2005 BMW 5 Series Touring
The station wagon version of BMW's new 5-series lineup should be of interest to a lot of people, if for no other reason than it doesn't have the controversial rear end of the sedan.
The legions who find the sedan's hump-backed butt a visual burden might be better displaced to appreciate BMW's claim that the Touring model is ''faster, more economical and even more practical.''
Whether or not Canadians will get a chance to test the biggest powertrain advance in the new model (which debuts at the Geneva Motor Show in early March) remains to be seen, since it's a feature on a new diesel engine. That technology involves a two-stage turbocharging process on the new 3-litre inline-6 on the 535d Touring, which is unlikely to come to Canada.
The new engine delivers a maximum output of 272 hp and, more importantly, about 415 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm, with almost all of that available at just 1,500 rpm. This would propel the new BMW 535d from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.6 seconds, BMW claims.
The Munich firm claims that two-stage turbocharging resolves the conflict of ''turbo lag'' when accelerating hard at low engine speed and increases the availability of power at higher engine revs.
Apparently, the first turbocharger provides an ''almost instant kick of turbo pressure at low engine speeds while the second turbocharger cuts in at higher engine speeds to boost power throughout the higher rev range.''
Canada is more likely just to get a pair of gasoline-powered engines, including a 2.5-litre inline-6 and a 4.4-litre V8, the former in the 530i Touring and the latter in the 545i Touring.
The 2.5-litre engine carries over from the previous model and will be good for 192 hp and about 180 lb.-ft. of torque, which means 0 to 100 km/h in 8.2 seconds.
Not surprisingly, the 4.4-litre V8 has more impressive numbers, most notably the 5.9 seconds it will take the 545i Touring from 0 to 100 km/h, courtesy of 333 hp and about 335 ft.-lb. of torque.
All 5-series Touring models will get a six-speed manual transmission as standard equipment, while a six-speed automatic gearbox with Steptronic is available as an option, as is a six-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox with steering wheel-mounted paddles on the gasoline-powered models headed for Canada.
Key dimensions for the 5-series Touring would include a length of 4480 mm, a height of 1490 mm and a width of 1850 mm, which means it's larger than the car it replaces and therefore roomier inside for people and/or parcels.