Frankfurt: 2008 BMW 520i - 170Hp 2.0-liter Petrol Engine 
***; a 5-Series with a 4cylinder, 2.0-liter gasoline engine? What’s next, a 516i… Ok, we know that European car manufactures are attempting a downsize in engine capacities, but most modern 4cylinder bimmers were a turn off -M3 & 318is excluded. Damn, with the exception of the diesel variants (520d), the last time BMW came out with a 4pot 5-Series was 11 years ago with the E34 518i in ’96! However, take a look at the specs and the 520i doesn’t sound that bad. See, the 520i is equipped with the 120i/320i’s 2.0L unit which delivers a satisfactory 170 Hp and 210 Nm or 155lbs/ft of maximum toque.
BMW says that the 520i, which will be available in both sedan and Touring variants, sprints form zero to 100 km/h (62mph) with a manual 6-speed gearbox in 8.7 seconds (Touring: 9.0 sec) while it can travel to speeds up to 224 km/h – 139mph (Touring: 220 km/h -137mph). Meanwhile, consumption figures are quite low with BMW announcing an avg. fuel cons. of 6.7 litres per 100 km (35.1 mpg) for the sedan and 6.9 litres per 100 km (34.1 mpg) for the Touring.
Sales
of the 520i which will be available solely in the European market -forget about N.America, will kick off in the beginning of October. 