheels - the racks of McPherson in front and behind. Although the design really caused persistent associations with the previous model. The Bavarians themselves called her appearance evolutionary, she looked like the E12 series, and only a high trunk lid and large rear lights favorably distinguished her from her predecessor. But the front part was almost indistinguishable: exactly the same nostrils, a false radiator grille with a negative inclination and traditional optics. This generation of five with the E28 body was the first diesel BMW in the history of the company, in 1983 they began to install a 2.4-liter diesel engine, which was later equipped with turbocharged. She, this E28, became the shortest model - her release lasted a little more than six years, from mid -1981 to 1987.
 
The third five became a real revolution: she was completely unlike her predecessor and exceeded her in all respects. This generation, which appeared in early 1988, received the E34 index. The model, in this generation, produced with four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines, was offered to customers in the form of a sedan or a five-door Touring station wagon. A little later, all -wheel drive modifications with the prefix X appeared, as well as special versions of the 518i model operating on natural gas. This generation has become much more popular than its predecessors. In the period from 1988 to 1996, when the five E34 was produced, almost 1.3 million copies of this model were sold.
 
But the next five became even more popular - the 1995 model with the E39 body. This generation, also produced in the form of a sedan and station wagon, has become almost a standard for other manufacturers. Many authoritative foreign publications that conducted numerous comparative tests still consider this model the standard of a higher class car.
 
M-Machine
 
A separate story also deserves the sports life of the BMW of the fifth series. Indeed, from the very first generation, along with the usual versions of the five, the manufacturer without fail produces a wolf in sheep's skin - a real supercar in the form of a serial model. These are wolves, seriously different in design from basic versions, gather in small circulations, and their production is driven exclusively by the sports department - BMW Motorsport. It is there, in the process of almost manual assembly, the fives receive more powerful brakes and special sports pendants - more rigid and short -term. As well as a completely new motor, created on the basis of a serial engine and manually collected by experienced specialists of the company. The last stroke is the nameplate M on the rear panel of the trunk and, sometimes, on the false radiator grille
 
As a rule, all the M-version of the fives are almost no different from other modifications: no developed spoilers, no fanciful styling elements. It is often possible to determine whether Emka is in front of you or not, only by tires - a serious and powerful car is simply necessary for slides that can withstand high speed. In the first generation, Emka was an ordinary five with a 3.5-liter 222-horsepower six-cylinder engine from the BMW 735i model.
 
By simple modernization, engineers of the sports unit raised the power of the serial motor from 218 hp. To the mentioned limit, which, in combination with a relatively small weight of the five, gave just an amazing result. Seven and a half seconds from a place to hundreds and 220 km/h maximum speed! The next, the second in a row, the generation M appeared already in 1984 - the model was created on the basis of the fifth with the E28 body produced then. The motor remained the same, it was not even forced, and the model itself was called the M535i. But the M5 model, which appeared in 1988 and created on the basis of the next generation model, with the E34 body, was truly revolutionary - its motor developed the power of 315 horses! The dynamics of acceleration was also corresponding - 6.8 seconds to hundreds and a maximum speed of 250 km/h. The main competitor of the Mercedes-Benz, who immediately presented his version of the E500, who had similar dynamics and power, in fact confidently felt only in a good autobahn: his heavy eight-cylinder engine completely killed controllability in the car. This generation of Emka with the E34 body has become the most popular and mass in history of the model - both as basic versions and in clothes from the sports department. A significant step forward was taken in 1992, when in revenge of the 326-strong E500 BMW presented an updated version of the M5 model with a new, 3.8-liter engine with a capacity of 340 hp! This model was compared even with Ferrari - she spent 5.9 seconds to accelerate to a hundred.
 
The last at the moment, the fourth in a row, the generation of the M5 model, which appeared in 1998, became at the same time heavier, but also more powerful. For the first time in the history of the model, the sports version received an eight-cylinder V-shaped engine with a working volume of 4.9 liters. Its capacity was exactly 400 hp, and the torque indicator became a record in this class. The same five became one of the fastest. Equipping exclusively 6-speed mechanics, it could accelerate from a place up to 100 km/h in just 5.3 seconds. The maximum speed, despite the increased capacity, remained the same - 250 km/h, according to the agreement of the leading German manufacturers on the limiting maximum speed. Although, according to tuning experts, only the process of dismantling the electronic speed limiter made the M -Fifth competitor to Ferrari F355 - the maximum speed reached 300 km/h!
 
According to the manufacturer, the next BMW M5 will have an already 10-cylinder V-shaped engine, which, according to spy information, will develop about 500 hp! Such power was needed primarily in order to make the new Mercedes-Benz E 55 AMG, which is equipped with a 476-horsepower compressor eight. The only difference is that the power of the Merc is boiled, and under the hood of the BMW there will be an atmospheric engine developed taking into account the latest BMW achievements in this area.
 

Source: "Avtogazeta"