One Day, a Call from the BMW Dealer

The other day, a BMW dealer called my husband. The previous salesperson had left, they explained, and they’d love for us to stop by so he could meet the new representative and take a test drive.

Not that we ever bought a car from the previous salesperson… lol.

My husband invited me along, but our younger daughter came down with a fever that day, so I stayed home.

When he came back from test-driving the new X3, my husband’s first words had been, “That one’s no good—it doesn’t have the joy of driving at all!” So I assumed he’d come home with a similar verdict this time. But when he returned, he said, “It was way better than I expected!” I asked him to tell me a little about the drive. (It was only a test drive of a few dozen minutes, so these are just his first impressions.)

Test-Driving the BMW 530i

The car he drove was the current-generation BMW 530i, powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo engine.

① Interior and Seats

The 530i test car had the Luxury trim, and he said the interior felt high-quality, with far fewer of the plasticky touches that used to be common in BMWs.

He also praised BMW’s seats for their “excellent balance of support, firmness, and comfort.” Of course, seat comfort depends on your build, but my husband said, “BMW might be my favorite brand when it comes to seats.”

② Driving Performance

The cabin was impressively quiet, and the car felt smooth from the moment he set off. He started out in Comfort mode, and said, “It felt more agile than the previous 5 Series (F10), while also feeling more planted. That really made a good impression.”

My husband used to own a BMW 318is (this one↓)

Compared with the BMWs he’d driven back then, he’d often wondered whether “BMW had forgotten the ‘joy of driving.’” But this 5 Series felt like it had been built with that joy in mind. He also said its driving character reminded him a lot of the current 7 Series.

There was plenty of torque, and around town he never felt the car was sluggish or reluctant. The turbo was so well integrated, he said, that someone driving it with no prior knowledge might not even realize it had a turbo. As for the brakes, he said, “I wasn’t pushing it hard, so I can’t say much, but they were easy to modulate and never gave me any reason to worry.”

③ Ride Comfort

On smooth roads, the ride was very comfortable, with almost no sense of resistance from the road surface. Even when he took an intersection at a bit of speed, the car cornered smoothly without leaning. (In the previous-generation 5 Series Hybrid he’d test-driven, there was a noticeable lurch of body roll when he took a corner quickly.) But over rough patches, he could feel the firm, heavy thump typical of run-flat tires.

I asked, “Don’t all cars pick up some vibration on rough roads?” He replied:

“That’s true, but the single thump seemed to last just a little longer than it would with regular tires. Maybe I noticed it more because I don’t usually drive a car with run-flats. Still, the 5 Series rides so well on smooth roads and has such a well-sorted suspension that it felt like a shame.”

④ Sport Mode

Switching to Sport mode made the throttle response noticeably sharper. He also said that BMW’s recent torque-converter automatics are genuinely excellent. When I asked, “What makes them so good?” he said:

“The response in Sport mode is especially good, and there’s hardly any sense of coasting. And when you press the accelerator deeply, the engine note becomes really clear. It doesn’t have a sport exhaust, so instead of turning up the volume with a louder exhaust to make a show of it, BMW lets you hear the mechanical sounds—and they sound great. That felt very BMW.”

“That’s what you’d expect from a company that calls itself the engine maker of Bavaria,” he said. For a moment, he was reminded of his old 318is (E36) and couldn’t help grinning: “That’s it—that’s the sound!” (Grinning to yourself while driving… such a car nut.)

How It Compares with a Porsche

I asked, “I get that you liked the BMW 5 Series so much, but what stood out to you when you compared it with a Porsche?” He put it this way:

“Well… they have different driving characters, so it comes down to personal preference. But compared with the Panamera Turbo, I think plenty of people would find the BMW 5 Series more relaxing if ride comfort were the only thing that mattered.”

The Panamera, he said, feels more planted: it grips the road and seems to press on through uneven surfaces, while the 5 Series glides over them. He went on:

“It reminded me all over again that a Porsche isn’t just a sporty car—it’s a pure sports car. That said, if you’re comparing it with a Porsche, you should really be looking at something like the M5, not a regular 5 Series. They’re not really in the same league.”

Would We Buy a BMW?

The 530i would cost around ¥8–9 million new. That’s a pretty serious price tag! (Though maybe that’s just what cars like this cost.)

I asked my husband honestly whether he’d want one. Here’s what he said:

“It’s a well-executed, high-quality sporty sedan that works for business or personal use. It’s manageable in size and has a sporty feel, so I think it’s a good car. But… if you ask whether I’d want to take it out early on a weekend morning on the roads around Mount Rokko or Royu, or bring it to a circuit, I wouldn’t. That’s where it differs from a Porsche. For now, I don’t think it has a place in our family’s garage.”

Hearing that, I realized I felt a little relieved. (笑)

I’ve only driven BMWs on test drives or as loaner cars, so I can’t speak from extensive experience. But whenever I drove one, I’d think, “BMWs are great cars!” Then I’d get back into a Porsche and find myself thinking, “Ah… Porsche really is different. I love Porsches.” I remember coming away with a renewed appreciation for what makes them special every time.

You also see a lot of BMWs around town. That’s another reason I find Porsche—something you don’t see quite as often—more appealing.

…But I haven’t properly test-driven one, so I shouldn’t talk like I know it all.