Bucket Seat: New BMW 5 Series

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. 

BMW also showcased their BMW M Performance parts for the new 5 Series, to help give the car an extra oomph of sportiness. 

Bucket Seat: BMW 6 Series GT

After BMW released images on the up coming 8 Series Concept, all seemed right in the world. The brand had finally shook off the weirdness that a previous designer *cough* Chris Bangle *cough* left with them. The cars they were producing were stunning, elegant and sporty but then late last week something dreadful happened, something that many couldn't fathom why or what could have provoked this but it did happen. At first I thought it was some sort of joke and a really good render from one of the German Automobile magazines, as they do tend to do this sort of thing quite often but on closer inspection, it wasn't a render, it looked like a legit car, and it was the 6 Series GT. 

Now take everything what you know about the 6 Series since it's rebirth in 2004, even with Bangle at the helm of design, the car still looked great. It was a super coupe, if I may call it that, something that exudes luxury but in a sports form. It then progressed into the modern day Sports Coupe but still kept that rich luxury associated with the car and then BMW released the creme da ala creme, the 6 Series Gran Coupe, which for me still remains one of the best cars that they have produced. Now after stopping production of the 6 Series Coupe and Gran Coupe, they gone and slapped a GT badge to this much famed model. 

Look, it saddens me to an extent to see the 6 Series go down this mundane line but I shot myself in the foot before with the 5 Series GT, I recall calling it the Quasimodo of the BMW line up but then I actually got my ass into one and to say I was left red faced is an understatement. That car blew me away from what it had to offer, on the inside it was a limousine, everything crafted to perfection, the seats were like sofas, the carpet was like thick shaggy pile carpet, finishes and fixtures were of high quality. It was as close to a Rolls Royce a BMW has come to, it's almost as if they designed the inside of the car first then sort of just made do with something on the outside. The engine wasn't too shabby either as I had the 3.0 liter 535iGT so it had a lot of grunt, it needed it to log around that big chassis. 

Which brings me to the new BMW 6 Series GT, yes I don't exactly approve of what is basically a 5 Series GT getting re-badged into the 6 Series line but at the same time I know what what to expect from this car and I'm 99% sure it's going to blow me away as well. There's been a tonne of negative press coming out from this model and while the introduction of this piece might seem that way as well , I'm going to try and flip the coin on it and say this could be a game changer in the battle between the German giants. None of the auto-manufacturers have a car like the GT in their stable, yes Audi does have the A7 but it's more of a sports fast back than a GT car. The GT has a raised ride height and a spacious cabin similar to that of an SUV but all the luxuries of the super saloon. While it may not be aesthetically pleasing on the outside, once inside it could have you feeling like Royalty. 

Bucket Seat: 2017 BMW 5 Series - First Impressions

Yesterday BMW lifted the covers off it's 7th generation 5 Series, code name the G30, this latest installment of the medium to large size sedan will hit local market by next year February and will be a welcome change to the segment. Apart from the design change to the 5 series, the car now comes with a host of technological advancements, much of which has been passed down from the latest 7 series. 

Some of the technical highlights include:

• Steering and Lane Control Assistant up to 210km/h
• Lane Change Assistant and Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision protection. 
• Evasion Aid. 
• Crossing traffic warning.
• Crossroads warning.
• Wrong-way warning.
• Active Air Stream Kidney grille, which regulates the flow of air into the engine bay. 
• Adaptive LED Headlights with BMW Selective Beam. 
• Lightweight chassis up to 100 kilograms lighter than predecessor. 
• And a whole new line up of BMW TwinPower Turbo Engines to choose from. 

With the new more powerful engine line up and lighter chassis, performance is sure to be vastly improved, give the driver more agility and power when need be. The car also comes with the optional self park, via the cars LCD key. Something that's nice to show off at parties with or parking in tight spots. 

Moving onto the interior, much of it has been borrowed from it's bigger brother the 7 Series, with minor changes to suit the smaller cabin size of the G30. The new 5 Series sedan features a new configuration of its heads-up display with the ability to increase the size by 70 percent. The car also has intelligent voice assistant with recognition of natural language. Like the 7 Series, the New 5 Series also has Gesture Control and a 10.25" touchscreen, with interactive and personalizable live contents. The iDrive Touch controller has improved for user functionality and Drive Experience Control with Adaptive Mode. The Active Cruise control now comes integrated with Speed Limit Assist, where it slows the car down if the speed limit on the road changes. Comfort seating features a selection of eight massage programs as well as memory seats with up to 5 settings. 

Overall the car does seem like a mini version of the flagship 7 Series model but with obvious changes to suit it's size. For me the 5 Series has always been a favourite, and this one seems to tick all the right boxes. With it coming with all these various technological advancements, it will obviously pick the price up a lot. How much by? We'll have to wait for Feb 2017, but for now it's certainly taken up the challenge put down by it's German competition.