The Fleet Manager's Friend
by David Morgan (27 Mar 06)

There's an affordable new BMW 5-Series on the block - an entry-level turbodiesel with all the advantages of this refined premium saloon at an attractive price. It's still not cheap, but at £25,925 there's no denying the appeal of this "budget" 5-Series.

The six-speed manual gearbox fitted to my new 520d was slick enough, but it wouldn't be my transmission of choice and that immediately makes the entry-level car nearly £1500 more expensive. Well-spaced ratios and a light action make the manual box easy to use, but if the 520d was on my shopping list I'd spend the extra £1450 and bag myself a six-speed Steptronic automatic. It's one of the smoothest-changing auto systems on the market and makes driving the 5-Series a relaxing affair.

But my 520d test car was manually cogged - a transmission which takes full advantage of the two-litre turbodiesel's quite astonishing economy potential. Compared to the automatic 520d the manual manages to average an additional seven miles for every gallon. That's an amazing differential. What's more, on the extra urban cycle the automatic's quite respectable 51.4mpg looks downright excessive set against the manual 520d's frugal 61.1mpg.

It underlines the efficiency of the 163bhp two-litre turbo diesel and the manual gearbox. On gently populated urban roads and open countryside I was astonished to see the on-board computer average 54.3mpg - achieved with a fair amount of cruising at the legal limit and a lot of brisk overtaking. Driving hard, I still managed 43mpg.

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