At least there are separate, conventional controls to operate the stereo and climate settings. These most-frequently adjusted systems can be managed without using iDrive, and information is still displayed on the electronic screen. The 5's heating and cooling system has been improved for 2004 with new features, including more sophisticated humidity control. There's a temperature-controlled storage compartment in the console for snacks or drink cans. Rain-sensing windshield wipers are now standard.
New technologies include BMW's first optional head-up display ($1,000), which is offered only on models equipped with the nav system. The HUD projects a six-by-three inch rectangle on the windshield, focused so the display appears to be at the end of the hood, rather than right on the glass. Using iDrive, the driver can adjust the HUD's intensity and the information it displays. Options include road and engine speed, various warnings prioritized according to urgency, cruise control settings and navigation instructions.
The 2004 5 Series are available with radar-managed Active Cruise Control ($2,200). When the road is clear, it works like conventional cruise control; when the car closes on traffic, the system adjusts the speed of the car to maintain a following distance set by the driver.
One hint of the previous-generation model's advancing age was a cabin that seemed increasingly cramped compared to more recently updated competitors. With the 2004 5 Series, the modest increase in exterior dimensions translates to improved packaging inside. Front passengers get a half-inch more shoulder and head room, but the improvement is more obvious in the back, where there's more than an inch more shoulder room and two inches more legroom. This increase in cabin space puts the 5 Series on much better footing with key competitors like the Mercedes E-Class, Audi A6, and Lexus GS.
The high rear deck of the new 5 Series sedans results in a 26-percent increase in trunk capacity. With 14 cubic feet of storage space, the 5 Series moves from the bottom of the mid-size luxury class to the higher end. Load height is just above the rear bumper, and the 5 will accommodate even larger items with the folding rear seatback, which, oddly, is a $475 option. It's hard to imagine a buyer not wanting the flexibility the folding seat offers, as the seat can be locked to prevent access to the trunk.
High-tech safety features are a big draw for high-end European sedans, and with one exception the 2004 5 Series delivers. Inexplicably, side impact airbags for the rear seats are a $385 option. Perhaps BMW believes customers with small children still have concerns about the operation of these bags. Yet with advances in measuring and triggering devices, those concerns should fade, and the optional rear bags may come off as nickel-and-diming the customer.
Beyond that, all the occupant-protection ingredients are here. The 5's front-impact airbags are among the most sophisticated anywhere. Multi-stage inflation, shape and interaction with surrounding surfaces have all been refined to optimize protection. The head-protection airbags run from the front pillars to the rear, and completely cover body-side and window areas where an occupant's head might strike.
Unfamiliar styling, confusion with iDrive, and an abundance of gadgetry is all forgotten as quickly as you can settle into the 2004 530i driver's seat and turn the key. Whatever BMW's engineering corps experiments with, it almost never forgets one crucial point. BMWs are defined by excellent powertrains and superb chassis tuning. Measured by its balance of slick handling, ride comfort and solid acceleration, the 5 Series is as good as it's ever been.
We had the good fortune to evaluate the 530i on a crystal-clear fall day along fast, two-lane roads tracking the Hudson Valley through upstate New York. Yet we didn't have to leave the parking lot at BMW headquarters in New Jersey to learn that Active Steering is no gimmick. Maneuvering through tight confines is a breeze, and filling an empty parking space is as quick a swoop on the steering wheel. On a slalom course in another parking lot 120 miles up the Hudson, we discovered the performance advantages of this new steering system. In a tight slalom a 530i with Active Steering is more responsive than one without it (and the standard car is already quite nimble as heavy sedans go). Slashing through the cones is less work with Active Steering, requiring less sawing on the wheel and fewer corrections. The driver can focus more on the 5's trajectory through the course, less on compensating for mistakes, and it's not hard to extrapolate this behavior to advantages in emergency situations on public roads. Push the Active Steering car into a skid, and recovery is more immediate, and more likely.
There's a price for this responsiveness, of course, and it's most obvious traveling at high speeds on an Interstate. Gone is the famous BMW dead spot in the middle of the 5's steering travel, that inch or so of movement each side of center where there is no perceptible change in the 5's direction of travel when the wheel moves. This was developed for decades to account for triple-digits speeds on Germany's autobahns, but it's no longer necessary. With Active Steering, steering response slows down considerably at fast freeway speeds, but there is perceptible reaction from the front tires almost with the first fraction of movement on the wheel. The effect is basically the same, in that small bumps or grooves require no conscious correction from the driver. But the feel with Active Steering is different, and it may take a bit of getting used to, particularly for longtime BMW enthusiasts.
