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CHARTS SPECIFICATIONS DECEMBER 2012 CARANDDRIVER.COM Steering Effort Confirming our editors’ subjective Linearity judgments (top), this plot shows that the effort required to steer the BMW 528i xDrive rises in a straight line while the 535i xDrive’s steering torque increases by a factor of two before leveling off and then dropping slightly as lateral acceleration nears the tires’ adhesion limit. On-Center Behavior During left-then-right maneuvering at various speeds and cornering rates, the rise in steering torque immediately off-center is sharper in the 535i xDrive, yielding a tighter and better- connected feeling. Hydraulic steering’s more consistent traces also confirm the higher subjective rating it earned in the On-Center Feedback category. Steering Response Thanks to its quicker steering ratio and less heavily loaded front tires, a given steering- wheel input delivers more lateral acceleration in the 528i xDrive. At low cornering rates, there’s little difference, but by 0.7 g, the 535i xDrive requires a significant 18 degrees of additional steering lock compared with the lighter car. 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 LATERAL ACCELERATION - g STEERING-WHEEL TORQUE - Nm 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 STEERING-WHEEL ANGLE - degrees LATERAL ACCELERATION - g 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0 10 20 30 40 60 50 70 80 C/D Editors Take the EPS Challenge Our steering committee rated the BMW 5-series’s electric power steering superior to its hydraulic assist in seven out of ten subjective categories. ON-CENTER SENSITIVITY LINEARITY (OF EFFORT CHANGE) QUICKNESS (RATIO, RESPONSE) PRECISION INITIAL (JUST OFF-CENTER) ON- CENTER MIDDLE OF MANEUVER MIDDLE OF MANEUVER AT CORNERING EXTREMES AT CORNERING EXTREMES EFFORT FEEDBACK 38 36 40 37 42 34 37 34 40 34 41 37 43 35 36 40 35 35 31 31 528i xDrive (EPS) 535i xDrive (HPS) 0 -0.25 0.25 -0.50 0.50 -0.75 0.75 -1.00 -5.0 -2.5 2.5 5.0 0 1.00 CORNERING g TORQUE - Nm 30 MPH, 0.4 g 0 -0.25 0.25 -0.50 0.50 -0.75 0.75 -1.00 -5.0 -2.5 2.5 5.0 0 1.00 CORNERING g TORQUE - Nm 75 MPH, 0.2 g 0 -0.25 0.25 -0.50 0.50 -0.75 0.75 -1.00 -5.0 -2.5 2.5 5.0 0 1.00 CORNERING g TORQUE - Nm 30 MPH, 0.4 g 0 -0.25 0.25 -0.50 0.50 -0.75 0.75 -1.00 -5.0 -2.5 2.5 5.0 0 1.00 CORNERING g TORQUE - Nm 75 MPH, 0.2 g COLOR KEY: 528i xDrive (EPS) 535i xDrive (HPS) SCORES ARE OUT OF A MAXIMUM 55 POINTS. BMW 535i xDrive VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan BASE PRICE ........................... $55,695 AS TESTED PRICE .................... $69,695 ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection DISPLACEMENT ........... 182 cu in, 2979 cc POWER ..................... 300 hp @ 6250 rpm TORQUE ................. 300 lb-ft @ 1200 rpm TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode STEERING: rack-and-pinion with hydraulic power assist, 3.0 turns lock-to-lock STEERING RATIO ......................... 17.9:1 CURB WEIGHT ........................... 4212 lb DISTRIBUTION .......... F: 52.0% R: 48.0% TIRES: Goodyear Eagle LS2 RunOnFlat, 245/40R-19 98V M+S BMW 528i xDrive VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan BASE PRICE .............................. $49,875 AS TESTED PRICE ....................... $61,125 ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection DISPLACEMENT .............. 122 cu in, 1997 cc POWER ...................... 240 hp @ 5000 rpm TORQUE .................... 255 lb-ft @ 1250 rpm TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode STEERING: rack-and-pinion with electric power assist, 3.0 turns lock-to-lock STEERING RATIO ............................ 17.1:1 CURB WEIGHT ........................... 4069 lb DISTRIBUTION ............. F: 50.3% R: 49.7% TIRES: Goodyear Eagle LS2 RunOnFlat, 245/45R-18 100V M+S
