BMW 528i M Sport – New F10 BMW 5-Series Delivers Through a 2.0 litre Turbo Engine
In BMW owner circles, there is much lamenting about the fact that the new BMW 528i has lost some of its glamour through the down-sizing of the familiar 6-cylinder to a 4-cylinder. They say a straight six sounds better, and some are hanging on to the old saying, “Nothing beats cubic inches”. Whilst I do agree in some ways, I also know that engine technology has advanced quite a bit since the half a century or more when this old saying was coined.
When Harvey Yap was barrelling his way through the Batu Tiga circuit in the 1970’s in his Ford Escort BDA and wiping out the competition, he had all of 137 horsepower in his car. When I won the Rally of Malaysia in 1983 in a Corolla XE, I had 135 horsepower under the hood. Going back even further, a BMW 535i in 1974 had 218 horsepower. Today, the Golf 1.4 litre TSi puts out 160 horsepower, while the Golf GTi’s 2.0 litre engine has an output of 210 horsepower, while the Golf R promises 270 horses under the hood. Cars are getting more powerful, and achieving these power figures with smaller capacity engines, and at the same time are becoming more fuel efficient.
The engine down-sizing trend is going to continue, as oil prices keep on increasing. Tougher emission laws are driving automakers to develop more fuel efficient cars – so we will get cars with smaller engines, but not necessarily less powerful ones. Such is the case with the BMW 528i.
The car under scrutiny today is the BMW 528i M Sport in the new F10 body. Basically, all that has been replaced is the engine (and related parts of the drive train). What you get is a gutsy 245 horsepower, and all the benefits of a modern turbo-charging system – exceptional torque and resultant quick acceleration from the forced induction, and a fuel consumption that would have been unheard of in a car of this power rating even as recent as five years ago.
The 245PS of power peaks at between 5,000 and 6,500 RPM, and the maximum torque of 350 Nm is available in full all the way from 1,250 RPM to 4,800 RPM, thanks to a twin-scroll turbocharger unit. Coupled to a very advanced automatic transmission with all of eight forward speeds, and with a relative light kerb weight of 1695 kg, the BMW 528i M Sport will accelerate from zero to 100 kph in 6.3 seconds, and hit a top speed of 250 kph. This performance is as good as some out and out sports cars, and outperforms many others.
The other good news about this car is that it has a rated fuel consumption figure of a mere 8.9 litres per 100 kilometres for city driving, 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres for highway driving, and 6.8 litres per 100 kilometres for a combined cycle. Of course these figures are obtained using a set standard of tests and driving cycles (NEDC, short for New European Driving Cycle) – and these figures should be used as a comparison guide when you are looking at different vehicles – in real life you will not be as fortunate, unless you drive at the same speeds as in the tests. But on the other hand, why would you want to drive like that, except to prove a point? If I could afford one of these cars, I would definitely be enjoying the power and acceleration to the full whenever I could. On the other hand, should you feel ‘environmentally’ inclined, you can drive to save some fuel, knowing that you can achieve something close to the mooted figures.
I had a good three days with the BMW 528i, and my overall fuel consumption was around 12 litres per 100 kilometres; a full tank of 70 litres gave me close to 600 kilometres before the reserve fuel indicator came on, and that was with a mixture of some very hard driving and some cruising around. Contrary to the norm, with my heavy right foot, I seem to get better fuel consumption driving around town than when on the highway – mainly because I was enjoying myself tremendously when on open roads. I did start out with a rough plan to check out what was the best fuel consumption I could get, and I achieved a best figure of 7.8 litres per 100 kilometres as shown by the on-board computer readout, but with such a great car and the instantaneous power on tap, it was hard to resist putting my foot down, so I gave up after a while. The new BMW’s have this ‘auto-stop’ feature that shuts down the engine when you come to a stop, say at a traffic light – I like it as an idea to save fuel, and I am sure it does, but the engine kicking in when you take your foot off the brakes causes a little ‘shake’ that feels a little strange. Other than that, the car is smooth all the way.
What I like particularly about the 528i M Sport is the F1 type paddle shifts (BMW finally got it right, if you can recall the earlier shift buttons at the back of the steering wheel that you push at one end to shift up and the other to shift down) with the plus button on the right, and the minus button on the left, like everybody else. What is even more endearing is the 5-mode driving settings that you can invoke by pushing the buttons beside the gear lever. You can choose to have full performance delivery with driving aids on or off in Sports Mode, two settings for Comfort driving, and finally, if you feel like saving the environment or some cash, you can use the ECO-PRO setting that has the ECU working to save fuel for you. I found that you can actually use eco mode while cruising on the highway – this mode keeps fuel consumption down to respectable levels, and there is a little monitor that tells you how many kilometres you are actually adding to your fuel range – the readout is blue whilst you are on the positive side, and turns white if you are on the negative.
The different driving modes also change the suspension settings; the damping is stiffer in sports mode, and softens as you go to Comfort. Now you can drive hard when you feel like it, and enjoy a sports-like suspension, yet get a soft ride when you feel like behaving yourself. This feature is definitely a step up from previous systems where you either have it stiff for high speed driving and suffer when you are cruising, or have it soft for cruising and compromised handling when you drive fast.
I also like it for the size – it is big, and being big, it has that additional ride comfort and stability that is associated with big cars, and of course the interior size and space that only big cars can provide. I get a little uneasy when reversing or parking it though, because some of our parking spaces aren’t that big. Having said that, I find the 528i surprisingly agile – on the move, it is like putty in my hands, always doing exactly what I want it to do, and I can do with the 528i what I can do with small cars. The combination of power and agility is really awesome – I am really impressed, to say the least.
On the whole, I think the BMW 528i M Sport can find a soft spot in my heart. I like it as a very well-thought out package that has a good balance for a driver who wants the luxury and comfort of a large sedan, yet has that urge every once in a while to let it all hang loose and have some fun driving – the best of both worlds, so to speak. At the asking price of RM409, 800, it appears to be a good buy, if you are in the market for a car in this price range.
