2017 BMW 5 Series launched at Rs. 49.90 lakh in India; all you need to know

German carmaker BMW has launched the all-new 5 Series sedan in India for a starting price of Rs 49.90 lakh. The seventh generation of the sedan is slotted between the 3 Series and the 7 Series and is offered in three trims — Sportsline, Luxuryline and M-Sport.

The new 5 Series takes its design cue from its bigger sibling, the 7 Series. The LED headlights now flow into the traditional kidney grille. On the sides, the character line at the bottom is akin to that in the 7 Series. The redesigned tail lamps are now sleek, and a reworked bumper adds the much-needed freshness to the rear of the sedan. The new 5 Series also comes with dual exhaust pipe.

In its latest avatar, the 5 Series is longer by 36mm to 4,935mm, while the width has been extended by 6mm to 1,868mm and height has gone up by 2mm to 1,466mm. The wheelbase has also increased by 7mm over the predecessor's 2,975mm. The new 5 Series adopts BMW's new Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform structure that uses predominantly aluminium body. This has helped the car shed up to 70 kg.

The interior is now more luxurious and tech savvy. Increased dimensions have freed up more interior space, especially for rear passengers. The rear seat entertainment set-up now includes two 10-inch screens. Electrically adjustable front seats are standard.

The new sedan boasts of gesture control with six pre-defined hand movement functions. Remote control parking with display key is another major highlight. It also gets wireless charging tech for smartphone and smart key.

The sedan is offered in six-cylinder diesel and four-cylinder petrol and diesel mills. The 2.0-litre diesel unit develops 187bhp and 400Nm while the 2.0-litre petrol unit bets out 248bhp and 350Nm of torque. Range topping 3.0-litre diesel engine churns out 262bhp and 620Nm of torque. All engines are offered with eight-speed automatic transmission as standard.

Since the arrival of BMW to India, the company has sold over 19,000 units of the 5 Series in the country. That is nearly 30 percent of the overall BMW sales and makes the 5 Series the company's best-selling model in India. The new 5 Series will go up against Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6.