BMW 540i News

BMW is ready to put its best foot forward

BMW's new 530e will join the iPerformance line-up alongside the 330e, X5 40e, 740e, 225xe and X1 25Le.

The explosive growth of the BMW model range is about to be defused in Australia. The line-up is being trimmed to cut competition and duplication, making it easier for customers in showrooms.The plan is to have only three choices of any individual model, with two petrol engines and one diesel. The current list includes 36 individual models in the 3 Series sedan line-up . . . without counting the coupe, convertible or station wagon.“We get a lot of questions about whether we have too many models. I think we do have too many,” BMW Australia managing director Guenther Seemann says.He believes BMW must cut the choices to streamline business, though he says there will still be all-new models in future — with the X6 four-wheel drive and M3 sedan up next — as the German company looks for customers.The work has begun, though there are a dozen individual BMW lines, from the baby 1 Series to the four-wheel-drive X5 and flagship 7-Series, with 50 official engine choices. BMW has 189 individual models on the list.“We've already begun tidying up. The 116i hatch has been removed from the range, there are the manuals in the 3 Series and one of the X3 manuals,” Seeman says.“In the 5 Series range, one of the V8s will go. I believe for each and every model line-up in the future, as we add models, we need two petrol and one diesel variant in each case. No more. We have so many different model lines, it is not practical or possible to display them all in a showroom.He says it will take time to get things sorted, partly because there are so many models.“It will happen in the next two years. Globally, there are five petrol and five diesel engine choices. And that is just in the 3 Series range,” he says.But there is definitely space for some additions, like the four-door M3 sedan.“We are starting the business case. It looks good, I must say,” he says.“We will bring the four-door version, but I do not know at what price. We always follow the normal BMW pattern, where a two-door is more expensive than a four-door. We have to price it lower than the M3 two-door.” 

It's not every day you drive along a dark, winding road at night, actually willing a kangaroo to hop out in front of you. But where else could we fully test BMW's freaky, futuristic Night Vision system?We had to discount taking it onto a battlefield against similarly equipped tanks, because we don't have the Top Gear TV show's budget.Hunting a group of C-grade actors pretending to be commandos through a jungle, Predator-style, was discounted for similar reasons.The system, a $4000 option on the 5, 6 and 7 Series, uses a thermal-imaging camera to beam hot and steamy footage of the road ahead, some 300m ahead, in fact, to the display screen in the middle of the dash.It works stunningly well, but can also be supremely distracting if you keep it on while driving around town.The really fascinating stuff is all the useless information Night Vision provides you with.Like how much heat comes out of the diff on a four-wheel drive, the fact that some people are, literally, hotter than others, and some have really hot legs, and that you can see the exhaust system glowing on every car in front of you.In fact, every vehicle looks like it's had one of those hoony blue downlights installed.You can also determine, among the parked cars, which ones have been driven most recently.It really does make you feel like the Predator, if the Predator got a job in a bank, started wearing a suit and bought a posh car.The information you're presented with verges on overload, and watching the screen did make two passengers feel physically ill.The fact that, being a bit of a geek, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen was also bordering on dangerous. But the Night Vision system really comes into its own when you get out of town and there's suddenly a lot less heat to see on the screen, allowing you to look at the road, like you're supposed to.This means your eyes are drawn to the Night Vision screen only when something,  a cyclist, a kangaroo, a particularly keen hitch-hiker poping up in the distance.The advantage in this setting is obvious, as the thermal-imaging camera picks up these hot items before the naked eye can.As BMW helpfully points out, about 45 per cent of fatal road accidents occur at night, even though more than two-thirds of all driving is done during the day.And it's a fair bet that our headlight-loving fauna is involved in a disturbing number of those night-time incidents.With that in mind, $4000 doesn't seem like a lotto spend. Even if it saves you only once, it'sa great investment.What is a slight concern is that, until the technology becomes as common as satnav, you're going to have a lot of rich toy boys driving around showing off their Night Vision to their mates, barely having their eyes on the road.The system we tested was installed in a 550i that was so heavily laden with gadgetry it made the space shuttle look like the Wright Brothers' little plane.When we weren't oohing and aahing over the infra-red images, we did notice that it was a fine executive express with plenty of grunt, sweet steering and a smooth ride.If I could just find that $163,900 I lost down the back of the couch (plus $4000 for Night Vision), I'd think about buying one. 

Chris Bangle had just demonstrated how to make a perfectly symmetrical origami-style dinghy out of a sheet of paper when he glanced over his shoulder to gaze at one of Australia's most recognisable structures."That building, design, shape and form is an icon," Bangle says of the Opera House from his vantage point on the far side of the Quay. "Look at some of the other buildings on the Sydney skyline: they haven't the same effect or lasting design."The Opera House was a huge departure from conventional design, the striking spherical shells making it one of the most prominent designs of the 20th century. When it opened in 1973 it was widely accepted as an iconic structure; quite the opposite to the impact Bangle had on the car world with his radical design direction at the once ultra-conservative BMW at the start of the 21st century.Bangle, the world's pre-eminent car designer, was in Sydney last week for the motor show. And there was intense interest in him for causing the greatest stir in recent automotive history. Bangle rose to fame or infamy — depending on which side of the fence you sit — with his self-proclaimed "flame design", first shown to the world with the arrival of the E65 7-series in 2001.It was revised last year with the E66 sporting a smoother rump, the infamous "Bangle Butt" having some cosmetic surgery.Bangle-hate websites have sprung up since he headed off in his radical mish-mash of concave and convex lines that filtered through to the 5-series and Z4 roadster and coupe. They're full of nasty stuff, some personally attacking American-born Bangle, others calling for his axing from the Munich maker.Bangle acknowledges the wave of protest, admitting he looks into the often murky world of the worldwide web."I look at them. I don't bathe myself in them but I certainly look," Bangle says."You know Andy Warhol said everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame in the future and it's just that I got in before a lot of people," he chuckles."But seriously (websites) are like the faceless media, its a one-way discussion and it's like a wall coming at you."I think in the future everyone is going to have their own hate website and we're just seeing the beginning of it."Bangle qualifies his response by saying he is not immune to criticism."I think criticism is OK, it's healthy as long as there is open dialogue," he says.The car world has to some degree lessened its dislike of the so-called Bangle angles.And Bangle, 50, is very much in-demand on the speaking circuit. In Melbourne recently, Bangle addressed a gathering at the national design centre at Federation Square.He says Australia has a lot to offer the world from a design point of view."You know a lot of the magazines I pick up in Europe say that Australia is the most influential place for residential architecture."I hope to pick up some ideas from my first visit here and take them back and maybe put them to use in the car world," Bangle says.As with most designers in the game, Bangle is totally absorbed by cars. But he is more than simply a one-dimensional character.He used his 50th birthday on October 14 as a premise to throw a party around his personal art exhibition in Munich."I showed 130 pieces of my art collection from portraits and sculptures and had 270 people show up," Bangle says.Among three pieces auctioned on the night with money going to Medicins Sans Frontieres was a steel sculpture reflecting Bangle's trademark flame design.Age has given him a new urgency as one of the most powerful figures in car design: "I guess my sense of impatience has increased in terms of where the industry's going."Bangle's unconventional designs have polarised opinion on the BMW family's looks.He does not see the revision to the 7-series last year as an indication that his styling went too far. "It was half-time in the model cycle and a time for second helpings," Bangle says. "You use those moments to harmonise the whole family and the 7-series is now that much more elegant."

More than 25,000 admirers, tyre kickers and buyers packed the Convention Centre at South Bank on the second day of the show last Saturday, smashing all previous records.The 8000 increase on the previous single-day best crowd was helped by the official season launch of the V8 Supercar championship which featured all the stars and cars of the Holden versus Ford series in nearby Little Stanley St.While most come to dream there are those who use the opportunity to compare notes between rival brands at close range and under the one roof.With fuel prices remaining high, the cost of running a vehicle remains a key buying consideration among many buyers.For those wanting to stretch their dollar further at the pump there are fresh injections of turbo diesel variants in the passenger car line-up including Volkswagen's Polo oil burner for $22,990.Lexus provided the Queensland public with its first look at the GS450H saloon, a luxury petrol/electric hybrid which is scheduled to do business in local showrooms from May.BMW, which is showing off a new range of V8 engines in the 5, 6 and 7-series at the show, says it will have a hydrogen-powered 7-series on Australian roads in two years but there is a need for government intervention to possibly sort through filling station infrastructure.While the future is firmly set on alternative power sources, there remains an unwavering passion for hot blooded exotic sports machines.In performance alley at the show there is the stunning Pagani Zonda Roadster, priced at $1.3 million or the equivalent of four median-priced Brisbane homes.While Holden is flooring the fans with the hot rod Efigy, it also previewed its next four-wheel-drive wagon, the Capitva.VW took the covers off the new Passat sedan and wagon while Fiat had a range of Puntos which will signal the Italian maker's return to the passenger car ranks in Australia this year. The show continues until Sunday.

A powerhouse V8 to complement the two straight sixes has been added to the BMW 5-Series range.It has big shoes to fill in the form of the previous 540i that was widely acclaimed as one of the best sports sedans in the world.Typically, BMW has pulled out all the stops to deliver a vehicle that outstrips its predecessor on almost every score.It has more luxury, more safety, better handling and more performance than the 540i but weighs less. It costs a bit more but the additional features outweigh the extra ask.At $157,000, the 545i is going to sell to a small but discerning market and these fortunate folk will be able to experience automotive travel at the highest level.The engine has been uprated to deliver a maximum 245kW of power with 450Nm of torque fed to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine has variable valve timing on the inlet and exhaust sides and a variable inlet manifold to optimise output.Standard equipment is extensive and there is a swag of electronic modulations to keep the big sedan on the straight and narrow regardless of the conditions or how it's driven.A particularly pleasing feature is the active steering that changes the mechanism's gearing to offer fast, light response at slow speeds through to slower response with more feel at high speed. It is not merely a variable power assistance system.On a brief introduction to the 545i last week I can report that it feels like the big luxury sedan it is. Performance is strong and the ride is smooth and quiet. You get the feeling that everything is taken care of and that pretty well sums up the driving experience. The active steering is excellent and overshadowed a BMW M3 sports coupe that was used for comparison purposes.Acceleration times are impressive at 5.9 seconds and response across the entire rev range is strong, aided by the superb auto.Styled with the new BMW DNA, the 545 looks handsome and imposing on the road and is arguably the best looking in the new range. Other models in the new 5-Series line-up include the 525i and 530i.