At the outbreak of World War I, David Lloyd George—British statesman, prime minister, and all-around champion of the underdog—was annoyed by the then-popular refrain, “The war that will end war.” Instead, he said, “This war, like the next war, is a war to end war.”And so go the wars among the $50,000 luxo-sports sedans, a burgeoning and combative niche whose inhabitants seemingly engage in almost monthly one-upmanship. In fact, it was just last September that we ran our “Five at Fifty” comparo, in which a quintet of 50-grand execuliners duked it out. In that battle, an Audi A6 3.0T Quattro prevailed, followed not far behind by a BMW 535i and an Infiniti M45. Since then, the would-be Audi slayers have comprehensively renovated their products, so another war—this one surely a war to end war—seemed justified.
Naturally, the Audi returned, as champions will, shod with 19-inch Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s rather than the previous Pirelli P Zero Rossos.
BMW’s sixth-gen 5-series, now based on vehicle architecture shared with the 7-series, has been as thoroughly updated as the auto-dial directory in Tiger Woods’s cell phone. Several key dimensions are up, notably wheelbase (3.2 inches), length (2.0 inches), and rear track (1.9 inches). The inline-six has lost one turbo in favor of a single twin-scroll unit along with BMW’s Valvetronic throttleless intake system, and fuel is still injected directly into each cylinder. Power and torque remain static, but the lone-turbo layout has allowed BMW to revert to a single exhaust stream wending its way through a single catalytic converter.
Next, the Bavarians have, for the first time in 5-series history, opted for steering with electric power assist—a major shake-up, as we shall see. More aluminum has been deployed, including the doors (also a first), along with the hood and the front fenders, whose skins readily flex with the push of a finger. (Odd, then, that our 2011 test car weighed 212 pounds more than our previous manual-transmission 535i.) The front suspension’s strut has been replaced with a multilink arrangement, and the rear suspension now sports a fifth link. The transmission spins not six gears but eight, which seems like an awful lot. A clutched alternator charges the battery primarily while the car is decelerating in order to waste as little energy as possible. And, finally, the grille’s insignia kidneys jut forward more arrogantly, as if to taunt those poor souls in need of a transplant.
The Infiniti, too, has undergone a major makeover, with numerous swaths of its handsome new bodywork looking downright Jaguarish. With a Cd of only 0.27, it’s slippery, too. Width is up 1.5 inches, length is increased by 0.6 inch, and the rear-drive M37 offers a wider track. Underhood, you’ll now find the same V-6 used in the Nissan 370Z, producing five more ponies than were available from the former V-8–powered M45.All of that fiddling, one would suppose, should be sufficient to dethrone the aging Audi, or at least scare it. Let’s find out.
