Words Manny N. de los Reyes
It was a scene inspired by the film Matrix Reloaded, the one where Agent Smith replicated himself to battle
Mr. Anderson, a.k.a. Neo. This time, however, there were no black-suited sunglass-wearing agents. This
time it was a seemingly never-ending array of svelte Swabian sport sedans, parked side by side with millimetric
perfection.
Our shuttle bus must have tilted severely as all camera-wielding journalists rushed to one side to take
photographs of the stunning sight. We didn't have to, actually, as we would have lots of time to ogle at this
surreal Stonehenge of steel later on.
Our group of several dozen international journalists were divided into two, with the luckier group getting the
stint behind the wheel almost immediately. The other half had to go through a series of technical presentations,
after which the two groups swapped places.
The driving stint was no walk in the park. What awaited us was a sprawling patch of tarmac lined with orange
pylons where we could put the new mid-sized BMW through its paces. The first exercise was designed to
demonstrate the new 5-series' innovative Active Steering system as well as the German marque's renowned
handling prowess.
The next driving exercise involved the car's run-flat tire technology. The rear tires were completely deflated
and we were made to drive the car through another pylon-marked course. Amazingly, the 18" Michelin Pilot Run-Flat
tires stayed on the rim despite our most exaggerated steering inputs. The rear of the car would threaten to swing
wide but the car's Dynamic Stability Control would arrest the slide and keep the car going in the right direction.
Fantastic!
However, these two driving exercises were nothing compared to what we had the next day. Shortly after breakfast
we checked out of the Hotel Forte Village - which seemed like a sprawling Spanish villa for the rich and famous - and
took off for close to half a day's driving in a variety of Sardinian roads ranging from charming centuries-old cobblestone
city streets to arrow-straight high-speed autostradas to breathtaking sinuous cliff-side two-lane blacktop that overlooked
the sea. I was with REV Magazine's editor, Vernon Sarne, and we had a silver 530i at out disposal, swapping driving
duties every now and then.
In just about every driving situation, the new 5-series thoroughly impressed us. In urban crawl with tiny Fiats
squeezing us in by mere inches on all sides, the Bimmer was purring in utter contentment, its engine barely audible,
the suspension soaking up the otherwise harsh cobblestone surface.
With not much driving to be done, Vernon and I played with the car's iDrive controller, a large shuttle/jug knob
mounted between the front seats that controls most of the car's secondary operations like climate control, audio
system, navigation, etc. The iDrive was panned when it first appeared in the latest 7-series for being too unintuitive
and complicated to operate. The version in the new 5-series, however, has had its menu functions reduced to four
instead of eight to make it simpler in operation.
