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Honestly, I expected the Citroen DS 5 to be the glorious sequel to the Citroen C5, one of the best sedans of recent times. But I was left bamboozled.

That's because the Citroen DS 5 was an experiment by Citroen and not a necessarily successful one. Basically, the Citroen DS 5 is a kind of reverse Audi A4 B6. The Audi people exploited on the B6 platform more than a boss exploits an minimum wage employee. They launched the A4 B6, then launched the A4 B7 and somehow managed to keep the platform alive and launched the Seat Exeo. They clang to it as much as they could.

And the Citroen DS 5? Maybe the garlic and baguette eaters listened to the fans and more specifically to the criticism brought to the Citroen C5 that it was too stoic a car. So they went back to their origins that consecrated them and went totally for the looks. Sure, it looks good, but if you want to spend your days with it, it should know and do something other than just look good. Like with women, basically. 

Citroen DS 5 Engines

Petrol

1.6 Turbo EP6CDT of 156 and 200 horsepower – Sure, initial launches had serious issues with the timing chain that would fail and take the engine with it, but since this engine was adopted by the 3 Series it has become much more reliable and you can seriously consider buying it. Mind you however that it is a direct injection engine and you need to clean the intake manifold from time to time.

Diesel

• 1.6 e-HDi of 115 and 120 horsepower – Honestly, I would say skip this engine because on the Citroen DS 5 it's like trying to get drunk on craft beer. It's gonna take a while. Yes, this engine also comes with the EGS6 semi-automatic gearbox which you don't want. But atleast it's only the 1.6 HDi which was supplied with this excuse of an automatic gearbox.


• 2.0 HDi DW10 of 120, 150, 160, 165 and 180 horsepower – I don't have much to say about the legendary 2.0 HDi which is like any other 2.0 4-cylinder diesel on the market. Yes, just a special mention for the BlueHDI versions which have AdBlu installation and you have to be careful not to drive it too much around town, but that's about it.

Hybrid

2.0 HDi DW10 hybrid of 200 horsepower – The Hybrid4 engine is ok in itself but comes with the higher maintenance costs of a hybrid. Plus a hybrid is mostly made for the city, and a euro 6 diesel for long distances. So what's the point? 2.0 diesel hybrid - if split personality were an engine.

Citroen DS 5 Reliability Issues

• The biggest problem with the Citroen DS 5 is that they switched to regular coil suspension. Yes, they no longer have the famous hydro-active suspension that Citroen has been famous for since 1955. They have a mainstream suspension and it's not that comfortable, not even by the standards of a coil suspension.


• The ABS pump is a common concern for all Citroen DS 5 or DS 5 models, so when you see the ABS light on the dashboard, you can start packing your stuff because the bill will be so big, you'll have to sell the house and live in the car.


• And since we're still talking about dashboard faults, Citroen has ditched the hydro-active suspension but they've gone back to the usual Citroen stuff inside. We have a design that only Citroen is capable of, but we also have so many buttons and functions that only Citroen knows how to do. And the more buttons we have, the more technical problems we have, so check absolutely every button and every possible function before buying.

Citroen DS 5 Verdict

It seems like it was more of an experiment than a dramatic re-run worthy of Bollywood. Sure, they listened to the critics and the DS 5 isn't as stoic as the old C5, but it wasn't a good enough car for people to throw money at Citroen to buy one either. Which is why they quickly pulled it and moved on with the DS 9. Is it worth buying one instead? For the way it looks, absolutely. And it's a decently reliable car too.

Which engines do I recommend? For petrol power, definitely the 1.6 Turbo and it's 156 horsepower because that's the only one anyway, and for diesel, the simple, non-hybrid 2.0 HDi with 150 horsepower. That should be all the engine you'll ever need.