Section: E60 5 Series
Apr 13th, 2010
The 5 Series has sold 5.5 million units. Seems time to celebrate. So with that said BMW has rolled out some of our favorite 5er photos from the years and presented them with a thorough run through of the 5 Series history. (Full gallery after the jump)
Official Release: Sales of the BMW 5 Series already amount to more than 5.5 million units in five model generations – and now a new chapter is starting in the highly successful story of the BMW 5 Series Sedan.
While the sixth generation naturally follows the great heritage of its predecessors, its roots go back much further. As early as in the 1960s, BMW developed a strong and distinctive profile as a manufacturer of sporting but elegant, powerful and technically innovative midrange four-door sedans. Introducing a four-door notchback body, engines fitted lengthwise at the front, rear-wheel drive and an elaborate suspension, BMW established a classical principle at the time which remains highly attractive and fully endorsed to this very day.
It was at that time that the BMW 1500, the BMW 1800 and the BMW 2000 entered the market as the “New Range”, establishing the most successful model series BMW had ever seen up to that point. The competence in the development and production of saloons demonstrated by BMW with these models gave the Company a worldwide breakthrough as a manufacturer of modern and highly desirable automobiles with very individual characteristics.
Switching from the New Range to the BMW 5 Series in 1972, BMW introduced not only new nomenclature, but also a new era in design.
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Mar 5th, 2010
While this editorial has been in the works since late last year, I have refrained from publishing it until now- to better coincide with the official public unveiling of the the 2011 F10 BMW 5 Series.
BMW since the 1970′s has had separate classes of sedans based mainly on size and the level of luxury. This was even true through the late 80′s and 90′s when BMW was accused of producing “the same sausage at different lengths”. The 3 Series has always been the smaller sportier car with less luxury and available options while the flagship sedan was the posh 7 Series. The 7 exuded class and luxury. It was loaded with latest exclusive technologies and ultra premium materials while providing its clientele with copious quantities of space both in the passenger compartment and luggage area. The 5 Series has always been somewhere in the middle in terms of size, luxury and available technology.
Looking at the current 3 series (E90: 2005- current), the current 5 (E60: 2003- until this June), and the last generation 7 series (E65: 2002-2009) it is hard for most to discern the shared design language let alone shared components. Chris Bangle led the revolution to change the look of BMWs, “We were making sausages at different lengths and management at that time and especially Chairman Eberhard von Kuenheim and technical director Wolfgang Reitzle felt we needed to break away and chart a new course for the company and the brand,” Bangle said in David Kiley’s book Driven: Inside BMW, the Most Admired Car Company in the World. Under his leadership (he did not pen the designs) each model had its own style and enough exclusive bits and pieces to make each standout as an individual. Engines, transmissions and other mechanicals were shared throughout the lineup but for the most part things went their separate ways, especially once you openned the doors and gazed at the interior.
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Feb 8th, 2010
BMWNA is substantially extending the maintenance plan on all 3, 5 and 7 Series 2007 cars to boost sales over the next two months according to a report from Automotive News. The plan will run a full 6 years or 100,000 miles according to the report. Here’s an excerpt from the Automotive News:
“The intent is to attract additional customers to BMW’s used car business who still have reservations about the reliability and overall value of certified pre-owned cars,” BMW said in a statement.
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Nov 20th, 2009
For some of our readers that have been on the fence with what to do for their next vehicle since the X3 has been delayed and the next 5 is not to hit the US until late April early May, have no fear BMW FS has a solution.
BMW Financial services is granting lease extensions for maturing X3 and 5 Series vehicles.
It is for leases expiring before 12/31/09 but may be applied to others on case-by-case basis. It is a 12-18 month lease extension term. It is a minimum 1 year extension with a month to month until 18 months. Contact BMWFS lease end agents for full terms and qualification requirements.
This option will also help lessen the effects of leasing a new to market vehicle for those that can utilize this option.
Oct 28th, 2009
This morning at BMW’s prototype compound outside the Nurburgring the M Division took the wraps off of a special CSL version of the M5 meant to celebrate the sedan’s 25th anniversary. In fact M division’s head of development, Albert Biermann, is describing it as the “M5 CSL we never built”.
According to Autocar, the biggest changes lie under the hood with the standard 5 litre V10 being bored out to 5.5 litres. Elsewhere the M Division created a carbon fiber manifold with an increase air box capacity and an additional oil cooler. You can see evidence of this with the new air intake where you’d expect a front license plate to be. Unofficially power should be around 580 bhp with torque close to 400 lb ft. That’s up from 507 and 338 respectively. Those substantial gains make this the most power M engine ever in a BMW.
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Oct 27th, 2009
It’s 5 Series week on the BimmerCast. Along with the normal news of the week we spend some time walking through the range from the E12 to the upcoming F10. Does the E34 look better than the E39? Are the seat controls as ridiculous in the E28 as we remember? We cover it all in our longest show to date.
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Oct 2nd, 2009
Several sources are reporting that the current 5 series will cease to be built after this coming December. BMW usually closes factories for several weeks during the holiday season so a December cutoff makes perfect sense as tooling for the F10/11 would begin after the hiatus. We have conflicting reports of when the production of the F10 will begin; us speculating puts the new models in showroom sometime in March.
What this means now is that dealers have been told to only take SPECIAL ORDERS until 10/09/09 for 5 Series models. The remainder of the production run will more than likely be common specced cars for dealer inventory.
Jul 8th, 2009
While at an introduction to the forthcoming 550i GT two things were clear: 1) the car looks much better in real life and 2) it may pull the plug on future sport wagons for the US market.
Martin Birkmann, head of product planning for BMWNA, discussed with some members of the press that the GT may in fact decrease the number of 5 Series sports wagons sold to a level that no longer makes them a productive member of the BMW portfolio in the US.
Sales of sport wagons has never reached the success BMW had hoped and with the advantages the GT offers, buyers may opt to take that route. Obviously sales and profitability are important to the overall success of the company so we can’t blame them, it just is going to be a sad day when a BMW wagon will not be a choice.
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