Maintaining Benchmark Status
In journalism 101 you learn to lead off a story with an enticing sentence, something to capture the curiosity and imagination of the reader. Well, with regards to BMW's new 5-Series you can forget that. It's once again just plain and simply the best sports sedan on the planet.
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| BMW has done it again, the new 5-Series is simply the best sports sedan on the planet. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
I suppose when you find out just how many BMWs I've owned my bias will become all too apparent. Still, there must be a reason why I've spent my hard earned money on a brand that is for all points and purposes more expensively priced than my income has often justified. I've got my reasons, none of which involve the need to upstage my neighbor or impress the opposite sex - even a Ferrari couldn't help me in that department.
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| Having owned a number of BMWs over the years, the new 5-Series definitely didn't disappoint in terms of the brand's general driving dynamics. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
First and foremost is the brand's general driving dynamics. My first BMW, a 1974 Bavaria 3.0 S sedan, typified BMW agility. A fairly large car for its day, this forerunner to the 5-Series was wonderfully nimble, holding its own against my brother in law's early '90s era Ford Mustang GT, to name one, plus a great number of sporting cars whose drivers felt the need to test my Bimmer's abilities.
A host of BMWs followed, including a 1982 528e that served well until I sold it 418,000 km, a 1986 325e that taught me a lesson on buying only well serviced used cars, a 1989 525i, my previous favorite 5-Series body style, and a brand new 1997 328iC convertible - black on black with the optional hardtop.