In the words of O. W. Holmes, “Mountains have a grand, stupid, loveable tranquility.” Yea, they do, especially the Himalayas. They draw you in, ask you to come close and then make you go deep. I maybe from Mumbai but I have always considered the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas my home. Trust me, every opportunity I get, I try and make my way up to the land where the land licks the sky and the vegetation seems to be racing against itself up towards the infinite. It feels awesome saying that. I guess maybe it’s just my fascination with the mystic mountains that lets me create these visuals in my head, but you cannot deny the fact that there is something special about the northern region of India.

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There are many way’s you can explore the mountains. By foot is probably the best way, taking your own time and really soaking up the serenity, but in today’s fast paced world wheels seem to be the most apt way to transport and exploration. For this trip, I decided that I’d take a sedan instead of the usual SUV or cross-over. I knew I wasn’t going off the tarmac as it had been a while since I really enjoyed the open road, some good twisties and corner slides.

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I had a lot of variables to consider before I decided which sedan I wanted to take for the trip. It had to be front engine, rear-wheel drive, have an engine bigger than a four banger but at the same time be something that was fuel efficient so that I could conserve on the fuel on the straight highways. I was hoping it would have flappy-paddles and was a little more driver centric. After all these options, I’g guessing you guys already have an idea of which car I ended up taking. Yep, it was a BMW.

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Most of us car enthusiasts know that the BMW M5 is a masterpiece of engineering and is a complete blast to throw around corners and accelerate down the straights, well I would have liked to take the M5, but that didn’t fit the fuel efficient aspect of my list. It may be fuel efficient in it’s own way but I know that if I was driving it, i wouldn’t have been frugal at all.

What I did end up taking was BMW’s 530d M Sport. A 5-series that puts out 258bhp and a whopping 540Nm of torque. Great power from a straight six diesel engine mated to an eight speed box also meant I could get great mileage as well. You must be wondering what does that M-Sport stand for? Well what BMW have done is they have outfitted the normal 5-series with M-tuned suspension and added some M-badges on the car and given the car more of a grunt with the bigger engine. I was honestly kind of curious to see if that “M-sport” meant anything or was it just a more powerful version of the standard 520d.

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Anyway, now that the car was sorted, the route I picked was from Delhi to Shimla. An easy one, but one that is quite enjoyable. As you exit Delhi and drive through Haryana, the highway is long, straight and to be honest, well metalled. With open fields on either side, driving during sunset can really put a smile on your face. The dust and smoke in the air refracts the light into various shades of gold, ochre, amber and vermillion. Sunflower and wheat crops on the edge of the road add a different element to the landscape as the suns rays cut through the eucalyptus trees separating the road from the fields. I made sure I had a great playlist streaming through the Harmon/Kardon surround system. The open highway really allowed me to test the car’s straight line acceleration, but before I tell you about that, let me tell you that this car has four different driving modes; Efficient Dynamics – The rpms barely go above 2000, shifts are precise and the whole car goes into an eco-friendly mode, suppressing the driver’s desire to go pedal to the metal, Comfort – in this mode the suspension is like that of a standard BMW, responsiveness is better and the car feels like a normal automatic vehicle, in Sport and Sport + , the display on the dashboard goes red, gears are held in longer, shifts are quicker, throttle response is improved and the suspension gets stiffer. Sport + takes the car even further and turns off the traction control system.

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For a while it was great to cruise on the highway in the “Efficient Dynamics” mode and save on some fuel but then that got quite boring. I wanted to feel the responsiveness of this supposedly awesome 3.0-litre turbo diesel. Switching over to “Sport” turned the car into something it was bred for. Sliding the gear shifter from “D” over into “S” set the vehicle up into something extremely enjoyable. Pressing the accelerator all the way causes the transmission to kick down two notches and rockets this beast forward with an undeniable force that throws you back in your seat and slaps an instant smile on your face and a glint in your eye. The exhaust rumbles to life with a distinct and unmistakable BMW bangarang. What I really appreciate is that BMW hasn’t gone overboard and made the exhaust note as loud or noticeable as that of the M5, it is just enough for the driver and passengers to enjoy and maybe a few passers by too.

Till Chandigarh, the highway is fast paced and quite a boring drive. At the capital city of Punjab and Haryana you come upon one stretch of road called the Himalayan Expressway that connects the City Beautiful to Parwanoo, from where the road becomes even more enjoyable to drive. The blind corners and reducing radius turns are amazing fun, but it’s best to tackle the stretch from Parwanoo to Shimla not too aggressively as this road always has quite a bit of truck traffic.

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As it was the onset of summer , there were not to many tourists and the roads were not too crowded. As I was traveling in the late evening, welcoming the night, instead of the beautiful valley views from the cliffs, I could see thousands of lights glistening on the hill face. As my partner crunched through the corners, our ear’s popped and we decided it was time we rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof and and enjoy the fresh air.

As the cool, moist mountain wind kissed my face, it left one of the most indelible impressions on me. I looked up through the open sunroof and saw the full moon shining bright as it rose up into the black velvet sky. The sound of the whistling turbo bouncing off the side of the hill, linked up with the  burble of the exhaust and the distinct click of the gear paddle with Pink Floyd playing on the speakers was just surreal. At that very moment, we were at Taradevi and the road curved revealing the beautifully lit hill of Shimla. From the Hanuman statue up on Jakhoo hill to the Church on the Ridge, it was as if Shimla was brighter than ever, welcoming us with arms wide open. This is a sight worth looking at. We stopped to take a photo after which we continued into the city.

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Through the tight, winding roads in and around Shimla, the Beamer felt quite wide and felt as if it stood out like a sore thumb. On the B-roads of Naldehra and Mashobra, where the roads where slightly wider it was just a joy driving the 530d. In Sports+ mode, manual transmission, come into a corner, downshift into second gear, power out and then feather the throttle to hold the back end as it twitches out and falls back into place.

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It’s the little things that bring joy when driving. The sun’s heat deciding to play a game of hide and seek with you as it vanishes and re-appears while navigating through the folds of the hills, the gargling sound the exhaust makes as your foot presses and lifts off from the throttle, the way the interior lighting ever so gently highlights the accents of the typically BMW interior, all that stuff makes for such an enjoyable experience.

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I have a confession to make to all the readers, to be honest, before this trip I have never really been a fan of BMW as a brand. I owned a 1983 BMW L7 in the States and it was honestly one of the most drab cars I have ever owned. I drove the Z4 a few years ago and it did not wow me at all. Earlier this year the new BMW M3 and M4 made me re think my views about the German manufacturer. This 530d M Sport in the hills of Himachal was something I really needed to start off my summer. Never mind the suspension being stiff or the steering being on the slightly heavy side, the way this car weaved it’s way through the hills is worth experiencing. It stuck to the road like a fly sticks to flypaper. Cornering was flawless and the power is something that doesn’t even need to be spoken about.

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Coming back to how I started this article, the 530d M Sport definitely has a grand, stupid and loveable tranquility. It is poised as it moves along the road. Grand is the feeling you get while sitting inside it. Stupid is the 3.0-litre diesel that revs up on a dime and delivers more power than you need to have fun with and loveable is the car and the setting. It may be wide and not fit for the town and business district of Shimla, but from a driver’s perspective and from an onlooker’s perspective, with the few hints of “M” badging here and there, it is quite loveable. I genuinely have developed a better appreciation for consumer level BMW’s. I know Maserati won’t sell the new diesel Ghilbi in India, but if it did, I would recommend this over that anyday!

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