BMW 5-Series Heritage

BMW Press have released over 30 photos of all the 5-Series they have built to date. If you own a classic 5-series you’ll probably be interested in checking out the photo gallery after the jump where you can find beauty shots of your car in its most pristine original state.

The 5-er has certainly grown larger, heavier and more powerful over the years. The first 5-er 520i used four cylinder engines making 115hp and 130hp respectively for the 520 and 520i. The most powerful first generation 5-er was the M535i, making 218 hp from its 6-pot.

The 2nd generation 5-Series made its debut with the introduction of the world’s first diesel 5-Series. Engine ranges extended from a low 90 horses up to 184 horses for the most powerful non-M 5-er. The M5 made 286 horsepower from its straight-six with individual throttle bodies. The first diesel 5-er was a 524td making 115 horses from its 2.4 liter inline-6.

The E34 was the third generation 5-series, starting from a 520i all the way up to a 535i, and then an M5. The petrol engines were exclusively 6-cylinder, and power was from as low as 115hp up to 211hp. The E45 M5 featured 6-potter engines making between 315 horses to 340 horses when it was updated in 1992. 1992 also introduced the V8-powered 530i and 540i models, using the same engines in the E32 730i and 740i. The E34 was also the first 5-er to feature electronically controlled all-wheel drive in 1991.

The fourth generation is my favorite 5-er. By now, more and more creature comforts have started being featured in the 5-er’s cabin including a multifunction steering, GPS navigation, active seats, DSC stability control, and etc. It was the first large-scale production car worldwide made almost completely of light alloy. You started off with a 150hp 520i inline-6, but the most powerful models were the 540i and M5, with the M car making 400 horsepower from its 4.9 liter V8 engine. Compare this to 218hp from the original M535i.

And then of course came the E60 which we only just recently said goodbye to. Well, not exactly since it is still on sale here in Malaysia pending the launch of the F10. The E60 also still holds the M5 crown since the F10 M5 has yet to be unveiled. The E60 had a controversial love or hate Chris Bangle design. How many of you used to dislike the E60 but now have grown fond of it since it has been replaced by the F10?

Because of the 7 year model lifecycle between BMW cars, you can see huge changes between models because of the progression of automotive technology. This car was complicated and full of tech – iDrive, DSC, Active Steering, Adaptive Drive, Head-Up Display, BMW Night Vision, Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go and Lane Departure Warning and etc.

From 2005 to 2008, the E60 BMW 5 Series was the best-selling car in its segment for four years in a row, with worldwide sales of this model generation amounting to more than a million units by the end of 2007. But not in Malaysia of course, where the E-Class rules in terms of official sales (no way to count the grey imports!).

BMW TeleServices Workshop

The BMW X1 has already gone through a set of media and special customer launches across this week but Auto Bavaria Sg Besi has something interesting going on this weekend. They will having their own little X1 launch at 11 AM, and this will be accompanied by food, drinks, a Teleservices workshop and a continuation of their parts clearance sale where all AB outlets did a massive clearance sale for parts, accessories and merchandise last weekend. You could get up to a 70% discount even on expensive parts such as BMW alloy wheels and tyros.

You should attend the BMW TeleServices workshop if you’re interested in knowing what TeleServices is. TeleServices was first launched in Malaysia in March 2009. It is part of the BMW ConnectedDrive suite of services, and is related to the maintenance of your car. When a service is due as determined by BMW’s Condition Based Server on-board system, the car will communicate with the BMW TeleServices server via the mobile phone network and relay this service information. Your dealer/service center will then call you up to arrange an appointment for you to bring your car in for service at your convenience.

It’s not just oil changes – CBS sensors can detect worn parts such as brake discs and pads and etc. The service job – if not something complicated like some major part broken – should be quick and fast as the CBS system will also inform BMW of what parts needs to be ready at the service center, so everything will be ready for service work to begin with minimal diagnostic and logistics delay.

You need a BMW equipped with Bluetooth and the BMW Navigation Professional System to be able to use TeleServices. Your car has to be paired with your Bluetooth mobile phone as the SMS to the TeleServices command center goes through your phone. From what I understand the server is overseas and it is just an SMS so the charge to your mobile phone bill could be somewhere around RM2 from what I understand from the service center guys.

The TeleServices workshop at Auto Bavaria Sg Besi will be around 20 to 30 minutes and they’re having 3 sessions – one at 9:45 AM, one at 12 PM and one at 3 PM. So head on there if you want to learn more. Look after the jump for a full pricelist of clearance parts you can find at Auto Bavaria Sg Besi this weekend. I even spotted a few stuff for my E39 such as the silly can holder that pops out of the dash which always seems to be getting broken!

BMW Malaysia introduces 730Li and Individual 760Li

The 730Li is imported CBU from Thailand, and at RM648,888 (OTR without insurance, with BMW Service Inclusive + Repair) lowers the entry point for the F02 7-Series by RM50,000 – previously, the 730Ld was the most affordable 7 at RM698,888. The 730Li now matches the locally assembled Marcedes in price; the Merc is actually costlier by RM1,000 but shoppers at this level spend that sum of money on a night’s dinner, so let’s consider them level. Geoffrey Briscoe, BMW Group Malaysia’s Managing Director said: “This is the 7-Series that our customers have been asking for, and it will form the bulk of 7-Series sales.”

The 730Li is powered by the N52 3.0-litre inline-six engine pushing out 258 bhp and 310 Nm of torque, more than what S300L’s similarly sized V6 makes. Although it’s the only current Seven to do without turbos, performance is very decent for a 1.9-tonne limo – 0-100 km/h is done in 7.8 seconds and top speed is 245 km/h. Average fuel consumption is 10.2 km/l. As part of BMW’s Efficient Dynamics, the Seven gets selected aluminium body panels to reduce weight and brake energy regeneration.

You don’t get an “empty” limo either; the 730Li comes with rear climate control and two rear 8-inch LCD screens where one can plug in his/her laptop, camera, iPod and game consoles. The base F02 also comes with Dynamic Drive Control and BMW Connected Drive. The latter includes satellite navigation, 80GB hard disk space and BMW TeleServices. Visually, one can tell the 730Li from the 740Li from its exhaust pipes (two on one side, as opposed to one on each side) and smaller 18-inch wheels.

At the other end of the scale is the 760Li in Individual spec, which means there’s more scope for personalisation than its stablemates (paint, leather, trim, features and wheels). This ultimate 7-Series is propelled by a twin-turbo 6.0-litre V12 engine with 544 bhp and 750 Nm, enabling it to sprint to 100 km/h from rest in only 4.6 seconds, which is 0.1 sec faster than what BMW quotes for the M5! It’s also the first BMW to be launched in Malaysia that features the new 8-speed ZF transmission. This RM1,388,000 car wasn’t shown at the event.

BMW X5 facelift

The world’s press are in Miami now and will continue to congregate there batch by batch for the next few weeks for test drive sessions of the new BMW X5 LCI, which is BMW speak for facelift. As usual, BMW will normally release some new beauty footage of the car recorded at the location of the test drive in addition to the original stuff they release when a car is first unveiled.

BMW Concept Gran Coupe

BMW’s Design Night event in China in conjunction with Auto China 2010 brings to us something completely unexpected – a near-production four door coupe called the BMW Concept Gran Coupe which is meant to be a continuation of the allegedly “scrapped” BMW Concepts Coincidentally they are both China world premieres.

I don’t know about you but to me, it looks like BMW has finally got their new post-Bangle car design just nice with this, although you could say that they are probably also playing kinda it safe. But when a concept car is this ’safe’ it’s definitely really close to production. The F01 7-Series was pretty nice looking but its nostrils are oversized. The 5 GT is just ugly. The new 5 looks good but still feels a little off in terms of design. This is near perfection, maybe if the rear number plate was on the bood instead of on the bumper it would look even better, but it’s still sex on wheels as it is.

The Concept Gran Coupe is a four door sedan, but the B pillar is hidden. There are traces of previous concept cars in the design as well – the tail lamp internal lense design is similiar to the one on the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics although on that car on the Concept Gran Coupe it is enclosed inside a tail lamp.