In My Experience... | 5 series redesign. (1951)

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5 series redesign.
[ Posted by Dan on April 03, 2003 | 10 Comments ]

I'm placing this image of the new BMW 5 series design in the "When Bad Things happen to Good BMWs" category. The whole eagle-ish design of the car turns me right off, and reminds me of an american made car (and I regret to say that I think that american car designs are horrible right now). I bought a 3 series last November, and I love the car from exterior to interior, top to bottom, bumper to bumper. If all BMWs start to look like this 5 series (which is a derivative of the new 7 series) then I'm guessing my 3 will look old. Bleh.

[pic of bimmer is originally from bmwnation.com]

what, no beak?

-Posted by JC on April 3, 2003 10:04 AM

Yeah, the whole 'swept-back headlights' look doesn't do much for me either. I think the current Lexus ES is my least favorite front-end design in some time.

Oh. Wait. This is worse.

-Posted by Paul on April 3, 2003 10:59 AM

Have you been following the discussion at Signal vs. Noise about the new 5 Series? I've given my 2 cents there, but in a nutshelland hood and grill borrowed from a Pontiac Grand Am, headlights like an ES300, taillights like a Kia Optima, and an overall design that's way too edgy for a car targeting 40+ year olds with $50k to spend on a car.

-Posted by Benjy on April 3, 2003 11:22 AM

I think saying it looks like an eagle is generous. Looks more like a Honda to me...

-Posted by Eric on April 3, 2003 02:32 PM

I hadn't noticed the thread at SvN, but will take a look. The discussions at some BMW enthusiast are not lavishing this new model with praise.

And there are indeed some new Honda Accord like elements in this design, especially the tail lights, which are horrible imho. I bet the cars drives ultra smooth and handles extremely well, but style accounts for a lot in a car like this.

-Posted by Dan on April 3, 2003 02:37 PM

I saw Toyota Camry (the headlights, esp.) over Honda, but both would do. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a BMW to me - it's like they are trying to catch some of the Lexus or Infinity market.

-Posted by Anthony on April 3, 2003 03:40 PM

Ah! yes, the Infinity G35 rear end is definitely in effect on the new 5, and when I first saw that G35, I thought to myself that the styling was fad-ish and wouldn't stant the test of time. I feel more strongly about that now.

-Posted by Dan on April 3, 2003 03:43 PM

Hmm, wonder what sales will be like. Honda found they're selling more cars than ever now that they're being designed in California for the US market, even though now they're pretty boxy and less "Honda-ish" than ever. Time will tell I guess, but a BMW should look like a BMW.

Than again, every 7 or or 9 years when they change body styles, it's usually a pretty big change. Look at the old 3 series boxes from the late 80s as opposed to the 90s. Quite the difference.

To me, the 5 should say I've outgrown a 3, but I don't make a million a year yet ;-)

-Posted by Quinn on April 3, 2003 11:08 PM

I'm totally not a fan of Honda but I have to say they are looking alot better these days. I didn't know about the CA design stuff.

To me what the 3 says is "I can't afford a 5" (Sorry Dan), whereas the 7 says "I kick ass"

-Posted by Eric on April 5, 2003 03:30 AM

That looks like a really badly designed Pontiac or Lexus ES YUK!!!

-Posted by Gotread on January 27, 2004 02:15 PM

Comment posting has been turned off because I don't have enough time and will to deal with the constant comment spamming. I'm very sorry and will fix this sometime soon (soon = before 2004 ends).