2018 BMW 5 Series Touring review: Germany, Italy and France in the 530i wagon

The BMW 5 Series Touring is an ideal road trip partner, so when Tom went to Europe, he borrowed a 530i Luxury Line wagon. Are wagons really better than SUVs? We find out on a continent where station wagons are king. What do you think of the 5 Series wagon? Let me know your opinion in the comments.
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Road trip through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France in the BMW 530i Touring 2018 / 2018 5 Series Touring.
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READ our detailed 2018 BMW 5 Series review here: chasingcars.com.au/
Australian video car review of the 2018 BMW 5 Series Touring. See more video car reviews and BMW news at chasingcars.com.au.
Music by Audionautix.com.

[@wisecountryman49]

Wagons are way more functional and these days, look way better than other classes. Here in Europe, we love our wagons, and they are here to stay.

[@MaZEEZaM]

I agree, they are really practical, I'm not sure about in Europe but in Australia the estates cost a fortune, significantly more than SUV's

[@enai-lo]

@@MaZEEZaM it depend which suv. A 5 series is cheaper than an x5 or x7

[@AngeloGuardia]

and we call them combi :) they are fantastic! proud owner of a BMW f31 here!

[@davidarter6271]

Having watched your excellent podcasts for a couple of years, Tom, I have to say this is THE best one you have ever produced. A fantastic car, combined with the magnificent Stelvio Pass combines to give us a wonderful presentation that many of us would love to emulate. Well done, sir and if you keep this up you will cement your reputation as one of the best motoring journalists of the modern era. Thank you.

[@_Pet_Tech]

Europe is beautiful!

[@user-qd1mt1it4e]

Great video! The scenery is beautiful and so is that BMW wagon! Long live the wagon!!!

[@chasingcars]

Save the manuals, save the wagons am I right

[@dani.lefebvre]

Great review!

[@melv1n_official]

An awesome review of an awesome station wagon driven on an awesome road trip! More awesome videos please!!!😍

[@chasingcars]

Really pleased to hear you enjoyed this type of video. I'll definitely try to do more in future.

[@bill7481]

Brilliant, Tom! You have sold me on the trip. And I also want to see the 5 series wagon in the states.

[@chasingcars]

Thanks, Bill! We're very lucky to be getting the 5 Touring here in Australia given some pretty low volume expectations. It's definitely the Beemer I'd buy if I needed a family hauler.

[@MaZEEZaM]

Particularly nice review this time round 😊 I agree on preferring Comfort and safety in this type of vehicle. Would love to see you do a review on the latest Merc E-class estate. Please show the under floor storage in the boot space.

[@dmfamzo]

Proud owner of a F11 520D xDrive , loved this video and I'm going to use to convince wifey we have to do this trip! Nice vid. Cheers.

[@rauldaniel8573]

Simply amazing, thank you 👏👏

[@chasingcars]

No problem. We had fun making it.

[@lukegarratt82]

Excellent video Tom. My wife and I had a similar fantastic time in 2014, doing a 2,500km trip around Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Except we only had a diesel Skoda Superb. Overall, the driving culture is just leagues ahead of Australia - in the Germanic countries at least.

[@chasingcars]

That would have been a lot of fun too, Luke. You probably spent a lot less in fuel costs than I did in the 530i… gasoline and Europe do not go hand in hand!

[@trumandai229]

Nice cinematography! Any plan to shot in 4K HDR for future videos?😍

[@chasingcars]

Thanks a lot Truman. Yes, 4K is definitely on the agenda for some time next year.

[@enai-lo]

The 530i is very nice but i think the 530d (without xDrive or with) is better, economical and 6 cylinder is great

[@fraso2000]

Great car. I just bought a 530i Touring.

[@chasingcars]

Enjoy, Frank! It’s one of my favourite family cars.

[@pietrobosco1216]

Amazing video! I'm a big 5 series fan and I love the new G31. One question: have you washed the car after stelvio pass? It's pretty clean in France!

[@chasingcars]

Yeah, I try not to drive a dirty car for too long!

[@spirosbonis436]

Perfection

[@Billywoo12]

Great report and awesome scenery. Just one observation. SUVs make a lot more sense with small children, they can see much more out of the windows and there is less effort when buckling them in or changing car seats. We have had a wagon and an SUV, we will revert to the former when they are a bit older.

[@chasingcars]

I appreciate your input David, and yes, I can understand that the height of the SUV makes it easier to pop a child into the car. We'll give them that one advantage!

[@jonathanlynn8152]

I liked this type of video mate and i just was wondering, is you backround European and if so, what country is it (only if you want to share that)

[@chasingcars]

I'm Aussie going back many generations but have family members in Europe. Makes a good excuse to get over there!

[@vogahl34]

Brilliant video here mate. If you don’t mind me asking was this the RWD or AWD version ?

[@chasingcars]

Thanks, Pedro. This was the RWD.

[@vogahl34]

Thank you Chasing Cars! It looks like you found no problem driving on those icy bits of road... fair to think you should be alright with RWD to drive ocasionally on snow as long as you have the right tires. Would you agree?

[@ZaibJ]

I’m Tom Baker this is chasing cars Aus...this is chasing Europe in a bmw touring! Amazing video mate, you should do more of these if you get the chance or maybe back here in Australia Btw how was the transition from right to left hand drive?

[@chasingcars]

Really happy to hear you liked this kind of content - I'd like to make more travel/road trip videos in future. I've driven left hand drive quite a few times now and it gets easier each time. However, the tough thing is always reacquainting yourself with where the passenger side of the car is sitting on the road. Takes a few hours to get your head completely around it.

[@SkynetGeneral]

It must take only 5 hours to get used to, unless it is a manual which totally screws your head up

[@AngeloGuardia]

you should have gone for the diesel version...for the long trip is just heaven on wheels

[@pulixpulix2420]

Correction: the 530d 265hp does not have 2 turbos. Only 1.

[@loverichardson9954]

4:17 i spy a 360, (STG?)

[@Polomissen]

Love Richardson it is

[@enai-lo]

The station wagon are way more better than SUVs, more stability at high speed, fuel consumption

[@stubones]

Fantastic video :) I must note though, the X5 SUV actually has a smaller footprint than this 5 series Touring, being both slightly shorter and narrower. The X5 also has 80l more luggage space at 650l. Buyers choice obviously, both good cars.

[@stubones]

A couple of years ago I did a similar European road trip in my 320D touring and while it returned a stunning 4.5l per 100km economy I could have definitely done with the 5 series luggage space. A 530D would have been perfect.

[@chasingcars]

That would have been a great trip as well. Where did you go? Thanks for making the point about the X5's size. I guess wagons just trick the eye, being long and low rather than bulky and tall to look at.

[@AbstractJan]

Which generation X5 do you mean? F15 is 70 mm wider and G05 is 136 mm wider than 5 touring G31. I am going to upgrade my current daily car (X3). My first choice was F15, but i test drived both by dealer, and now iam going to buy a 5 touring G31. The handling and overall experiance is realy good.

[@ts6070]

Hey us left handed people love right hand drive cars! 🚙

[@nathansmith1365]

How much

[@chasingcars]

$115K

[@jonathanlynn8152]

And if the answer is in the video, forgive me because I’m made that comment before watching the whole video

[@MaZEEZaM]

You can always hover your mouse over the right side of your comment and it gives you the option to edit or delete your comment 😊

[@cannyscott]

Station wagon = estate car

[@sorsorsor11]

Man, you saw those narrow roads haven't you. With a SUV you would have hard time navigating on a daily basis, that's why they don't have it there.

[@MaZEEZaM]

Except most SUV's offer better view out the windows because of their added height.

[@anfalshams]

3000rpm at 200kph 😮

[@luigipod]

4:50 next time keep right - take larger turns on mountains... this is the way a lot of bikers get killed....

[@cheyne130]

skinny jeans and red shoes. wtf... the review was good tho.

[@chasingcars]

*shrug* Glad you enjoyed the review!

[@jpcleary11]

cheyne130 I personally think Tom is quite a snappy dresser. 10 points for Tom and none for Gretchen Wiener.

[@Ari-bx9cs]

It's an estate

[@meownmazda1]

I still want you to marry me Tom

[@davidarter6271]

I think Nick has a better chance than you, mate…

[@slcarsuk]

Your lane control is god awful