BMW 5 Series Touring estate - Reliability & safety

The saloon version of the BMW 5 Series was awarded five stars in Euro NCAP crash-testing shares the same sophisticated safety features as the Touring model. Owners seem to be reasonably happy with their 5 Series Tourings on the whole, according to our annual Driver Power survey.

BMW 5 Series Touring reliability

BMW finished 21st out of 29 manufacturers in our 2021 Driver Power poll, a six-place improvement on 2020. BMW finished ahead of Audi, but below Volvo (9th) and Mercedes (13th), demonstrating that the ‘premium’ German brands have considerable room for improvement. The 5 Series itself finished in 49th place out of 75 cars in the best cars to own category, demonstrating that 5 Series owners are generally positive about their ownership experience in this model. Areas of frustration were the slightly high running costs, and BMW’s move to putting some features on a subscription model that requires additional payment.

Safety

When the new 5 Series saloon underwent crash safety testing by independent experts Euro NCAP, it was awarded a five-star rating, with an excellent adult occupancy safety score of 91%. An 85% score was given for the way child occupants were protected. The organisation was also impressed by the effectiveness of the car’s autonomous emergency braking system.

This is part of a Driving Assistant pack, which also includes a lane-departure warning system and rear cross-traffic alert, which functions to prevent a collision during reversing manoeuvres. Spending extra cash turns this kit into the Driving Assistant Plus, which adds features like adaptive cruise control for semi-autonomous driving.