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The sixth-generation BMW 5 Series sedan is, without question, the best looking 5 to date. It has a much stronger front end, two strong character lines that sweep through the side of the body and a tidy tail that’s less bustled. The real beauty of the design, however, is its elegant simplicity — it relies as much on the shadows and highlights imparted by the key character lines as it does of the lines themselves.

The newest 5 is also the largest to date — the wheelbase grows by 80 millimetres to 2,968 mm, which brings much better back seat room. The overall length increases by 40 mm to 4,899 mm, primarily because of the very short front overhang. The new body is also 55% stiffer than the outgoing model’s, and it sheds 23 kilograms by using aluminum in its doors along with the front fenders and hood.

When the 2011 5 Series arrives in June, it will be offered in two different flavours. The 535i arrives with a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six. It feeds a healthy 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque (at just 1,200 rpm) to the rear wheels. The uplevel 550i puts BMW’s 4.4L twin-turbo V8 under the hood. It delivers 400 stampeding horses, 442 lb-ft of torque at 1,750 rpm and a spirited five-second run to 100 kilometres an hour — not bad for a portly 1,905-kilogram sedan. Both engines are teamed with BMW’s eight-speed automatic.

Toward the end of 2010, the 528i will be added to the range — it will be powered by a 240-hp in-line six. BMW would not say when the inevitable xDrive model will debut, nor would it speculate on an M5 derivative.

The car’s level of technology has also been significantly ramped up. Along with things such as active bi-xenon headlights and BMW’s driver-selectable Adaptive Drive (which allows the driver to tune the damping and driving characteristics to suit the nature of the drive) comes a number of other advanced features.

Top View shows a 360-degree bird’s-eye view in the 6.7-inch control display screen by using front and rear cameras along with a pair of door mirror-mounted cameras. There are also lane departure and blind spot monitoring systems as well as a collision warning system with brake activation. The last item is an extension of the active cruise control. After warning the driver by flashing a warning light and then adding an audible tone, the system applies the brakes if the driver does not take any action to avoid a potential collision.

The coolest option is the Parking Assistant. It measures the size of a potential parallel parking spot (at speeds up to 35 km/h) and then backs the car into the space. The electrically assisted steering swings the wheel left and right as the 5 Series is inched into position. All the driver has to do is look after the gas and brake pedals.

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