E55 KEV

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E55 KEV

CS1946

The new 5-Series actually looks better in this last picture than in any previous one I have seen. I think I could grow to like it.

Still, I think the E39 is the best-looking and functioning 5-Series (and BMW?) ever. I have an E28. The day I take ownership of my E39 will be a happy one indeed (and it's a long way off I'm sure!)

amg55

No thanks, I'll stick with the 476hp E55.
Have you seen the interior on the new 745i?
Oh man, did that Bangle guy bungle the design on BMW's new flagship. My wife always drives BMW's and her dealer says he's had a disturbing number of cancellations on pre-ordered 7's. Several of them sitting on the lot unclaimed, which should never happen for a new model like this.
My point is that much of the design will carry over to the new 5's.
What's with the unvarnished wood option? Looks like material borrowed from K-Mart brand lawn furniture.
And the dash design is really retro looking to me...but not in a good way. More like a 1970's Lincoln or something.
BMW had better do some scrambling to get back in the game IMO.
Re-issuing the 6-series will be a good start.
The M6 should be an impressive vehicle.

sorlo

The picture looks better than what I have seen from other websites. It seems like Chris Bangle is trying to mess with BMW's image with his funny design. Well, which means more people will shift to MB, yeah!!

sorlo

Heard that the next M5 will have a V10 with 500hp. (but new E looks georgous, bet you anything that new 5 won't look as good under Bangle's team)

Blue Benz

Interesting. BMW has always had the philosophy of high-revving engines to get their power, not go the FI route (besides the racing engines).
MB should come out with some Turbocharged cars.

oresama99

To quote the article, " The overall look is modern and aggressive, in keeping with BMW's design chief Chris Bangle's aim to get away from what he dubs the 'one sausage in different lengths' appearance that has characterized the German car maker's line-up in recent years. ".

well, now they have the 'pieces of turd in different lengths' appearance. the 7-series is hard to get used to and the revised 3-series has one of the worst front bumpers i have ever seen. hopefully the new E60 will set beemer back on track, i like old beemers a lot.

CS1946

Ha Ha!! Very good point. I love BMW's up to the E36, E39, E38, and maybe E46. I don't like Chris Bangle's new designs at all. Hopefully I'll be able to get used to them. The front of the new 5 looks horrible in the few pictures I've seen.

Brian Yee

my dad was a "Bimmerphile"; Owned four of them before he saw the light. Our "long term" BMW sales person (25 years at the same dealer) says the new seven series are not moving at all...They just sit on the lot collecting fallout. She also says the new five series will also be "Banglized" awaiting the same fate, with the three last in line. She plans on starving for the next couple of years while buyers bail to other marques. Unfortunately this may result in longer waits and more competition for the marques that "know how". Get your orders in now!

As for the "V-10 500 HP" issue; With all the documented failures of the E46 powerplants, they can keep their highly stressed over revved motors. They don't impress with their touting of exclusively "normally aspirated" power. I can't wait to hear the whinning and bitc#ing over excessive oil consumption, factory alteration of specified oil viscosities mid year to cope, and other idiosyncrisies that plague overly complex engines for general consumer consumption. As for the E55 @ "only" 476 HP?? A little pully work and VOILA!! 500 HP + for all!! Sweet and simple! Yeah, baby!!

KnightRider

The point is that the new 5 almost certainly would look much worse than the E if it follows new 7 design. It won't matter whether it has V10 or V12 if it looks as bad as new 7.

MMAfia

holdup phoaks... bangle designed the current 3 series, the e46, which is, IMHO, phat.

but yeah, his more recent works are, well, simply grotesque!!!

MMAfia

CS1946

I'm glad the new 7 isn't selling, and I hope the new 5 and 3 don't either. That means luxury car buyers still have enough intelligence to distinguish between a brilliant design and a poor one. Then hopefully BMW will have the sense to revert back to producing more attractive designs of these cars.

It's unfortunate, because I like BMW quite a lot, and it pains me to see all the models being trashed stylistically.

The designs of new Mercedes' are excellent in my opinion, by the way!

amg55

I don't think the new 7 would have been so far off target had it been the design template for the 5.

I think the mistake was in taking the car's conservative flagship (the 7) and trying to make it look cutting edge/new age/techno forward, throwing class and refinement to the wind with the interior design/materials, then topping it off by premiering the I-Drive ("mouse controlled" computer controls) in this car whose core buyers are 10-20 years older than most people comfortable with computer based tech gadgetry.

The 7 should be the conservative, rock solid extreme for BMW. The 3 and 5 would have been perfect platforms for the new style of body design and for the I-Drive.
But they've alienated many loyal 7 buyers who simply don't identify with these new design concepts. Buyers who could have been brought along slowly to adapt to BMW's forward thinking if they'd had a chance to first watch the 3 and 5 evolve in that direction.
Of course the 7 is always supposed to bat lead off, so BMW was caught between a rock and a hard place.

This was a big gamble. I think it's been a big mistake so far.
But I don't think the design itself is bad---it just doesn't belong on the 7. At least not as a design style premiere.
I suspect 7 loyalists will warm to it with time. But the poor sales guys are taking the hit right in the paycheck in the meantime.