2020 Subaru Legacy vs 2021 BMW 5 Series

The 2020 Subaru Legacy was all about pragmatic sensibility, which made it hard to be flashy. Its styling was handsome but struggled to stand out. The Legacy had plenty of sharp angles and details, but it felt smaller compared to competitors like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The front end looked and felt so compact that it was easy to mistake it for a Subaru Impreza. Subaru aimed for a mainstream appeal with the Legacy, but the design still felt like a sedan version of the Outback.

Inside, the Legacy featured a massive 11.6-inch touchscreen, but many features were buried within the digital interface, complicating simple tasks like adjusting climate controls. The base trim came well-equipped with features like remote keyless entry, Bluetooth connectivity, and dual 7-inch touchscreens. Higher trims added more luxury and convenience features, with the Premium trim being particularly recommended for its balance of features and price. The top trims, Limited XT and Touring XT, included a more powerful turbocharged engine and additional luxury features like Nappa leather upholstery and heated and ventilated front seats.

The 2021 BMW 5 Series had the most restrained design among BMW sedans, lacking the design flourishes of the 3 Series or the imposing size of the 7 Series. For 2021, the 5 Series received a minor styling refresh, giving it a sleeker look with streamlined LED headlights and a larger twin-kidney grille. Other changes included trapezoidal tailpipes, new L-shaped taillights, and updated front and rear bumpers for the M Sport Package. Despite being 1.2 inches longer, the 5 Series maintained a good drag coefficient of 0.27.

The interior design of the 5 Series remained familiar, with a layout that screamed BMW. The materials varied by trim, with lower trims getting SensaTec upholstery and higher trims offering Dakota and Nappa leather. The 540i xDrive test car featured Nappa leather and aluminum trim, adding to the high-end feel. However, the standard leather-wrapped "sport" steering wheel felt out of place, given the car's luxury orientation. The 5 Series was more of a luxury car playing at being sporty rather than a true driver's car.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy offered two engine options. The base, Premium, Sport, and Limited trims came with a 2.5-liter boxer 4-cylinder engine, producing 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. This engine was paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and standard all-wheel drive. The Legacy was quick off the line, making it suitable for city driving, but it struggled to reach highway speeds without making a lot of noise. Fuel economy for this engine was impressive, with 27 mpg city, 35 highway, and 30 combined.

For those needing more power, the Limited XT and Touring XT trims featured a 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer 4-cylinder engine, delivering 260 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. This engine also used a CVT with a manual mode and paddle shifters. The turbocharged engine dropped fuel economy to 24 mpg city, 32 highway, and 27 combined. The Legacy's chassis was surprisingly good, offering precise cornering and refined ride quality, making it a shame that the base engine didn't match the car's handling capabilities.

The 2021 BMW 5 Series offered a wide array of powertrain options. The base 530i sedan had a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, making 248 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, capable of 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds. The 540i featured a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six engine with a 48-volt mild hybrid system, producing 335 horsepower and 362 pound-feet of torque, achieving 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds with rear-wheel drive and 4.6 seconds with xDrive all-wheel drive.

The M550i xDrive sedan came with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, making 532 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque, shaving a second off the 540i xDrive's 0-60 mph time. The legendary M5 had a more powerful version of the V8, with 617 horsepower in Competition spec, achieving 0-60 mph in just 3.1 seconds. BMW also offered the 530e plug-in hybrid, combining a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with an electric motor for a total of 288 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, capable of 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and driving solely on electric power for significant distances.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy had solid trunk space for its class at 15.1 cubic feet, although it couldn't compete with crossovers. The backseat offered impressive head- and legroom, accommodating even taller passengers comfortably. The front seats were supportive, and the cabin featured deep door pockets and a fold-down center armrest with cupholders. However, the center stack's tray was a bit small, making it difficult to plug in USB cables.

The 2021 BMW 5 Series, available only as a four-door, five-seat sedan in the U.S., felt spacious inside. The front seats were competitive, and the rear seats, while appearing less roomy on paper, still offered plenty of space for passengers. The 540i had 14.0 cubic feet of trunk space, more than the Audi A6 or Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and the rear bench had a 40/20/20 split fold for longer items. The test car featured 16-way power front seats with heating, ventilation, and driver memory, offering supportive bolstering and cushioning. However, forward visibility over the long hood was poor, making it difficult to maneuver in parking lots without the surround-view camera system.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy featured an 11.6-inch touchscreen with the Starlink infotainment system. While the icons were large and easy to read, the system buried many features within menus, complicating simple tasks like adjusting climate controls. The portrait orientation of the screen also scrunched Apple CarPlay into a third of the display. The base trim had a dual-screen setup with similar issues, meaning there was no escaping the Legacy's poor system.

The 2021 BMW 5 Series came with a standard 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen and a 12.3-inch Live Cockpit Professional digital instrument cluster. The iDrive 7 system, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility, Bluetooth, SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, and a built-in WiFi hotspot were standard. The graphics were excellent, but the instrument cluster layout could have been better. The rotary knob controller provided a tactile feel, and voice control was available. Gesture controls were also an option, but they were hard to use precisely.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy came standard with Subaru's EyeSight suite of driver-assistance features, including forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. EyeSight also included an alert for when the car in front started moving forward, helping to avoid causing a backup. Other standard safety features included front- and side-impact airbags, traction control, a reversing camera, and a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

The 2021 BMW 5 Series had not been crash-tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for 2021, but the 2020 model received a "Top Safety Pick+" award. Standard safety features included lane-departure warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high beams. The Driving Assistance Plus Package added adaptive cruise control, traffic-jam assist, lane-keep assist, and emergency stop assist. BMW's driver-assist tech was sophisticated and smooth, with the traffic-jam assist feature allowing the car to accelerate and brake in stop-and-go traffic on highways.