BMW Group Malaysia is having a weeklong customer event in the heart of KL city featuring the G60 5 Series. Called ‘SKY5PACE’, it’s on the sixth floor of the Permata Sapura Tower, an inconspicuous office building next to Grand Hyatt and the main entrance of the KL Convention Centre.
With a stunning backdrop of the city centre and the iconic Petronas Twin Towers literally a stone’s throw away, the event showcases the entire G60 5 Series range in Malaysia, which consists of the i5 eDrive40 M Sport, i5 M60 xDrive, the ICE-powered 520i and the latest 520i M Sport. They’re all the same (and very good) premium business sedan, available in full electric or mild hybrid ICE forms. The BMW i7 xDrive60 M Sport and BMW 750e xDrive M Sport are also present at the panoramic lawn.
“Today, with the locally assembled BMW 520i M Sport standing alongside the fully-electric BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport, we are pleased to be able to tell the successful story of the evolution of the BMW 5 Series in Malaysia. In fact, the fifth-generation BMW 5 Series was the first BMW vehicle to be assembled here in 2004, marking 20 years of BMW Group Malaysia’s commitment to Malaysia as a hub in Southeast Asia, for the assembly of premium vehicles for the region,” said Benjamin Nagel, MD of BMW Group Malaysia.
“As it stands, BMW Group Malaysia is still the largest assembler and exporter of premium vehicles to the region with over 10,000 vehicles successfully exported since 2018,” he declared.
The 520i M Sport, like the regular 520i, is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-four engine featuring a 48V mild hybrid system. The B48’s 208 PS and 330 Nm of torque is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. 0-100 km/h is done in 7.5 seconds and top speed is rated at 230 km/h.
As we showed you from the Sime Darby Motors Automania event earlier this month, the M Sport treatment gives the G60 a significantly sportier look courtesy of more aggressive bumpers, Shadowline (gloss black) accents and 19-inch double-spoke style 935 M bicolour alloys. Both 520i variants get the cool Iconic Glow illuminated kidney grille as standard.
Inside, the 520i range sport perforated and quilted Veganza leather, front sports seats and an anthracite headliner. The M Sport pairs these with aluminium rhombicle trim, dark silver M accents and an M leather steering wheel; while the non-M Sport gets fine-wood grey blue ash trim. The sportier sister comes with augmented reality view for its head-up display; otherwise, the kit list is identical.
Standard equipment include passive suspension, adaptive LED headlamps with high beam assist, four-zone climate control, Comfort Access with a powered tailgate, powered front seats with memory function for the driver, ambient lighting, rolled sunshades, a wireless charging pad, BMW Live Cockpit Professional (12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, 14.9-inch touchscreen) and a 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound system.
The Driving Assistant Plus pack includes Active Cruise Control with stop and go, Steering and Lane Control Assistant and Lane Departure Warning. Parking Assistant Plus is also bundled in.
The BMW 520i M Sport starts from RM349,800 on-the-road without insurance, which is RM17,000 more than the non-M Sport car. Typically, the published starting price is without the BMW Service & Repair Inclusive package that includes five years of warranty and service – you’d want to throw that in, which adds RM26,900 for a grand total of RM376,700.
We’ve become so accustomed to our premium cars looking sporty, so much so that the regular 520i looks a bit ‘too base’ next to the M Sport, which appears pretty much like the default look for the G60. It wasn’t always like that, and I remember liking the ‘luxury look’ of past sedans like the E60 5er and F30 3er.
What do you think of the BMW 520i M Sport and the G60 generation 5 Series in general?
GALLERY: G60 BMW 520i M Sport at SKY5PACE 
GALLERY: G60 BMW 520i M Sport 
The post New BMW 520i M Sport joins G60 5 Series showcase at ‘Sky5pace’ event in KL – sporty ICE variant, fr RM350k appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
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