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420 – Choosing the right options for the new BMW 5 Series

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7 April 2010

I DON’T know whether the new BMW 5 Series has found its way on to your choice list for your next business car. If you’re in the market for a sub-£30k saloon then it certainly should be in 520d SE guise with its enticing list price.

But what about the options? Choosing the right options can often make a car – make it feel more special, more bespoke. Get it wrong, and if you have it on a three-year contract you have 36 months wondering why you didn’t get it just right, just so.

When I was testing the new 530d and 535i models at the car’s launch, I had dinner with Robert Barnes from BMW’s corporate sales department. Now, as with most car makers, there are a series of packages that can be added to the basic specification.

In the case of the 5 Series there are four: Visibility, £1210 (Adaptive headlights, headlight wash, high-beam assist and xenon headlamps); Media Business, £1530 (Bluetooth, BMW ConnectedDrive Assist and Online, sat-nav business, voice control); Media Professional, £1960 (Bluetooth, BMW ConnectedDrive Assist and Online, sat-nav professional, voice control); Dynamic, £2820 (19ins alloys, anthracite headlining, high gloss shadowline, sport steering wheel, sport seats).

So which of these should you choose? I asked Robert for his advice, what he would advise a small business choosing a 5 Series. “I think it depends on the model,” said Robert. “The higher engined cars I would expect to see with Professional Media and the Visibility packages on board.”

But that doesn’t solve the issue of things like – is the Business Advanced media package good value? Or would you miss the Professional Multimedia package at a cost of £430 more?

They sound dauntingly the same on paper. But there are subtle differences that make the Professional package more appealing. There’s 3-D perspective for starters; 25 yards zoom instead of 125yds; plus the advantage of BMW Assist online portal that allows you to plan your route on Google from your office pc, and send it straight to your car. So in this case I would be inclined to pay the extra – you also get a bigger screen if that helps swing the decision.

Robert agreed that choosing the options can be tricky but, Robert added, if you went into a BMW dealer each BMW 5 Series in the showroom would have a spec list as a guide to the buyer.

Interestingly, the latest 5 Series brochure dropped through my office door yesterday courtesy of the BMW Partnership programme for small businesses. It is very good at explaining many of the technical advances and options on the car. So that should help in choosing.

Finally, the BMW 520d SE. Now, this is the key car in the range for most businesses and business car drivers. Its list price is an amazing £27,280: just to put that into perspective, a BMW 320d SE saloon is £27,245! I know which one I would rather have at that price.

But, and there is always a but. Make sure you have the budget for some crucial extras, even though the standard car comes very well equipped (there’s Dakota leather, park distance control and so on). Here’s a quick whisk through the brochure.

BMW 520d SE: Metallic paint, £640; split-fold rear seat, £340; sun protection glass, £290; sport leather steering wheel, £110; media package – Professional, £1960; BMW service inclusive (5yrs/60,000 miles servicing), £350. Total: £3960. List price plus options: £31,240.

Other nice to have options include: eight-speed auto, £1495; head up display (it’s brilliant, believe me), £940; heated front seats, £300; folding door mirrors, £245; steering wheel heating (a friend of mine has this on his BMW X5 – swears by it on cold mornings), £180; DAB digital radio, £310; visibility package, £1210. Total: £4680.

Which means, with both sets of options you could easily spend an additional £8640 without going bonkers on the options list (there’s plenty more to go if you wanted them).

And the moral of this story? Budget accurately. If you’re going to enjoy the new BMW 5 Series – any smart executive business car, in fact – budget for these extras. Because they will make your car special; and something to enjoy and cherish over your tenure at the wheel.

What was it my grandmother used to say to me? I remember: ‘Don’t spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar.’ That advice is exactly right for your next business car.

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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