BMW 5 Series Touring estate (2010-2017) - Reliability & safety

BMW 5 Series Touring owners are a generally satisfied bunch, rating their cars highly, even if they’re less keen on their dealers. Even so, our survey suggests visits should be few and far between.

BMW 5 Series reliability

As a brand, BMW always seems to hover around the middle of the manufacturer rankings in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey, which is slightly odd for such an upmarket company.

In the 2014 poll, that meant landing squarely in 10th – five places from its 2013 ranking. It’ll pain BMW that Mercedes ranked one place higher, although the fact that Audi was a couple of places below will provide some solace.

Having said that, owners absolutely love their 5 Series Tourings. The 5 Series as a whole finished in fourth place overall in our 2014 survey, well ahead of its nearest executive rival – the Jaguar XF in 15th. Owners aren’t anywhere near as happy with their dealerships, though. BMW dealers were rated only 22nd out of the 32 carmakers included in the latest survey.

Safety

The BMW 5 Series Touring is a very safe car indeed. As standard, there are six airbags, plus traction control and electronic stability control to help prevent skids. Options include a head-up display (which helps keep your eyes on the road) and a system that warns you if you’re about to drift out of your lane on the motorway.

Factor in a maximum five-star Euro NCAP crash-test rating and a pop-up pedestrian impact bonnet, and you’ve got a very safe car. The only negative is that the 5 Series Touring isn’t available with four-wheel drive in the UK like it is in Europe, so you might need a set of winter tyres when it gets cold and icy.