The new BMW 5-Series is now a car for this century, and very distinctively so. Take the front lights. Well styled as are most these days, with their own version of the droop-eyed look of current BMW here, but the line of gold side-lights built into each make the whole arrangement a special jewel.

The back end is nearly as good, and even though there's an attempt at the bustle detail of the 7, it doesn't in this case take from the car's overall coherency in style.

Side view is just one perfect balance in gently sculpted metal, looking especially well in silver.

Back inside, there are interesting swoops in the door furniture, particularly the brushed metal handle. The dashboard with its full-width wood moulding also curves in a sometimes complex form.

Radio/CD is operated by the i-Drive, and there's a really neat display for the various radio stations within range, which is a modern throw on the old 50s radio dial that had all station names on it.

The essential instrumentation is classically analogue, white on black and very clear and would be great if we didn't have to have both mph and km/h on the dial. The brushed metal is also used to good effect to highlight the roundels. In addition, there are other bits of information provided here, including the speed settings of the cruise control.

Three rugby forwards would be quite comfortable, if a tad cosy, in the back. Front occupants have very supportive seats for the long haul, with electric adjustment of the height and seatback, though fore/aft movement is done manually. For some smaller people, particularly women drivers, a little more height would be good.

In the manual car, the pedals are offset significantly to the right. Until you get used to it, getting the brake pedal occasionally also involved contact with the clutch.

On the move, the 218bhp 6-cylinder diesel is to the usual level of refined excellence that we expect from BMW, very quiet, progressive in power delivery, and with a stonking 500 Nm of torque put out through the 6-speed manual gearbox. It pulls without complaint of any kind from as low as 700rpm.

The car had the optional Advanced Steering System, which has an electric motor added to the mechanicals that does a number of things under different conditions. One of them is when parking, during which the total lock is a mere 1.5 turns of the steering wheel.

A number of other options are coming down the line, including voice actuation of some of the ancillary controls, mostly communication-related. There will also be a 'head-up' instrument display giving critical driving information 'out in front' of the windscreen, similar to systems used in fighter aircraft.

The new 5 comes to Ireland with 2.2- and a 3-litre petrol engines. There's also the 3-litre diesel. And interestingly, both the 3-litres come in at the same price of €64,000. Initial expectation is for a 60/40 split in petrol diesel sales, rising in a couple of years to 40/60. The 2.2 petrol starts at €53,700.

Fuel consumption on mixed driving across the country worked out at almost 40mpg for the diesel, and less than 29mpg for the 3-litre petrol.