This week I had to make the five hour trip from Cardiff in South Wales to Llandudno in North Wales.
A pretty horrible journey to make on a Friday night you might think? Not when you're in a BMW 530d Touring.
The 530d's 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine allowed the journey to be done at effortless pace, while the hugely impressive interior design ensured the journey was a comfortable as sitting in my front room at home with my slippers on.
A pretty horrible journey to make on a Friday night you might think? Not when you're in a BMW 530d Touring.
The 530d's 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine allowed the journey to be done at effortless pace, while the hugely impressive interior design ensured the journey was a comfortable as sitting in my front room at home with my slippers on.
Prices start at £39,400 for the 530d, so travelling the length of Wales in comfort isn't cheap. But if it's a premium estate car you want then you will be hard pressed to better the BMW.
It's an age old argument but when it comes to premium estates bigger is most definitely better, and the latest 5 Series Touring is larger than its predecessor thanks to an 8cm longer wheelbase and 4cm wider track, which means the luggage capacity goes up by 60 litres to 560 litres even if you keep the rear seats up. Tug on a lever so the seats lie flat and you get 1670 litres to fill.
Owners of a Mercedes E-Class estate are probably screaming 'my car is even bigger' as they read this review, and you would be right, 280 litres bigger in fact, but is your car as good to drive? I say not.
And besides, despite me not being the type of person who carts water around for a living I do know that 1670 litres is a heck of amount of space to fill!
It is on the road that the 530d Touring really excels. You make feel like your sitting in a lounge on wheels but the 5 Series offers huge amounts of grip and turns in with precision, while offering plenty of feedback in bends.
The 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine is fantastic too. It will hit 62mph in just 6.2 effortless seconds, and fitted with BMW's EfficientDynamics technology you get a combined fuel consumption of 45.6mpg and CO2 emissions of 160g/km.
Be warned though, due to the car's weight the 530d Touring doesn't immediately feel quick, but take a glance down at the speedometer and you could easily find you're risking three points on your licence.
If you appreciate your cars, yet have to make compromises over what you drive because the family packs the kitchen sink even for the shortest of journeys, then you might want to think about extending your garage.
By Richard Jones
It's an age old argument but when it comes to premium estates bigger is most definitely better, and the latest 5 Series Touring is larger than its predecessor thanks to an 8cm longer wheelbase and 4cm wider track, which means the luggage capacity goes up by 60 litres to 560 litres even if you keep the rear seats up. Tug on a lever so the seats lie flat and you get 1670 litres to fill.
Owners of a Mercedes E-Class estate are probably screaming 'my car is even bigger' as they read this review, and you would be right, 280 litres bigger in fact, but is your car as good to drive? I say not.
And besides, despite me not being the type of person who carts water around for a living I do know that 1670 litres is a heck of amount of space to fill!
It is on the road that the 530d Touring really excels. You make feel like your sitting in a lounge on wheels but the 5 Series offers huge amounts of grip and turns in with precision, while offering plenty of feedback in bends.
The 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel engine is fantastic too. It will hit 62mph in just 6.2 effortless seconds, and fitted with BMW's EfficientDynamics technology you get a combined fuel consumption of 45.6mpg and CO2 emissions of 160g/km.
Be warned though, due to the car's weight the 530d Touring doesn't immediately feel quick, but take a glance down at the speedometer and you could easily find you're risking three points on your licence.
If you appreciate your cars, yet have to make compromises over what you drive because the family packs the kitchen sink even for the shortest of journeys, then you might want to think about extending your garage.
By Richard Jones
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