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2005 BMW 530i Touring

Bimmer Hauler: Latest 5 series Touring gets bigger, lighter, faster and better-looking than the sedan

By MATT DAVIS

2005 BMW 530i TOURING

ON SALE: Now, in Europe

BASE PRICE: $49,000

POWERTRAIN: 3.0-liter, 228-hp, 221-lb-ft I6

CURB WEIGHT: 3750 pounds (est.)

0 TO 60 MPH: 7.0 seconds (est.)

Seeing as the best year ever for the recently discontinued 5 Series Sport Wagon in the United States was a tick less than 4000 units, the near-luxury midsize station wagon segment for BMW in our country is understandably more like a niche. This translates into the new, third-generation 5 Series Touring not arriving here until spring 2005 as a 2006 model. But in Europe, the car is on sale now.

Part two of how this translates regards engine choices. Gas engines include the 525i straight six and 545i V8 to be joined later in the summer by the 530i. But this new version will be available in the United States only as the 530i. The main reason given is that dealers here wanted only the one they could move off the lot quickest at a decent profit. Sadly, that one was not the new 329-hp V8 available in the sedan.

While driving the 545i recently in Munich, we found that proportionately the Touring body is better-looking than the controversial sedan. In fact, worldwide 5 Series sedan sales are falling below expectations and the hope is that by squeezing out the Touring sooner, sales can spike up.

With the bigger body comes less weight, thanks to the aluminum architecture with judicious use of high-tensile steel at stress points. Interior room is up in all directions, the only place where it feels odd is the rear seats, which have been placed so low in relation to the new big shoulder line that any adult could feel like a little kid back there.

Dynamic Drive with active suspension helping to level off body roll in turns is quite welcome in a wagon, but Active Steering still ends up making the guidance of the car a bit numb. The traditional Dynamic Stability Control comes with Dynamic Traction Control in the 530i Touring. DTC allows you a little traction intervention if needed when you feel compelled to switch off the DSC. Hold the button down for three seconds and DTC also deactivates. Then the controlled oversteer games begin and the wagon takes on a track-day persona. Wider tracks (up 1.8 inches in front, 2.3 inches in back), a 2.3-inch-longer wheelbase, shorter overhangs, 17-inch Bridgestone Potenzas and a 49/51 front/rear weight distribution lend themselves to this utter sense of control.

Yes, iDrive is on board. All we will say is that reinstatement of a simple analog stereo is a requirement before we get cuddly with this technology.

The base-price transmission (which close to no one will want over here) is the new six-speed manual, while the six-speed automatic will run you anywhere from $1,750 to $2,000 extra, the exact price to be determined. A six-speed automatic SMG setup with steering-wheel paddles runs around $1,500, this accounting for 20 percent of foreseeable U.S. sales.

BMW is already hinting strongly at higher prices to account for heavy losses due to the lousy dollar-euro exchange rate (it was 83 U.S. cents to buy one euro in 2002, but it now is $1.23). Expect the base price for a 530i Touring to come close to that scary $50,000 mark.

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