Greg Wilson test drive :¢ BMW’s mid-s 5-seri sedans were fast updated, but it was 1989 that the third-generation 525i and 535i were intro- duced in Canada. year They were followed by the cighi- 540i, the ms, the fimut- ed-edition high-performance MA, and the Mi-pretender, the MA401. Fhe new 3-series sedans, introduced year, are new from the ground up. There are wo models at the moment, the six-cylinder 528i and the V8-powered 3401, Ae cion wagon body-style is no longer availabi As there are considerable diff ences between the 528) and 540i, I will confine this report to the 523i and leave the 540i for another test- drive Essentially, the 528i replaces both the $25: and the 530i. It’s slightly longer and taller, and has more interi- or room. Specifically, the 5287's Base price: $54.900 Type: four-door, five- passenger luxury sedan Engine: 2.8 litere inline inder, DOHC, 24 Horsepower: 300 ep.am. 1900 @ 400 Friday, August 23, 1995 — North Shore News - 25 Phato submitted THE redesigned 1997 BMW 528i has a 190 horsepower 2.8-litre inline six-cylinder engine, and more interior room. Test drive the 528i at Fark Shore Motors, wheelbase has grown by 69 mm, lenath by 55 mm, and height by 23 mmm. Rear passengers in the new 5281 now have 15 mm more knee room and shoulder room, and 37 mm more headroom, according to BMW. Though the new styling retains some of BMW’s strony, styling traits, such as dual kidney-shaped gnile, a “Hofmeister curve” at the C-pill and four round headlamps (now under plastic covers), the 5287 is less ee and less distinctive than previous models, particularly from the rear where it looks very much like the current 328i. In profile, the 5281 has even more of a wedye-shape with a higher rear 1500 Fell Ave., North Vancouver. deck and a lower nose. Not quite obvious in plin view is the tapered nose and tapered tail, all done in the name of acrodynamics. The 5287's coefficient of drag is just 0.28, — the lowest that | am aware of in a sedan. Anew 2.8-litre inline DOHC 24 valve six-cylinder engine (the same one found in the 3283) is based on up signiticantiv, It new engine ts area much pull as the npan From Zero to 100 km-h (62 mph, the 328i takes 7.4 seconds with the manual transmission com: pared to 8.6 seconds for the 525i. Unlike many luxury sedans today, the 328i is available with both manu- aland automatic cansmissions, The 528i has tre same slick-shitti ual five-speed transmissnat ay the 5231, but the four-speed automatic now has BAIWs Adaptive Transmission Control 4 computer controler which automatically adiusts shift points according to the driver’s driving ot Fuel consumption stats were not available, but the European 5281 achieves slightly better fuel econumy, so the Canadian version is likely to be similar. A number of important technical changes have been made to the 528i, many of them involving the use of lightweight aluminum. For example, the front strut-nype suspension and subframe are now made of alu- minum, and a new aluminam rack and pinion steering system, first intro- duced in the high performance M3, replaces the previous recirculating ball type steering mechanism. In addition, 2 new independent rear suspension uses an aluminum four-dlink setup with passive rear- did at 4,260 ” See Aluninum page 27