BMW 5 Series Touring review

This cabin has had a lot of love from the designers and those who build it. Attention to detail is obsessive. Trims and finishes are notably more lavish than in the previous 5 Series generation, or a 3 Series.

The front cabin, as with the driving experience, perfectly mirrors the saloon. So you get a 10.25-inch screen with navigation and RTTI hi-def traffic as standard and a 12.3-inch option. Integration with CarPlay and Android Auto is also very neat, and post-facelift it’s standard rather than an optional extra.

iDrive is still the easiest to use of all rival systems. It's got a touchscreen now, but you’ll probably use it only when stationary. On the move, the rotary controller is much easier, and less prone to the accidental inputs of a bump-deflected finger. Brilliant. 

One option definitely worth having is the head-up display. BMW's is the best anywhere. Its clever operating logic means you can use the steering-wheel buttons to summon head-up phone menu or track listing. At other times the layout is need-to-know only so it doesn't distract.

What about roominess?

Standard-fit is dual-zone climate control to keep you snug, and ambient lighting to make the night feel more special. Back seat knee-room is decent for the class, aided by a small wheelbase stretch over the old one. Probably only a Volvo V90 among the rivals is bigger here.

The boot isn't just big, it's clever. The load blind moves back and forth automatically when you open or shut the tailgate. It and the dog-guard net roll up and park neatly in special storage recesses under the floor, for when you have the seat folded. The seat folds as 40:20:40. Roof rails run above for those times when you bust out even of all this capacity. 

For reference, that capacity is 570 litres with the seats up and 1,700 litres with them folded flat, although the plug-in hybrid fills some of that space with battery and only manages 430/1,560 litres.