Car For All Seasons

The BMW 5 series is a driver’s dream with its amazing versatility that complements any mood, any occasion

- James Deakin

There I was, in total James Bond mode, getting measured up for my new tux for the Miss Earth Pageant. As the tailor was putting on the finishing touches, he mumbled through closed lips that were holding clothing pins, “Any preferred accessory to cap off the tux?” I scanned myself up and down in the mirror, smiled, and said, “A five series would be perfect.” He looked at me like I had ordered my steak tartare well done then said, “I can give you a series of three buttons, but five is too many.” He was obviously not a car guy. He missed the entire point.

Any car enthusiast worth his heel and toe would know that the 5 series is the perfect complement to any event. Goes well with a tux as with jeans and loafers. It strikes the perfect balance between executive saloon, luxury car, and sports sedan, making it one of the most versatile of the BMW line-up. It’s a car for all occasions, for all seasons. The perfect partner. If I had only one reasonable choice for a sedan to live with day in and day out, it would most likely be the M5. But here in the Philippines where you have the worst power-to wait ratio on earth (you must wait forever to get to use that power, get it?), anything above 200 horsepower is useless anyway.

What if you could get the basics—like full leather interior, climate control, cruise control, 10.25-inch on-board computer with iDrive—in that same fundamentally delicious G30 chassis, but priced at under 4 million pesos? You may find a very exploitable gap in the luxury segment. That’s exactly what SMC Asia Car Distributors Corporation, the exclusive distributor of BMW in the Philippines, did when they brought in the 520i. They designed a new entry point for the experience. And they branded it as your first five series.