This is BMW’s new 5-series. Klaus Draeger, the company’s development chief, unveiled it at BMW’s high-tech Innovation Centre in Munich on November 23, and he probably hoped the assembled critics would clap. They did not.

The concept sketches emblazoned on the hall’s walls looked dramatic enough, but the real thing is just a touch self-effacing. Some unusual ripples on the bonnet apart, the look is of a cross between the current 3-series and a 7-series.

It’s broadly 7-series under the skin, too, just like the recent 5-series Granturismo. Here the wheelbase is 100mm shorter, though, but still 80mm longer than in the old 5, giving more rear-seat space. The previous car’s aluminium front structure has gone, but the doors, bonnet and front wings are made from the lightweight metal and there’s much use of high-strength structural steel which virtually matches aluminium on a strength-to-weight basis.

This is the first 5-series to use double-wishbone front suspension, chosen for its purer driving feel, and the first with electric power steering. Ratio-speeding ‘active’ steering is once again available, now in conjunction with rear-wheel steering. Inside, there’s a return to a dashboard with its centre console angled slightly (seven degrees) towards the driver, and transmission is an eight-speed automatic, but a six-speed manual can be ordered in the Middle East. The new 5-series arrives in the spring, with launch models ranging from a 520 to a 550i 401bhp V8 via the usual straight-sixes. The V8 has twin turbochargers and its configuration will form the basis of the next M5. BMW Middle East is holding out announcing prices until closer to the new 5’s on sale date.