BMW Australia has introduced a station wagon to its popular 5 Series range. Tagged the Touring in BMW speak, the subject of this review is a stylish machine that can be put to many practical uses.

While the BMW 5 Series Touring is not as voluminous as wagons such as our homegrown Holden Sportwagon it can take a decent sort of a load - such as the front-loading washing machine the PR people managed to get into the load area when demonstrating the car to members of the motoring press during its debut in Melbourne.

As with many boutique wagons the BMW’s potential shortfall is in the reduced length of the roof area due to the need to provide style at the rear. Nevertheless, the new ‘5 Touring is less compromised in this area than others and can still carry a reasonably sized box in the back even when rear seats are in uses.

There’s absolutely no compromise in BMW’s clever design work in the rear seats. Using a 40/20/40 per cent split rather than the usual 60/40 per cent one, provides a host of options in the eternal people versus luggage compromise. BMW lets you carry two people in the rear with seats of standard width, that is using the two 40 percent areas. This still lets you fold down 20 per cent of the back seat to carry long loads such as skis or a surfboard.

Then there’s the option of having two passengers sharing 40/20 per cent of the seat leaving a wide, long area to move cargo as well as four people.

The area behind the seats can be set up in two different ways. One sees the backrest in its normal position to provide a comfortable slope for the occupants. The other option is to have less rake in the backrest, so that placing it more upright increases the amount of horizontal luggage space.

Actual carrying volumes are 1670 litres with all the seats down; 590 litres with all the back seats in use and the backrests in an upright position; and 560 litres with the seat backs at their most comfortable angle.

Should there still not be enough room in the cabin to carry everything you need, the new BMW 5 Series Touring has one of the sleekest, neatest roof rail systems you will ever see. Indeed, it can be argued that the minimalistic roof rails actually add to the style of the Touring rather than detract from it.

While we are at the roof of the new 5 Series Touring, we should point out the huge panoramic, two-section sunroof. These big glass roofs are all the rage in Europe at present, but we must admit that during our testing in the middle of the day in the middle of summer in Australia we kept the roof’s shades firmly closed. Nevertheless it will be magic of a summer’s evening.

Even better news is that you can have a new BMW 5 Series Touring sitting proudly in your garage for under $100,000, making it a relative bargain in this class. That’s because the BMW 520d Touring has a recommended price of just $92,800, to which dealer and government charges have to be added. In these tough economic times you may be able to persuade a BMW dealer to absorb some of the on-road charges - give them a call and see how you go.

The BMW 520d Touring is powered by the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine that we have admired in several other models in the BMW range. Producing up to 135 kilowatts of power and 380 Newton metres of torque this turbo-diesel engine has plenty of grunt and responds more quickly than usual for a turbocharged unit. Once it’s on song the engine has a huge surge of torque that makes for simple overtaking or the ability to climb hills without breathing hard.

BMW officially rates this new turbo-diesel at 5.3 litres per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle of the fuel test. However, during our initial road test review it was more usually running in the six to seven litre range.

Also on offer is BMW’s new ’35’ six-cylinder 3.0-litre petrol engine in the 535i Touring. Using a twin-scroll turbocharger, not the twin turbos of the previous ’35’ engine, it’s a delightful unit with silky power that just want to keep rising and rising. The engine has a pleasant note and is likely to be the unit of choice amongst keen drivers. That is if they have $138,900 to spare because you not only pay for the bigger powerplant, but also find that it comes loaded with extra equipment.

As well as having 50 per cent more engine than the 520d, the 535i Touring also has a sports automatic transmission, sports steering wheel, 18-inch alloy wheels (17s in the 520d), metallic paint, bi-xenon adaptive headlights, ambient interior lighting, sunblinds on the side-rear windows, additional power settings on the front passenger seat, a powered tailgate, and quite a few other smaller changes.

A further $5000 saving in the price of the 520d compared with the 535i is due to lower luxury car tax on the diesel due to its low fuel consumption.

 

On the road the new BMW 5 Series Touring wagon displayed everything we anticipated from the company that prides itself on superb engine and chassis dynamics. The wagon has near perfect front to rear balance, steering that’s precise and which delivers its feel to the driver in exemplary fashion, the ability to turn in at the slightest desire of the driver and a willingness to change direction part way through a corner if so desired.

The 18-inch alloys and low-profile tyres on the 535i Touring give a slightly harder ride than the 17-inchers on the 520d, but this only shows up on rougher than average surfaces. There are a number of suspension and steering options in the 5 Series range and we suggest you talk to a dealer to work out which is best for your needs.

Anyone who enjoys driving and needs to haul more than the typical sedan does should put the new BMW 5 Series Touring high on their shortlist of upmarket estate cars.