German sedans. Whenever you see an Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz, a few thoughts come to mind. The person driving has a car with luxurious and tech-laden interiors, advanced engines, and of course, that little badge floating around the car. We all know that a German sedan can be, or is, the most expensive and most powerful vehicle in its segment. You’ll also notice that styling for German vehicles is basically different sizes of the same looking vehicle. Case in point: BMW.
For years, BMW made sporty-and-luxury vehicles. Sticking with some traditions, BMW still has sedans with models that have around for years. One of these vehicles is the 5-Series. This midsize sedan has battled the Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class for longer than it’s wanted to. Through many generations, the 5-Series has grown significantly and has added some interesting technology. Although the 5-Series has many engines and trim levels, my test car could be the only 5-Series you should look at. Welcome to the 540i xDrive.
Hop inside and the optional Mocha Nappa Leather seats cosset you. Looking ahead, you see digital dials that can be customized to whatever you want to see. The steering wheel has some of the biggest paddle-shifters for the transmission I’ve ever seen! Speaking of, this heated M steering wheel has functions for the safety features, infotainment system, and a little surprise. A head-up display will show you almost everything you want to see. It displays the following: current speed, speed limit, navigation, music, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and changes to a straight-up tachometer in Sport mode.
You can’t ignore the iDrive system with its 12.3” display. Along with your usual navigation and infotainment information, the 540i has wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Connecting to CarPlay was quite annoying since the car wanted me to download the BMW app. Once that was done, my passengers and I found a few annoying quirks. First, skipping or going back on tracks takes more than two seconds. You skip the song, wait, and the next song plays. This wasn’t as annoying as the gesture controls, which didn’t always work. What I don’t understand is, if you have the iDrive controller and physical buttons, why do you need to gesture to skip tracks or increase music?
It is good that BMW didn’t decide to have all of the climate controls behind the iDrive system, but there is a flaw. The buttons are just too small and hard to read. Also, switching the airflow to your legs or torso takes many button presses and you can’t go backward. A passenger also noticed that, during a 20ºF day, some trim pieces stayed quite cold. Two of those buttons are for the heated and ventilated seats which worked quite well. If you don’t want to touch any buttons, saying “Hey BMW” activates a Siri-like system that can modify the music, temperature, even try to make you feel better about yourself.
Knocking the joystick controller into Reverse, you get an option I absolutely love. By clicking “Backup Assistant”, the car can remember the last 150 feet and will control the steering to get you back where you were. It’s extremely useful when you have a curved driveway. Now that we went backward, we should really go forwards. While driving the 540i, I noticed a few things that I instantly liked. BMW’s 3.0-liter inline-6 produces 335-horsepower and 332 lb-ft. Combined with the xDrive all-wheel-drive system and an 8-speed automatic, the 540i x Drive takes 4.7-seconds to 60 MPH. I can say that I was almost never wanting power.
Almost never wanting for power. That’s basically true thanks to the Eco Pro mode on the Adaptive Drive. It’s so lethargic that I would recommend it when you’re cruising on the highway. Otherwise, most owners will keep their 540i in Comfort, which is a shame. Don’t get me wrong, Comfort mode is perfectly fine. Adaptive Drive does have a Sport mode, but that clearly wasn’t enough, so there is a Sport + mode. This makes the steering quite heavy, the engine quite loud thanks to fake engine sounds in the speakers, and the full reign of the 3.0-liter engine. This is when you use the paddle shifters to enjoy yourself the most.
Driving a BMW, you’d expect that it would be the most sporty vehicle between the German three. That isn’t the case anymore. The 540i definitely isn’t a sports sedan. Unless you have the Adaptive Drive in Sport, the car is almost too sedentary. It isn’t slow but it doesn’t devour corners like previous 5-Series. This one is trying to be more luxurious and safe. Turning the full safety-suite on gives you one thing I hated. There is a “Set” mode that, when pushed, will set the 540i to the speed limit. That’s fine when you’re trying to accelerate to the speed limit, but quite annoying when you’re keeping up with traffic and suddenly drop speed. Thankfully, this is defeatable.
Since the 540i is German, it’s made more for high-speed cruising than driving on backroads. For the average driver, this isn’t bad. In fact, I like the 540i xDrive. I do think that this is the trim-level to get. You get the smooth inline-six engine, all-wheel-drive, and a lot of luxury. Of course, being German, it’s expensive. With the xDrive, the 540i xDrive starts at $62,000. The packages this car had included Driving Assistance Plus ($1,700), Dynamic Handling Package ($3,200), Luxury Seating Package ($1,000), M Sport Package ($3,300) Parking Assistance Package ($800), and the Premium Package ($1,850).
Back to those options. Although they are pricey, they have some great features. The handling does feel better with the Dynamic Handling Package while the Luxury Seating Package adds ventilated seats. Parking Assistance Packages gives you that Parking Assistance I said earlier along with a surround-view camera with 3D view. Premium Packages throw in a lot of features, including a power tailgate, heated seats, a heads-up display, Harman-Kardon sound system (which is decent), the useless gesture controls, and wireless charging. Although I would add all of these to a 540i, they do add up. To $78,000. This isn’t even fully loaded since it doesn’t have optional paint or massaging seats.
So, should you take a look at the 5-Series? I would stick with the 540i xDrive. Yes, there are some quirks, but those are more BMW related than being only in the 540i. It may not be as sporty as it used to be, but what midsize sedan has the same driving experience? Trading sport for luxury has diluted the fun which is unfortunate. As a sporty vehicle, the 540i xDrive doesn’t quite cut the mustard. As a luxury vehicle with a BMW badge and a lot of technology, the 540i xDrive works well. If you’re looking for a midsize sedan and it has to be German, take a look at the 540i xDrive. It has the power that you want without being too over-the-top and flashy. It’s almost a typical BMW which for most people, is enough.
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