# Final E60 (new 5er) pictures



## racko (Sep 26, 2002)

Ok, here they are - directly from the newest issue of the German car magazine "Auto Bild". Usually the German manufacturers choose either "Auto Bild" or "Auto, Motor und Sport" to publish their final designs before they debut at a big show. In the current issue of the AMS are pictures of the new 997 for example.

First some facts:

------------: old 5er : new 5er 
Wheelbase..: 2830mm : 2888mm
Length.......: 4775mm : 4841mm
Height........: 1440mm : 1469mm
Width.........: 1800mm : 1846mm

Engines: 
520i, 525i, 530i (as known from the 3er)
535i, 545i (as known from the 7er)
520d (150HP)
525d (184HP)
530d (218HP)
540d (258HP)
M5 - 5,5 litre V10 (ca. 500HP)

The new 5er will feature an easier I-Drive (4-way instead of 8-way) and the so called "active-steering) which "reacts faster and improves stability" (quote).

The new 5er will be a bit more expensive (3%), but will have more features serially.

Ah ok, you didn't want to know all this and just want to see the pictures ? Here we go:

(I scanned them with my poor, old scanner, so excuse the quality )


































I really like it, especially the front looks way better than I feared when I saw all those spy pictures and CGs.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

I don't like it at all. Sigh.


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## Ack (Mar 16, 2002)

Thanks for taking the time to post this info! 

At least the Bangle-butt isn't as bad as the E65 and the trunk flows more into the rest of the body. The rear tail lights are a little funky looking. Most automakers have been using clear red tail lenses and these look opaque (then again, it could just be the way the picture was taken). Looks like the eyebrow turn signals are here to stay. :thumbdwn:

I wish they had some interior shots. 

Its not too fugly, I guess it could have been worse. It does look like a slightly shortened E65.


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## Dr. Phil (Dec 19, 2001)

The butt is :thumbdwn: on the sedan. But the wagon is not bad IMO. Very similar look from the angle as the 3er.


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## LarryN (Dec 24, 2001)

The tail lights look stolen from the Acura CL, and the crease below the side windows reminds me a bit of the Volvo S80, but these pics are far better than the other shots I've seen of this new 5er. It's bigger in all dimensions, but doesn't look like a big car form the pics.

Wish they had specs on the 535i HP. I'm a betting man that it'll show in the 3er eventually.


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

PM 325xiT said:


> *The butt is :thumbdwn: on the sedan. But the wagon is not bad IMO. Very similar look from the angle as the 3er. *


I don't think that the rear of the wagon looks bad at all. Maybe a little too VWesque, though. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I don't like the way that the hood intersects with the kidney.

Other than that, given a few years, it's going to be as nondescript as the E39 is now...and that is a good thing.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

:thumbup: 

I love it. It's the kind of design that, to me, looks a little funny but somehow "right." M5 (after lottery) here I come.


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## JakeC (Apr 21, 2002)

LOL!! 
Can you read Photoshop...  
Just look at the kidneys for example, they should at least be on the same level but right one is lower...


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## kneebiters (Sep 8, 2002)

Yuck. Thank god I ordered the 2003 530i. It just became an instant classic.


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

LarryN said:


> *The tail lights look stolen from the Acura CL, and the crease *


I agree--the sedan's rear end looks like a cross between the CL and the Subaru Impreza.

:thumbdwn:


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2002)

I'll withhold final judgment until I see it in person. From the pictures, it is not promising. It lacks any flat-out awful styling elements but is just plain generic looking. It could be Japanese or even, gasp, a Buick from how generic it looks. Granted generic is MUCH better than E65 awful.

Still, to me, it does not look like a BMW.


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## JST (Dec 19, 2001)

I think it will look better in person than in pictures; I think that the line that runs from front to rear and gives the car its "shoulders" will be more dramatic and better integrated in person than it is in the pictures. However, this line is very similar to the one used both on the Lincoln LS and various Volvos, so it may end up looking derivative. 

The nose is disappointing; the twin kidneys have evolved into nothing more than a split grille, which is also a Pontiac design element. It may sound trite, but the laid-back, ovoid grille really does look like it came from GM. 

The middle part of the car, including the greenhouse, is largely inoffensive, but this car continues the "no rub strip" theme of the E65, which has always been (IMHO) that design's most fundamental flaw. It makes the car look very slab-sided and uninteresting visually in the middle, and gives the impression that the overstyled front and rear were joined by two simple pen lines that the designer did not have time to fill in. 

Finally, the rear is interesting. Bangle seems to be avowedly avoiding creating a common look for the tail-lights of the marque; the CS1, E65, and now this car all have very different rear lights (though there are similarities between the E65 and E63, and the CS1 and Z4). I agree that these lights seem lifted from the earlier generation CL, and seem forced. But the wagon, in contrast, is too conservative. The rear of the wagon is very generic, and could naturally have nearly any badge on it. 

A decent design, especially after the train-wreck that is the E65, but nothing here gets me very excited about the future of BMW.


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## rost12 (Dec 22, 2001)

TD, I agree with ya. It does NOT look like a BMW. A bad thing, in my book.

Before anyone says anything, I think that E65 doesn't look like a classic BMW either, but since it's a huge luxury sedan, that's ok with me


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## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

rost12 said:


> *
> 
> TD, I agree with ya. It does NOT look like a BMW. A bad thing, in my book.
> 
> *


but will it drive like one?

sign me up for a 545iT, please.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

What the hell? They've gone back to a seam line cutting through the grill area instead of going down beneath it? How 1980's.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Well, it has the twin kidney grille, the double headlights, the "crease" line running the length of the car, and the C-pillar kink. This design takes those traditional design elements and incorporates them into a new look. It doesn't look much like the current line of BMWs, and yet it does. It's definitely not as simple as the E39's styling, but it's still aggressive and sets the car apart from its competition. That said, I'll agree with JST and say that the grille is getting rather wide and generic. I wouldn't call it Pontiac-like, after seeing some of that marque's newer designs.


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

IMHO, the problem is that the car is too slick looking. It's no longer aggressive and upright, but timid, leaning back.

Edit: The E38 was probably the last Bimmer that really looked aggressive.


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## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

any guesses and rationale on what the U.S. will get out of the 

520, 525, 530, 535, and 545?

I would think (hope) 525, 535, and 545


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

Put the freakin' turn signals _next to_ and not above the headlights.

Ugly hairy eyebrows. :thumbdwn:

Thank god it's obviously a photoshop.


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2002)

PhilH said:


> *Put the freakin' turn signals next to and not above the headlights.
> 
> Ugly hairy eyebrows. :thumbdwn:
> 
> Thank god it's obviously a photoshop. *


PS job or not, I think those pics are pretty darn close.


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## nate (Dec 24, 2001)

PhilH said:


> *Put the freakin' turn signals next to and not above the headlights.
> 
> Ugly hairy eyebrows. :thumbdwn:
> 
> Thank god it's obviously a photoshop. *


yes, the eyebrows are the worst part on both this concept and the E65 

As long as the M5 is as rumored with a 5.5L V10, I don't care


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## Ausgang (Jan 4, 2002)

It is a bit off-putting for sure. Part of that is the PhotoShop work on the wheels, the kidneys, and the rear lenses being off.

Perhaps there is some hope that the 'bottom-feeding' fish look at the lower front won't be as bad as previously assumed. 

There's no hope in my acceptance of the bangle-butt. It's awful, even here. I don't go a day in NYC without seeing a dozen or more new 7s and the rear design is NOT growing on me. The lenses on the 7, however, are better than the pics depicted. Let's hope that's the case with the 5er.

We all need to pray that the next-gen 3er (the bread and butter of BMW AG's lineup) does not suffer the fate the trendy stylists would have us suffer through. :tsk:


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## Pete Teoh (Jan 27, 2002)

Rear end looks like a Peugeot 406:


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Ahemm,

I also got a copy of the magazine today. Those pictures are CG. They are NOT the final pictures 

Alex 'Picman' Baumann


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

CG or not, I still like it. :dunno:


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

I hope BMW makes it: 530, 535, 545.

I'd like to see a reasonably powerful wagon here.


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## racko (Sep 26, 2002)

Of course these are CGs, what do you expect 1 year before the presentation? But the car will look like this, the magazine is not that stupid to embarass itself by posting pictures which are not final. If you go back in history, everytime AB and AMS posted pictures as "final", they were final.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Autobild is not a reliable source. (one of the worst car magazines available at all)

As for 'embarrasing itself', I have a bunch of early E65 CG pictures which were published on AMS, believe me they looked way different than the final car.

For example










another










last one










Peace

Alex


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## unleasHell (Mar 25, 2002)

What is going on between Honda and BMW?????????


First the new Accord rear-end looks like the new 7-Series.

Now the new 5-series rear end looks like the CL...

oh well........


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> *Autobild is not a reliable source. (one of the worst car magazines available at all)
> 
> As for 'embarrasing itself', I have a bunch of early E65 CG pictures which were published on AMS, believe me they looked way different than the final car.
> 
> ...


ALL more attractive than the real thing.


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## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

TD said:


> *
> 
> ALL more attractive than the real thing. *


maybe the first 2 (although those are clearly just facelifted E38's) but the bottom one is horrible to me.


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## jgrgnt (Apr 27, 2002)

atyclb said:


> *
> 
> maybe the first 2 (although those are clearly just facelifted E38's) but the bottom one is horrible to me. *


Is it just me, or does the last one closely resemble an Acura TL?

I really hope the final design of the new 5 won't look anything like what we've seen in this thread. Why are they even changing it? The current one still looks great to me. :dunno:

Michael


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

*$0.02*

My $0.02 before I gamble it away in Vegas next week.

So far I agree with most of the comments. The wagon looks particularly Passat-esque in its lack of feature lines. Both it and the sedan have the cutlines-flowing-into-the-lenses look that VAG has been doing for a generation.

The front is better than the E65 in that the kidney grille isn't insanely wide, and the front bumper doesn't have the scalloping in it.

The worst angle by far is the look of the rear quarter when looking at the top, front 3/4 shot. Looks like a part of the trunk got lopped off. Speaking of that, the much-toned-down BangleButt is a relief.

But its still no E34.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

http://www.bmw545.com/#photoshopped


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

JPinTO said:


> *http://www.bmw545.com/#photoshopped *


this picture shows the ugly headlight treatment (note the small opening upper left to the headlight) :thumbdwn:


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

Worse, what's with the bizarre bend in the hood line close to the windshield? I hope this isn't going to be butt ugly.


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## isaacly (Aug 24, 2002)

DAMN IT CHRIS BANGLE NEEDS TO BE FIRED.


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## jsp98m3 (Oct 8, 2002)

You meant to say Chris Bangle needs to have a horrible accident involving a Citroen, a quart of Tequila and a donkey with a spastic colon.

Please make it stop....


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