30: BMW 5 Series – Still slick and sleek enough to compete with rivals

The 5 Series may be, currently, a little overshadowed by the new 3 Series, but it has one major advantage on its side - it was designed before BMW’s styling department totally lost the run of itself.

The 5, thankfully, still looks slick and sleek. Inside, it’s losing out to the likes of the Mercedes E-Class and, especially, the Audi A6 in terms of cabin space, but quality and comfort levels are off-the-scale good. Plus, it retains the sort of driving experience you’d expect from one of BMW’s core models.

The steering is responsive and near-perfectly weighted, the ride firm but composed, and the balance through corners impeccable. The once-ubiquitous 520d diesel has now been usurped, in our hearts, by the half-electric 530e, but the stonking 530d six-cylinder version is even better, if cripplingly expensive to buy.

Want more? Well, the 600hp+ M5 is an utter nutter in a butter-wouldn’t-melt body, but it’s not for those uninitiated in the ways of drifting, even with four-wheel drive.