BMW 520d Touring – The 5 Series To Own?
The U.S. market has been a stranger to BMW tourings for quite some time now. The last Sports Wagon offered on this side of the pond was the F31 BMW 330i Touring in the beautiful M Sport configuration. And while BMW wagons have always had a cult behind them, it was never large enough for BMW to keep them around.
But, if you live in Europe, the BMW wagon options are quite diversified and intriguing, the least. Of course, at the top of Sports Wagon list you will always find the M340i or M550d models, but there is one model that offers a better proposition. That’s the BMW 520d Touring.
Offering both the M Sport Package and Luxury Line configurations, the BMW 520d Touring features sleek design lines with elegant shapes, adorned with enough aggressiveness for a balanced and understated design. Naturally, interior and cargo space is plentiful, and that makes the 5 Series Touring the ideal family car.
The interior has not been forgotten either by the BMW design team. The 5 Series Touring sports high-quality leather options and trims, and when specced with the M Sport Package, some additional sporty elements are included. The thick M Sports Steering Wheel being one of them.
And while of those things can be found in most, if not all, 5 Series Touring models, it’s the 520d Touring that wins our heart. Powered by a 2.0 liter four-cylinder diesel, the 520d makes 190 horsepower and 400 Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque at 1750-2500 rpm.
The power is transmitted to the wheels by means of an 8 speed automatic transmission. The BMW 520d Touring weighs a claimed 1855 kg at the kerb. The BMW 520d Touring attains a top speed of 225 km/h (140 mph). But of course, it’s the fuel consumption that impresses most.
In a recent test we recorded under 7 l/100 km (over 33.6 mpg US, 40.3 mpg UK). Get it outside the city limits and you’ll see even better numbers. Keeping a steady 50 mph average speed, we saw a fuel consumption of 5 l/100 km (56.4 mpg UK, 47 mpg US) while on the highway, at an average speed of 75 mph the on-board computer showed an average of 5.8 l/100 km (40.5 mpg US, 48.7 mpg UK).
That means you can do a lot of highway cruising at the top of the speed limit with a full tank of diesel. And that means the 520d has a seriously big chance of remaining a crowd favorite, especially in Europe, where long commutes are rather common and people are looking for the best combo for longer trips.
Since diesels are on their last leg, the BMW 520d Touring will soon be a unicorn in the world of automobiles. So if you have a chance to get your hands on one, it will likely be one of the best choices you’ve ever made.