BMW's 5 Series has always been the leader in the business class category of cars, for years its been setting benchmarks which others could simply just follow in terms of luxury, technology and design. BMW dubbed their model the "Business Athlete" in their previous generation and you can see where they came up with that term, apart being a bold and dynamic model, it also exudes sportiness. Like a business person who fits snug into a suit during the week but runs triathlons on the weekend. The new 5 Series which is expected to be here locally by the end of 2020 features fresh new design highlights, that gives it "more presence, more expression and more modern" according to head of design at BMW HQ, Domagoj Dukec. I honestly love the approach he and his team are having on influencing the design of models coming out of Bavaria of late. Their clean and simplistic design offers so much to the eye. It's the height of incorporating modern architectural design in coach design, something that hardly many manufacturers are able to do. Bold accents, straight lights, with the application of various materials and textures are eyegasms to say the least.
Many would look at this car and say not much has changed, to the untrained eye only certain characteristics stand out on face-lift models but BMW have a knack of doing them very well which gives you many cues as to what is different from the older one. Big change is the revised front, which the headlights stand out the most. Featuring a new modern L sharp light graphic which is in the form of the LED and Laser light technology. The iconic kidney grille is fused but highlighted more than ever with bold accents. The M Sport package features sharp design angles on the front diffuser and larger air intakes than before with high gloss finishes on the borders. The Luxury Line is where the face lift really stands out with the thinner splitter on the front fascia and triangular intakes either side with chrome detailing. The new 5 is offered in four new paid shades, which include individual colours. With the M Sport trim, you have a choice of two new rims, an 18" multi-spoke as well as a new 20" BMW Individual air performance wheels which direct airflow into the wheel, helping cool the brakes.
BMW have headed the call of their clients by introducing a lot more plug-in hybrid models which I'm sure are doing pretty well in the European regions but as the trend is going now, all the engines in the 5 Series models are now "mild hybrids" where every car uses electronic battery power in someway on another to propel the car. There are now two plug-in hybrid options, the 530e and the 545e but South Africa should only see one of these variants. Once interesting to note is the M550i xDrive sedan which some say will be brought to our shores as well. This is as close as you going to get to the M5 if you cannot offered the premium super saloon. That will probably be launched globally towards the end of the year or early next year.
