The Best Looking New BMW Is the 2021 5 Series Touring
Reminder: BMW still makes a really, really good looking 5 Series, and it looks even better in longroof form.
Many of us were prepared to write BMW off entirely after the new 3 and 4 Series were unveiled. The face only a blind mother could love was enough for many of the BMW faithful to declare the death of their favorite brand, or at the very least, make some very accurate edits to Wikipedia. Don't write the whole marque off just yet, though. Remember BMW's awesome looking 2021 5 Series? It looks even better as a wagon.
The new 5 Series got a slightly larger grille, but not cartoonishly so. The "e" is no longer a mark of shame in BMW names, as the new 530e's 48-volt plug-in hybrid system delivers a nice little bump in performance.
BMW's press photos are of the 2021 530d xDrive Touring, which features BMW's new-generation inline-six diesel engine—another thing that isn't coming to the States. Still, it looks sharp as hell, with a neat little Bavarian-blue line across the top of the headlights and a finely sculpted hatch that carries the crease that runs down the side of the 5er around the back end.
The glass and interior cargo cover even open up separately from the whole door in case you can't or don't want to open up the full hatch—a feature that seems like a no-brainer but is frustratingly missing from some modern-day hatches.
Of course, this is new 5 Series is a sharper facelift of the 2017 model, which was originally designed under the purview of previous BMW design head Karim Habib, not the current provider-of-nostril-nightmares Adrian van Hooydonk. When the 5 Series is up for a complete redesign, can y'all tell Hooydonk that there's cake and beer in the break room and just...not let him out? Thanks in advance.
The one caveat, of course, is that this big beautiful longboi is highly unlikely to ever come to the United States. We haven't gotten the 5 Series Touring since 2010, and as much as the whole internet-loves-wagons thing has become a bit of a tired trope, even some BMW dealers seem to view the lack of a good wagon in BMW's U.S. lineup is a missed opportunity.
"There is a place for a luxury wagon with great BMW performance in the U.S. market," BMW National Dealer Forum Chairman Patrick Womack told Automotive News in February. "The Europeans get to enjoy that great product, and we need to compete with Audi and other brands that are in our marketplace."
Listen to Womack. Give wagons in the U.S. a chance. Honestly, given the demand for the Audi RS6 Avant that's already sparking dealer markups and flippers, maybe it's time to offer wagon fans a new toy.
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