Considering the car’s principally a company acquisition, and the mileage connotations that go with executive fleet vehicles, I’ve no idea why 5-series drivers have to put up with a single cupholder. It’s a fairly spectacular oversight – pretty much every supermini I’ve ever driven has more cup and bottle space than my BMW.

Frustratingly, there’s just the one spot between the front seats, complete with a spring-loaded catch that doesn’t keep an average 500ml bottle in place – no deeper cupholder, no deep door pocket for storing bottles and no second holder loaded into the dash.

BMW 520d saloon SE manual
Mileage 7214 miles
Our average consumption 43.4mpg
Forecast CPM 61.6p
Actual CPM 63.4p
Positive Emissions, running
costs, quality
Negative Electric steering