RE: New BMW 5 Series - full details

[Ursicles]

SUrprised this is out so soon... didnt the last one come out late 2010??

Thought they would have another year of the current car before releasing a new one.

[HighwayStar]

Ursicles said:

SUrprised this is out so soon... didnt the last one come out late 2010??

Thought they would have another year of the current car before releasing a new one.

It's not going to be on sale till next year so going by your date previous model would've been around for 6+ yrs.

[leglessAlex]

I actually quite like the F10, I don't think this one looks as good. It looks too blobby, like the made a really nice wax model of the new car and then left it in the sun a bit too long.

Credit to BMW for keeping the petrol straight six though, it can't actually be worth it from a business point of view can it?

[Jarcy]

cerb4.5lee said:

The SE models always look st(ride nice though), for me I wished they only did the M Sport model because they always look far better.

You can delete the bone crunching M Sport suspension i believe, so you get the best of both...a sharper looking car but with a far more comfortable ride.

Agree the M-Sport models always look better, but I don't understand why people claim there's anything wrong (as in harsh) with it's suspension.
I get an excellent ride from my F11, glad I didn't bother with VDC. I came from an E-class which felt like a bowl of jelly in comparison. Hate it too soft.

[berlintaxi]

Jarcy said:

Agree the M-Sport models always look better, but I don't understand why people claim there's anything wrong (as in harsh) with it's suspension.

No doubt Clarkson said it sometime so the sheeple trot it out like it is their own original thought.

[cerb4.5lee]

Jarcy said:

cerb4.5lee said:

The SE models always look st(ride nice though), for me I wished they only did the M Sport model because they always look far better.

You can delete the bone crunching M Sport suspension i believe, so you get the best of both...a sharper looking car but with a far more comfortable ride.

Agree the M-Sport models always look better, but I don't understand why people claim there's anything wrong (as in harsh) with it's suspension.
I get an excellent ride from my F11, glad I didn't bother with VDC. I came from an E-class which felt like a bowl of jelly in comparison. Hate it too soft.

Maybe it's more about the wheels and run flats rather than the suspension, I have a M sport 330 with 18" rims and run flats and it's a harsh ride.

Also have a M sport 640 with 20" rims but I've removed the run flats and it's ride is still harsh.

Agree it can be too soft though and when I've driven an SE 3 series I hated the roll it had in the corners, but I did like the smooth ride.

[pits]

It was like reading a tragedy
530i is a 4 cylinder turbo and the base model near enough

[kambites]

Jarcy said:

Agree the M-Sport models always look better, but I don't understand why people claim there's anything wrong (as in harsh) with it's suspension.

I've found BMW's suspension to be hugely variable; on some cars the standard suspension is lovely and the M-Sport is a crashy, under-damped mess; on others the M-Sport suspension is firm but well damped and the standard suspension is a wobbly under-damped mess.

Their only consistency seems to be that they always mess one of them up and do a decent, although never exceptional, job with the other. The actual M cars, by way of comparison, tend to have sublimely judged damping.

Edited by kambites on Friday 14th October 08:12

[cerb4.5lee]

kambites said:

The actual M cars, by way of comparison, tend to have sublimely judged damping.

Edited by kambites on Friday 14th October 08:12

Completely agree and I had a E92 M3 with EDC and in comfort mode the ride was sublime and in normal mode it was good for pushing on, sport setting was too hard for UK tarmac though.

Also drove one without EDC and the standard suspension was very well judged and proves bmw can get it spot on.

[Buster73]

On to my second 520 Diesel auto , over 150k miles of driving experience in them and I'd have another tomorrow.

Very comfortable place to be in doing a lot of miles , relatively economical for a big car , reasonable on the bik tax and quick enough for day to day use.

Plenty of posters on here knocking them , cannot understand it personally.

I'll be sorting a lend of one for the day when the demos are available.

[cjm]

I'm sure it will be a great car but the exterior styling isn't very interesting, though I think it looks better than the current models. If you covered the front grill on both and were told it was a Lexus or even a new Hyundai you wouldn't really question it.

Edited by cjm on Friday 14th October 09:11

[Marty Funkhouser]

A debadged 550 has to be the ultimate sleeper?

[stumpage]

I currently have a 520d M Sport with 19" Run Flats.

I don't think the ride is that bad. I tested the Luxury and M Sport (Both on 19" Run Flats) back to back when I ordered mine and found the M Sport suspension preferable. Mind you the firm suspension may be shaking the car too much and be the cause for all the rattles, squeaks and loose trim the interior has.

[Bladedancer]

70 mpg? Suuure.
Why not make it a nice round number like 100? Just as realistic.

At this rate diesels will be just filled in once at the factory and never refilled :P

[arkenphel]

I like it. I have always been a bit lukewarm towards BMW designs initially, but this one looks good. Don't like the autonomous tech personally, but I can see it is a good option for some people. I won't be generalising it to "people who can't drive", but it if it helps people maintain their mobility and drive more safely, for example the more elderly (I'm thinking of my parents here), then why not.

I do think they should include options to switch off these systems by default though, based on driver preference.

[-crookedtail-]

It seems crazy that they're already into the 'G' model codes, the 'E' letters seemed to last forever. Still they've a car for all occasions now so probably run out much quicker.

Its a big car for the UK, regardless of who can drive or not , but I'm sure the touring G31? will be a lovely thing, and coming to a constabulary near you soon!

[Aaron_W]

What about the 535d? Or the M550d?

[Equilibrium25]

Guvernator said:

Sorry but they just seem to get duller and duller, the E34 and E39 were lovely looking things. The E60 while a marmite car at least got a reaction and I think the design has actually aged really well. However the last two generations have been dull to the point of anonymity. If you took the BMW badge off, this could almost be any manufacturer including the Koreans. Where is the traditional BMW aggression and taughtness?

I agree with you about the E34 and E39, which were lovely in their day. I disagree about "traditional BMW aggression and tautness" though, the very two models that you name were about the same level of aggression and tautness in their day as the G30 is now, in my opinion at least.

It was the E60 that took the aggression and muscular look to a new level, especially in MSport spec. As you say, this was marmite and BMW have backed off to their more traditional level.

I also don't agree with the debadging theory, the G30 is full of standard BMW design cues.

[culpz]

This has ALOT of 7 Series in this, both size and looks-wise. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing really.

It both amazes and scares me to see how quick the '20d engine is becoming. Especially within the 5 series body with it's expanding size and weight.

[Trabi601]

stumpage said:

I currently have a 520d M Sport with 19" Run Flats.

I don't think the ride is that bad. I tested the Luxury and M Sport (Both on 19" Run Flats) back to back when I ordered mine and found the M Sport suspension preferable. Mind you the firm suspension may be shaking the car too much and be the cause for all the rattles, squeaks and loose trim the interior has.

The 19s ruin the ride IMHO, which is why I kept my Luxury on 18" turbines.