New BMW 5 Series Pricing and Specification Announced

In standard guise, the car is outstandingly specified, but a vast selection of optional equipment ensure the new 5 Series is a technological tour de force. BMW’s new Active Steering, for example, combines the benefits of slow speed manoeuvrability with improved high-speed stability. Priced at £810.00, the system varies the steering ratio electronically in direct relation to the style and speed of driving. This means that at slow speeds, a small adjustment in the steering wheel will take you round tight Soho corners, but the same adjustment at high speeds on the M1 motorway produces very little directional movement.

Ultra-smooth cornering comes courtesy of Dynamic Drive, priced at £1,550.00. Similar to the system on the BMW 7 Series, Dynamic Drive acts on the anti-roll bars to reduce the roll angle whilst cornering, allowing the car to corner ‘flatter’, assisting in-corner stability.

Another first for BMW is Head-up Display, projecting vital driver information such as road speed or navigation instructions straight onto the windscreen, without affecting visibility. The innovative system helps reduce driver fatigue over long journeys and will be available in the UK in March 2004.

Adaptive headlamps are also available. The £270.00 system, linked with the £650.00 xenon lights improves visibility by swivelling the headlamps by up to 15 degrees to ‘see’ round corners, focusing on where the car is travelling rather than where it is pointing.

The new 5 Series also benefits from options normally only available on luxury models. Three differing seat options – Sports, Comfort and Active offer the ultimate in comfort and luxury. Active Seats ‘massage’ the driver and passenger in all the right places, while Active Seat Ventilation is also available to keep one’s seat cool on warm days. Rear seat passengers will feel the difference with more head, shoulder and knee room than the outgoing 5 Series. For the first time, the new 5 Series also features three different leather options – Dakota, Nasca and Exclusive, differentiated by their texture and quality.

Active Cruise Control differs from more familiar cruise control systems by keeping a watchful eye on the vehicle in front. Should the car in front brake suddenly, or another vehicle move in-between, Active Cruise Control will reduce power and even apply the brakes to maintain the desired distance, but then accelerate to the pre-set speed when a suitable selected distance is restored. This option is available for £1,380.00.

For music aficionados, the car comes as standard with a CD player (tape not available) and six-speaker system. A ten speaker Hi-Fi system is available at £355.00 as well as the range topping LOGIC 7 Professional Hi-Fi system, priced at £845.00. With a total of 13 speakers, LOGIC 7 is normally found in professional Hi-Fi systems, and actually splits every acoustic signal into seven individual signals, reproducing it perfectly in terms of tone and ambience