# New 5 series released in Europe



## 5_sport (Feb 21, 2002)

New Model BMWs to Go on Sale in Europe 








July 4, 2003 11:36 AM EDT

FRANKFURT, Germany - Auto maker BMW launches its new-model offensive in earnest 
Saturday as its redesigned 5-series cars go on sale in Europe - a make-or-break 
product launch that will determine profits for years to come.

The 5-series, wedged between the smaller, mass-market 3-series and the high-end 
7-series, had only about 20 percent of BMW's sales volume last year but 
contributes an estimated 35-40 percent of the Munich-based carmakers profits.

Last remade in 1995, it's the most important new design in BMW's high-stakes 
attempt to shake up its product line this year and next. The X3 sport-utility 
vehicle and 6-series luxury coupe will follow later this year, with the small 1-
series "baby BMW" to follow next year.

The 5-series "is the backbone of BMW's business," said Georg Stuerzer, auto 
stocks analyst at HVB bank in Munich.

For the new model, the company's American design chief, Christopher Bangle, 
softened some of the style departures that led to sharp differences of opinion 
over 2001's new 7-series and even an Internet campaign against the new model.

Most noticeably, the 5-series lacks the sharply raised trunk lid that some 
critics attacked in the 7-series. The company also simplified the iDrive knob 
that combines controls for things like the sound system and heating; some auto 
critics derided iDrive as too complicated when it appeared in the 7-series.

Customers haven't seemed to mind since the new 7-series continues to sell a bit 
better than its predecessor, analysts say.

Stuerzer said the company's older models were sometimes criticized as too 
conservative and looking too much alike. "Now the model differences are much 
sharper," he said.

He said the 5-series' technical advances, such as an active steering system 
that improves handling by adjusting steering response for different speeds,

will give it an advantage against competitors such as the Mercedes E-class that 
should outweigh any concerns about the styling.

The new models should boost company earnings over the next three to four years, 
Stuerzer said.

The 520 version with a 2.5-liter engine starts at euro35,100, the equivalent of 
US$40,360 at current exchange rates. The 3-liter 530 starts at euro40,600. 
Option packages can push the price over euro55,000. The car goes on sale in 
Britain and the United States in the fall; U.S. prices have not been set yet 
and will be different from the European prices, the company says.

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