DETROIT AUTO SHOW: Spies first to break real images of the new BMW 5-Series

Say hello to my little BMW friend.

What'cha gunna do Lexus?

very ugly car- hopefuly this is a basic model and there will be more flair in a sports

Pic of "M5 with different air intakes in the front skirt" is actually a regular 5er with M-package exterior styling parts (selling in eg. Europe).

Interior is of a test car / prototype. Not the final version.

"Undisguised prototypes" are actually not disguised but digitally manipulated (photoshopped) by Lehmann.

Official info & pics coming in week 2/2007.

Looks even worse. The silly X5 shifter has made its move.

chewy, it's about function.

That shifter will soon be on all BMW's...

001

Is ugly a function?

When youre driving you'll love the function of the BMW shifter.

I've heard it's gotten great reviews.

The regular old shifter has all the functionality I need. And form that doesn't require eye surgery the next day.

function? give me a break!!!

Meh

I think BMW could do better

Remember, the new production 5 Series will be unveiled at the Detroit auto show.

eww it looks like the last gen bimmer

How can you tell with the camo tape on??

Anybody else notice the 7,000 RPM redline and the 'standard' (non-M) steering wheel? Does the turbo 6 have a 7,000 rpm redline?

Cool...

i'm sorry but i see no difference. different shaped grill or something? and notice how with that band of tape around it the sliver one looks loads more like the old 5 series.
and do you guys in america not get m-styling packages, so anyone's 520d can look like an M5?

I would like to see the grill into a one piece that is part of the hood. I see no difference either.

No, we don't get the styling pack.

It's annoying- a 535xi with the M Package would be a perfect winter car, if they never make a 335xi coupe.

But it also adds a lot of exclusivity to the M5 that you don't have there.

S4, yes we do, you can actually get a 5-series with the M bodykit right from the factory by ordering it as a port installed accessory, or you can get it through any BMW Center's Parts Department.

also, they're coming out with the 335xi Sedan this spring, 335xi Coupe next fall/winter, and the 5-series gets the new engines for the 2008 models this April. They haven't announced the lineup yet but I'd assume there'll be a 535xi.

BMW claimed the shifter in the X5 gave them room to put cup holders where they belong in the center console; not hovering precariously over either your passenger or the center stack(as illustrated by the Dasani bottle)... I guess it will take a full redesign to remedy that one. \:-|

Is it my imagination or does that brown one look identical to a 2005 lexus ls430 from the a-pillar back?

Hey Chewy; I'd have to agree about tha "ugly shifter". I've owned a couple of BMW 3's in the past ('84 & 2002). In my '02, the dash in the 3's and 5 series were beautiful; they had some curves to them. I think BMW is getting like some of these other car companies with the useless gimmicks. They now have the cheap cup holders in the dash of the 3 series, those awful run flat tires and now the ugly shifter. Just keep the ergonomics of the interior clean, high quality material and people will continue to buy your product. Start adding the stupid deck lids as they did on the 7 series (a few years back), the giant knob to control your navigation system, the ill function navigation system, cup holders in the dash to make your interior look cheap quality, run flat tires (just to save some space) that ride rough and get less mileage on a set then original tires, then people will question if you're about gimmicks or building a presitages automobile fun to drive. I'd rather have a small spare (doesn't BMW offer road service?); so what was the problem with the smoother, less harsh riding conventional sports tire? These are just of the few items I've listed why I have NOT gone back to purchase another BMW. Now we have the ugly shifter in the 5 series from a car, that was ranked "Best In its Class" in the previous model. I don't mind some of the exterior styling seen on the 3 & 5 series; please quit messing with such a beautiful interor you once had for the ulgy stuff that is useful as a headache.

Ehh..it's okay

Better!

god, i love bmw's.

exactly, can't mess with perfection. i've always loved the e60. have you seen the m5? it looks amazing in person.

Whomever said the BMW 5 Series looks like a Lexus has me LMAO.

It's the other way around, the LS looks like they once again stole design cues from a German auto manufacture.

WTF?!?! This is a snoozefest. What really makes me laugh is that all you crap fanboys KNOW that deep inside that this is one hell of a boring-looking car, and yet you all collectively refuse to accept it. I bet it has the "prestige" and the "status" that can't be matched, eh? LOL to you morons.

This does not look anything like the sweet-looking Lexus so please, as the dumbass who thinks a Lexus is a rebadged Camry (dude, you should do more reading unless you're illiterate which I assume you are), do not mention this sad story on the same sentence as the new reigning king - Lexus.

BMW's my favourite car company, so I feel dissapointed everytime I look at the 5-series because I love to love BMW's, but I don't like the fact they've made one of their 'bread & butter' vehicles immpossible for me to like.

Stylistically the 5-series is a lost cause, the only way the 5-series will look good again is if they get it right with the next-generation 5er (not this facelifted 5er). I mean a face-lift can make a 745i look good, but it's tottatly worthless on a 5-series.

I agree with you. The 5 series is the right size for me and I really wanted to like the 5 series but it just looks ugly from the front. If they could just get rid of the kidney grill that makes it look like a Pontiac. Instead they should use the grill integrated into the hood. The back looks quite handsome in my opinion.

I don't see any exterior differentiation- but unlike some, I like the current design a lot, if you get the 550i's rims, of course.

The interior looks marginally different- I think that, besides the shifter, they changed the dash to make it look more like the new X5...?

M5 has one of the coolest bodykits I've ever seen on a stock BMW (current one), if not THE coolest. Looks great in any color.

that happens to me all the time too mdalle. i think, wow, an M5, and it's just a 520d...and the time i did see an M5 i didn't think it was one! i think there is a difference from the front though, there is no side vent on the normal 5, and from the rear the 4 tailpipes give it away.

exactly! bigger wheels i can understand, but the whole m-styling thing is stupid on a 520d. and way more expensive.

What's the difference?

what will the call it the 50? or 560? or 5 1 million? BMW changes the numbers so quick I feel like they are releasing new software 2.0.

BMW needs to go back to the engine size in the numbes. If the engine is a 3.5 then the car is a 350

but when the 318 is a 2.0, the 320 a 2.2, the 335 a 3.0, the 550 a 4.8, the 745 a 4.4 it's pretty hard to change. but they did make the 520i into a 523 with little chane in engine size.

^^ ^^

True that would mabye make more sence but that said, the way BMW numbers & classes their models has in the past had competing automakers take note doing the same.

BMW 5 series.... the car that EVERY1 coppied. It was the car that changed the world (along with the 7 series) + it increased BMWs sales soooo much. I think the current 5er is a great success story. Its beautiful and sharp. That and i didnt talk about the amazing M5. Plz guys stop bashing this. It is a class leader! As for Renlex, dont even put that rebadged camry in 1 sentence with the 5er. U r insulting it by doing so.


Lexus... striving to be german

wasnt the 5 series recently redesigned.. like in 2005?..
or am i totally wrong?

eitehr way.. 5 series is easily the ugliest car of its class..mayeb ahea dof lexus..
a6, e class, and infiniti M all much better looking.

I think it was 2004 model year

BTW, i cant help but believe that most BMW fans are brainwashed into liking all their designs..
BMWs are just not pretty to look at.. with the eception of maybe teh new 3 coupe.. which is decent at beat becaus eof its boringness. and exception of new x5 which is good looking. 5 series is ugly, as is 7 series. well at least IMO. i understand that as much ia si hate their designs, some might think they are the best. but my god they are ugly(to me)

Mercedes and Audi areso much ahead in exterior styling.

Wow, they made it uglier.

I think the silver one looks nice with the wheels and especially the toned down headlight shapes similar to the 3 series. Granted, this pictures is little bit out of focus, I like it better than the ones out there today.

This couldn't possibly be real.

In my eyes the 5 series is the only eyesore in BMW's current lineup. This refresh isn't helping matters too much.

The current 5 series is a very ugly car, the M5 version does little to its hideous exterior.. But if BMW does manage to make the 5 series look better, I am sure that M5 will be my next car..

The current 5 series is a very ugly car, the M5 version does little to its hideous exterior.. But if BMW does manage to make the 5 series look better, I am sure that M5 will be my next car..