2005 BMW 5-Series in Los Angeles, California

The BMW 5 Series delivers just about everything you could ask for in a luxury sedan. It offers the features, comfort and convenience of full-size luxury sedans, the sporting character of smaller ones, and a better compromise between interior space and physical bulk. The 5 Series has long been a big seller in the most popular, most competitive class of luxury cars. It's the benchmark for critics and auto industry engineers alike.

BMW completely redesigned the 5 Series for the 2004 model year, and the all-new models offer more room, more equipment and more sophisticated technology than the previous generation. It's moved a bit upscale, so that means more money, too.

BMW's smaller 3 Series may be the bigger seller, but the 5 Series is the company's original sports sedan and the oldest nameplate in its line-up. Since the 5 Series nomenclature was introduced in 1975, BMW has completely overhauled its mid-line sedan five times. The redo for 2004 was as extensive as any the company has undertaken, so few changes have been made for 2005. Because this sedan generates a quarter of BMW's profits worldwide, the engineers in Munich spared no expense in the redesign.