Test drive BMW 5 series E39 2000 - 2003 sedan

Along and down

How is it more convenient: pull or push? And which is better: along or across? Most potential car owners recently, fortunately, worrying the question where to get it?, What to choose? To clarify the truth, try on Volvo S60 and BMW 525i.
In the West, they are very serious about the issues of the so -called positioning. Roughly speaking - for whom this or that product is created. Here, for example, Volvo S60. By his birth, the car owes the Swedes to gain a foothold in the Pre-Femeli sector. This is such a cunning name for young people who have not yet acquired a family and still live on the whole coil. She thought as a competitor to the BMW 3 series.
But the setting of buyers in various poses are engaged in Europe. The Russian client, who is affected by such cars, will put anyone himself ... And all the discussions about positioning can be limited exclusively by two criteria - the price and prestige of the brand.
So these two cars were nearby. The dimensions are approximately coincide (the treshka is still smaller than the S60, and this deprives her of serious competitiveness in the eyes of the domestic consumer). You can argue about the prestige of brands - BMW appreciates in the State Duma, but the Moscow City Hall prefers Volvo. The price is also approximately the same, but there are already nuances, which are discussed below.
 
I turn what I want. BMW 525i cars are assembled in Kaliningrad in only two trim levels - comfort and luxury, to choose from an automaton or mechanical gearbox. The buyer cannot change the proposed package - this is outside the competence of the Autotor factory. Only the color of the body and salon can be varied. True, the luxury equipment includes a rich set of options: additional Airbag for the rear passengers, a third -generation DSC system, an automatic rod for rear glass, a tree in a cabin, a parking system, etc. Therefore, the client who opted for autopilot, on the option-Lux, will not be able to save a couple of thousand, abandoning some expensive options.
With Volvo S60, the situation is opposite. If you purchase a car through an official dealer, you can start with a rather empty base model and wind it up to almost half the cost. Modification T5 in standard equipment will already be much richer. But in any case, each dealer has a list of additional equipment on several sheets - this will help to adapt the car to the tastes and needs of each owner. Actually, the price of a particular S60 that you see in our photographs is slightly higher than the basic - due to some options.
The owner-barin. When buying a car for more than 40 thousand dollars, the client has the right to count on a fairly high level of comfort in the cabin. We are not talking about electrical adjustment of mirrors and electric windows - their presence is not even discussed. The skin on the seats and on the steering wheel is a matter of taste and practicality. But the saturation with the latest news with electronics is a matter of prestige.
BMW offers a certain set of options that will fully satisfy even a very sophisticated buyer. This is an on -board computer that calculates the average fuel consumption, reminiscent of the driver about the need to regularly visit the maintenance station, but with a number of useless, in our opinion, functions. For example, why is there a stopwatch with the return count? There is also a computer in Volvo, and it is more functional. Messages of the type can be displayed on it to add water to the glass washer tank or close the trunk. Only now it is located in Volvo not very successful - in the lower left corner of the dashboard and, with a deep landing, falls out of sight of the driver.
The system of dynamic stabilization and control over the traction force on the BMW is included in the standard equipment and is called DSC III. In Volvo, this is an additional option, and installing it in a car when ordering a dealer will cost $ 905. The same situation with the current function of the rain sensor now - on Volvo is still a plus of $ 105.
We liked the audio system more on Volvo, although with some reservations. It sounds better (a volume sound function), and CD can be loaded through the front panel, and not climb into the trunk each time (in BMW, a chainer on 6 disks is installed there). But Bavarz has a cassette. There are also no numbered keys to the memory of radio stations on the S60, which is very unusual. To change the frequency, you need to twirl a round handle - it is inconvenient at speed.
The Volvo system is very competently designed by the built-in GSM telephone. The number can be typed on the central panel, and the microphone and the loudspeaker are hidden in the headrest of the driver's seat. Installation in the BMW of a corporate set is not provided - this is possible only on a more expensive model 540i. But the undoubted advantage of the luxury version is the presence of a sounding system of parking sensors.
Meters and seconds. All this is very good and ponto, but does not affect speed. And for a comparative test, we chose Volvo T5 for a reason - this is the most powerful modification, close in its data to BMW. The difference between these motors is large. German - six -cylinder, atmospheric, located under the hood longitudinally. In Volvo - five cylinders with a turbocharger, they are transversely. Most customers do not excite such subtleties - the main thing is that the motor is reliable and burdened.
We are forced to state that despite all its turbosils, Volvo clearly loses BMW. Bavarian cars have always been distinguished by a powerful low -speed capture. The presence of a turbine on a Swedish car instilled in us the hope that the S60 would be a worthy competitor, but ... On the way to shoot, we could not deny ourselves the pleasure of competing on a rather empty day. It turned out that from the traffic light BMW still breaks half -back forward. And this despite the fact that, according to manufacturers, Volvo should win a second with a small competitor. The thing is that on the road acceleration is determined not by seconds, but by meters. The BMW flies from the start the first 50-60 m distance faster than Volvo. Then the turbine turns on the S60, and the gap begins to decline rapidly.
In Volvo, especially on a slippery road, a front -wheel drive character is clearly manifested. With a sharp acceleration, the trajectory of traffic is constantly necessary to adjust the steering wheel, since the car clearly scours to the left and right. Desperate drivers love this - adds adrenaline to the blood.
BMW behaves more sedately, in accordance with the image of a business class car. Despite the classic rear -wheel drive, the car goes even along the winter road calmly - at the right time the DSC system comes into business and, when it is required, very intelligently corrects the driver’s mistake. The intervention of electronics in the control is indicated only by the blinking of the yellow triangle on the dashboard.
Having checked with the testimony of on -board computers, we noted that BMW is much more voracious. But what do you want is still one cylinder more.
GO RUSSIA! We foresee the reasonable question - did the Russian assembly have affected the quality of the BMW? Looks like no. Kaliningrad 525th is no different from the car produced in Bavaria. Tough control over the quality of the assembly is affected. We surfaced every centimeter of the salon - you won’t find it to any detail: high -quality skin, working microlifts on all leaning panels and lids. In a word, the assembly place of this car in no way infringes on the sense of pride in the buyer.
However, Volvo has always been famous for the quality of the assembly and the quality of the materials used. In the S60, which visited our test, the cabin is made of special light leather - according to Swedish designers, this is a distinctive feature of a sports car. Probably, for a certain group of drivers, such a finish will be preferable to the classic BMW design. Although in Kaliningrad you can order a more cheerful upholstery of the cabin.
And yet-what to prefer when buying? BMW is noticeably more spacious and more solid. Fans of a conservative style will surely prefer it. Volvo provides more opportunities for self -expression, and in the case of acquisition of the S60 in a simple basic configuration, the car will cost much cheaper. The prestige of both brands in our country is equally high. But still for this money ($ 40 with a small thousand) we would recommend BMW 525i.
Text Nikolay Kachurin, Alexey Ilyin, photo Alexey Ilyin
For a few days of testing, BMW and Volvo on the streets of Moscow revealed an interesting pattern of people's attitude to these cars. The reaction of the traffic police is very indicative. The first situation: we stop near the large household appliance store on Baltic Street. There is no place in the parking lot - we stand on the lights in the right row. A traffic police hurry to us and asks in the forehead: help needs help? I can stand ... as it turned out later, to stand - it is to punish cars so that indignant citizens inadvertently smell them.
The episode is the second. We skip the traffic light to the blinking yellow light - the inspector, like a kite, dived on Volvo. And the BMW driver simply waved his wand - drive, they say, do not delay the movement and do not distract me from important things.
Alexey Ilyin, photojournalist
In Volvo, I felt clear discomfort. What is the matter is - it is difficult to say, rather it is a whole complex of sensations. Firstly, the overview in front on the right and behind is much worse than in BMW. Secondly, I am not a fan of the front-wheel drive-with all the dynamics in acceleration, screening is felt, and the trajectory should be periodically corrected by the steering wheel. I'm not a retrograde at all, but, let’s say, a supporter of the classics. In the Volvo salon, a futuristic design and the abundance of not fully justified bells and whistles pressed me, if not show -off. Although I liked the built -in phone system.
My choice is unequivocal - BMW. I appreciate this brand primarily for the convenience of planting the driver, amazing controllability and predictability of behavior at any speed. The appearance, of course, is conservative, but you are respected on the road.
Nikolai Kachurin, deputy chief editor of autopilot
The main beauty of the BMW, its difference is not only from Volvo, but also from all other cars - this is an amazing pickup on the bottoms. Going on her along the road, free from traffic jams and numerous gazelles - pleasure. But I was somewhat confused by two things. Firstly, an old-fashioned interior, although the quality of its decoration is beyond praise. Secondly, the image of this car itself presses a little: if there used to be bandits, now-deputies. Perhaps I will prefer Volvo S60. Only not in this very sophisticated configuration T5. An ordinary motor in 170 hp It will be just right. And then the price will be almost $ 10 thousand less. It’s just convenient for me to sit in this machine; I really like the unusual internal and external design. This is the desire to stand out from the crowd and not to follow the stereotypes.

 

Source: "Autopilot"