BMW 5 Series News

The next generation of BMW's mid-sized executive runner has been unveiled ahead of Australian sales in the middle of 2010.  The body design of the 5 Series follows the smoother elegance of the latest 7 Series, which led BMW back out of the land of brutality, and there are promises of more luxury, technology and efficiency."It's a complete re-positioning of the product. We're talking about a completely different car, top to bottom," says the managing director of BMW Australia, Stavros Yallouridis.  "We'll be launching it midyear. We tend to position it as elegant and sporty. It's always been a businessman's type of car and we're trying to make it more sport and elegant as well."The new Five is the sixth generation and will be built alongside the 7 Series flagship at BMW's factory at Dingolfing in Germany.  The car is claimed with the longest wheelbase in its class, while the cabin - like the new Seven - has a tighter focus on the driver.There will be a full range of petrol and diesel engines up to the twin- turbo V8, but the big news is the technology in the car. This runs from a new generation of parking radar to a roof-mounted camera that gives a 360-degree view and pedestrian protection.  The Five will be loaded with gear when it gets to Australia, although Yallouridis is not giving away much of the detail."It's a little bit early. We are trying to do something a little bit different, but at the moment we can announce that the 535i will be the launch model," he says.  That points to a starting price beyond $100,000, although the current price leader in the 5 Series range is the 520d at $76,400.  We're working on the price at the moment and it's really first steps. I cannot comment on the price, but I'm concentrating on pricing it at the same level as the previous car. That depends on timing, what competitors will do, and the value.  "With fluctuation of currency it's a little bit difficult. Catch me in 2010. But we have to stay within our competitive range."   Yallouridis says BMW Australia is already working on a smooth transition to the new model."The 5 Series for BMW around the world is a very core model. It's where BMW positioned itself initially with the Five and the 3 Series.  "I think that 5 Series around the world has been quite good. It's strategically important for the company and we need to protect that position,  The sales in Australia are quite satisfactory. We want to make sure we don't have a high stock level with the existing 5 Series as we move to the new one."And what about the master blaster in the Five lineup, the M5?  "I have no idea," Yallouridis says.  "BMW is definitely thinking about a new M5, but I cannot comment on if it's six months or a year or more away.  But they won't cancel the existing M5, so there will be some overlap between the two cars with the new 5 Series."

BMW product communications manager Michael Blabst said there were many ways the new 5 Series could develop that would depart from the new design of the liftback GT models. “There are even many options just with the slant of the kidney grille,” he said.The GT is based on drawings by Christopher Weil which won an internal company design competition five years ago. Wolfgang Stadler, who runs the Dingolfing plant where the car will be produced, said the design merged a sedan with a station wagon and an SUV.The car features four doors with frameless windows, a coupe-like stretched roof line and a two-part tailgate that works like the new Skoda Superb. The chunky rear end of the vehicle is reminiscent of the old Rover Vitesse and SD 3500. It will be available in Australia in March with pricing and specifications available closer to the release date.BMW Australia product manager Tim James said it would cost more than an X5 or 5 Series starting at about $140,000-$150,000. It comes with three engine variants, two petrol and one diesel, mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox from the 7 Series.James said it was difficult to determine customers and the mix of petrol to diesel because the GT was “a whole new category of vehicle”. He said it was a “niche vehicle” like the X6, not a volume seller like the X5. “But in saying that, X6 volumes exceed those of Porsche Cayenne,” he said.The engines are featured elsewhere in the BMW line-up, but the straight-six petrol 535i GT has been updated. It also comes as the 530d with a three-litre turbo diesel delivering fuel economy of 6.5 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 173g/km.Outside, it features the prominent nose of the 7 Series, LED daytime running lights and the two-part liftback that allows the boot to be used like a normal sedan, or as a one-piece, powered tailgate on a hatchback or station wagon.It will come in five and four-seat options, although the middle rear seat is suitable only for children or short stints. The back seats can individually recline and move forward and rear by 100mm. BMW claims the rear legroom of a 7 Series and the rear head room of an X5.The seats are also set higher than a normal sedan in what BMW describes as a ‘semi-command position’ which allows easy entry and exit from the vehicle without having to ‘climb’ up into it. The rear seats also fold flat in a 60-40 split to reveal a large cargo area. 

The Frankfurt Motor Show literally roared to life this morning when a classic BMW 507 roadster ran laps of a custom-built oval track inside the German carmaker's $30 million stand.

Just as the German brand's 7 Series flagship was eased back last year from the brutality of the 1990s, the upcoming 5 will ease away from the hard edges of the current E60 model when it hits the road next year.The first clear pictures of the 2010 5-Series have emerged from the Carparazzi cameras in Europe, complete with the signature psychedelic swirls now used to camouflage every new BMW model. The car is codenamed the F10 and could be presented as early as the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.The biggest change is coming at the front of the 5-Series, where a softer look and pedestrian-impact regulations will give it a much softer look. But the twin-kidney grille continues and the front overhang will be reduced.Carparazzi sources say the F10 will have a significantly larger cabin, with the wheelbase stretched by nearly 10 centimetres and the track also widened. The body will only be around two centimetres longer, while height will be cut a fraction.A new design of 17-inch alloy wheel will be standard, with 18 and 19- inch wheels as optional equipment.The mechanical package is likely to pick up variations of the existing 5-Series engines, but with tweaking for better economy and emissions. The starting motor is expected to be a 2.5-litre inline six and the top models will continue with a V8.There is no news yet on the Formula One-inspired V10 fitted to the M5 sedan, or whether BMW is likely to swing the hybrid powertrain it is fitting to the X6 SUV across to the mid-sized Five.

BMW is currently experiencing a great deal of success with their current roadster, the second generation Z4.

It combines aspects of sedan, hatchback, crossover wagon and sports sedan, and will be available with turbodiesel, petrol six and V8 engines, a huge range of standard equipment and BMW's latest Dynamic Drive. BMW Australia believes it can get the car towards the middle of 2010, if it can make a business case, but predicts sales around 50 cars a month. The most unusual thing about the Gran Turismo is the tail, which is hatchback in style but - like the 'twin-door' Skoda Superb - has two tail-end choices. It can be a hatchback or a sedan, depending on the amount of luggage space needed for a job. To boost the rear-end flexibility, the rear seats can also slide forwards to increase the luggage space. BMW currently lists three engines for the car — 530d, 535i, 550i — and a huge range of standard and optional equipment. But the cabin takes its lead from the new 7 Series in dash layout, space and final finishing. And BMW says the Gran Turismo does not - necessarily - point to the look of the next 5 Series sedan, coming in 18 months. Or perhaps point to the end of the Touring wagon.

It is about to pick up the lower-and-longer lines of the upcoming BMW GT Concept, which are also reflected in the latest Z4 coupe-convertible.The 5 Series is well into testing in Europe as BMW's new-model rollout plan has it following the 7 Series flagship, which was previewed last year and goes on sale soon in Australia.The new 5 is called a 2010 model, which means sales in the final quarter of this year in the USA and a likely preview appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October.It was caught during testing in Germany and, despite heavy camouflage cladding, the new shape is obvious and a contrast to the current Five.It is expected to come with more conventional headlamps, a more prominent version of BMW's signature 'twin-kidney' grille and a cleaner front end.The new 5 Series is known inside BMW as the 'F10' and is a major change.Apart from a shorter front overhang, it has a wheelbase which has been stretched by nearly 10 centimetres to improve cabin space and a wider track. But the overall length is only increased by two centimetres and the height is being reduced slightly.It will roll on standard 17-inch alloy wheels with optional wheels in 18 and 19-inch sizes.Mechanically, the basic engine is expected to be a 2.5-litre six with the current 4.8-litre V8 at the top end.But European sources say that, despite BMW's switch to turbocharged engines for its performance cars, that a more-powerful version of the 5-litre V10 used in the current M5 is also in the works for the new model. 

Starring British actor Jason Statham from Snatch and, of course, the first two Transporter movies, Transporter 3 takes the high-speed action right across Europe.In this film, Statham, as Frank Martin, is forced to transport two bulky bags and a young Ukrainian woman from Marseille to Odessa.In Transporter 1 & 2, most of the action scenes lasted 30-40 seconds. Transporter 3 features almost unlimited stunts.Bond film stunt expert Raacemi Julienne said they shot all the car chase scenes at high speed rather than speeding it up later."All the car chases are filmed at real speed, without models, to capture the pace and inertia of a car going into a spin," he said.Unlike most modern action movies, 3D was used sparingly with most stunts being performed on set."That's where you have to come up with new ideas," Julienne said."How do you jump a car on to a train without it smashing up? How do you slide it down the side of truck?"Every day was a different challenge and most of the solutions were dreamed up on the spot. That's what made the shoot so exciting and such fun."Most of the chase scenes were structured like action symphonies, which resulted in crumpled fenders, high-risk chopper flying and even the use of a purpose-built quad bike in the streets of Marseille.The car star of the action flick is the six-litre, 331kW, W12-powered Audi A8 quattro luxury saloon, driven by Statham's character; at one stage on two wheels between two trucks on a high-speed Autobahn.Although how he manages to do so many handbrake slides with an electronic parking brakes defies logic.The A8 also replicates the spiral jump first seen in the 1974 James Bond film, The Man With The Golden Gun.Transporter3 also features a cornucopia of vehicles including an Audi Q7 SUV; BMW 3 and 5 Series; several Citroens and Renaults; a Hummer H1; Kenworth, DAF and Scania trucks; a Kia Cee'd; Range Rover Sport; Lada Samara and Peugeot police cars; and even a tractor that pulls the A8 out of a river.Statham is a bit of an Audi fan owning an old RS6 Audi and waiting on the release of the RS6 V10 twin turbo with 426kW of power.The rugged action flick actor with a background in martial arts did most of his own stunts in the first two Transporter movies, including car chases, scuba diving sequences and fights.Statham is no debutante to car action films having also appeared in last year's Death Race, which was a reworking of the 1975 film Death Race 2000 featuring David Carradine.Audi is also no debutante to the silver screen, having featured in the previous two Transporter movies, Ronin, I Robot, Mission Impossible 2, About a Boy, Legally Blond 2, Hitman and The Matrix 2.It also starred its R8 supercar in last year's action film, Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr who arrived at the Australian premiere in a silver R8. Supporting roles in Iron Man were played by a S5 sports sedan and a Q7.The first two Transporter movies earned more than $50 million worldwide.Transporter3 hits the big screen on February 5. 

BMW 507 Gallery

The explosive growth of the BMW model range is about to be defused in Australia, with the line-up 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 whetherwe have too many models,” BMW Australia managing director Guenther Seemann says.“I think we do have too many.”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 — asthe 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,” Seemann 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,” Seemann says. But there is definitely space for some additions, like the four-door M3 sedan.“We will bring the four-door version, but I do not know at what price. We have to price it lower than the M3 two-door.”