Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Read the full article

 And this, THIS is the basis for the new 5-series.

BMW is in free fall. Although they are trying as best they can, they simply cannot copy nor compete with VW/Audi/Porsche and it isn't even close.

 Just like with so many other car co's its just a matter of short years before BMW is 

taken up by toyota, Honda, VW, MB or Nissan/Renault. J

This does not make any sense, weren't first drive impressions very positive? Surely why doesn't autocar test a car that is best speced to deliver its all? Very disappointing road test.

As is the case with many BMW's nowadays think long and hard about speccing those big alloys ( doubtless with runflats) as they may well ruin the ride.

Do they offer a GT with "normal" tyres ? I'm not so sure about the point of the hatch cum boot either as surely a hatch would be lighter and more practical . Not so much to go wrong either.

I hope the new 5 series/5 series touring will be better resolved than this.

Hatchback.

That is all.

contrary to the knockers this will be a success.

spec the standard 18" wheels with higher profile tyres.

£40k for a 7-series sized motor that can do a smidge over 6 secs for 0-60mph and return 40mpg.

It's a BMW so it will sell, but you have to wonder why they're trying to reinvent a niche that mainstream manufacturers failed in (Vauxhall Signum et al). Also why BMW seem to have had an ideas meeting and ended it by saying "We've got lots of concepts in our heads, I can't decide. Let's just do everything!"

 

It is fugly !!!! 

The front somehow reminds me of buck-toothed Mater, the old tow truck in "Cars"

What a dog! People who buy this should have their head examined. Ungainly from every angle, and a pointless proposition.

TheWizardWeb:

Also why BMW seem to have had an ideas meeting and ended it by saying "We've got lots of concepts in our heads, I can't decide. Let's just do everything!"

Hah, quite.

I had a ride in a 2006 XJ Sovereign LWB the other day. It does the ride/handling business so perfectly that it's hard to imagine why anyone would choose an equivalent BMW after test driving both. Okay, so (a) there's the BMW badge, whose appeal to green-eyed types is immediate and undeniable, and (b) the Jag looks and feels like an old fart's car, but the way it turns down the volume on every bump and imperfection to the point that they're barely noticeable, all the while leaving the car feeling fully connected to the surface without any hint of float, is pretty bloody astonishing. And it was on 19-inch rims: looks like we could teach Jerry a thing or two.

This is a real shame about the GT because we were told it was BMW getting out of the stupid 'sporty' fad and back into what they did best - go for a ride in any E39 on standard rims to understand what that means. Sadly, the Ultimate Driving Machine looks like remaining the Uncomfortable Jarring Machine.

jl4069:

BMW is in free fall. Although they are trying as best they can, they simply cannot copy nor compete with VW/Audi/Porsche and it isn't even close

In fairness, there have been quite a few lukewarm Audi reviews this year. Making the perfect car (E39) only happens once in a blue moon, the only way is down after that.

Lupe:

This does not make any sense, weren't first drive impressions very positive? Surely why doesn't autocar test a car that is best speced to deliver its all?

Lupe,

Don't blame Autocar - they can only road-test the vehicle that BMW UK is prepared to provide for testing. I agree that it makes little sense for BMW UK to supply cars in such specs for testing, but for some years now they have been obsessed with stupidly big, heavy wheels with stupidly slender tyre sidewalls, usually in full blown Sport spec, and with the runflats making things worse*

I suppose that's what happens when the marketing folk take over from the engineers. They must believe that most people buy their cars on the basis of looks alone, and perhaps they are right, which if true would be depressing.

*Incidentally it's not just the press fleet that is so afflicted. It is also the cars that the UK operation is choosing to bring in to move on into the nearly-new market - i.e. all those "direct BMW" pre registered cars with a few thousand miles' use on as demo cars or which BMW UK marketing people have drivern for a couple of months as company cars. From personal experience earlier in the year, it was impossible to find an existing six cylinder Five or Three diesel on standard SE spec on standard SE wheels. They were all Sports or, in the case of the few SE fives available, were on "optional" bigger wheels. It seems  that if you want a six cylinder SE on standard wheels it has to be ordered to be built that way!