Review: 2017 BMW 5 Series

As I cruise down Silicon Valley's Bayshore Freeway, I twirl my right index finger in small clockwise circles. Though the gesture recognition system needs several tries to pick up the command and crank up the 16-speaker stereo, the 20 air chambers massaging my backside keep my frustration at bay. All the while, the 2017 BMW 5 Series is doing the driving, maintaining a safe speed and staying between the lane lines. And here, surrounded by an armada of tiny sensors and whiz-bang gizmos, I wonder: Has the Ultimate Driving Machine yielded to the Ultimate Autonomy, Luxury, and Technology Machine? In a former life, the 5 Series was the sports sedan, the car Audi and Mercedes-Benz engineers saw in their sleep.