BMW sets price on new 5-er; says no price too high for independence

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Filed under: Car Buying, Sedan, BMW, Luxury

2011 BMW 5 Series - Click above for high-res image gallery

Base model 5-Series? $44,500. Top-line 5-er? $59,700. Independence? Priceless.

Those were the key messages from a luncheon with BMW's U.S. marketing and product planning chief Jack Pitney, who snuck into Motown to discuss, among other things, the upcoming American launch of one of the maker's most important product lines.

The all-new 2011 528i, 535i and 550i models have gone through a significant transformation, and now share much of their underlying platform with the latest-generation BMW 7 Series. But they also share a lower price tag with other high-line sedans, something that reflects what Pitney admitted is a "highly-competitive" U.S. luxury market. The 528i will officially hit American showrooms, on June 19, carrying a sticker that's $1,400 under that of the outgoing model.

Notably, all three models will offer the option of all-wheel drive, as well as a no-charge pick of either an eight-speed automatic or a six-speed manual, the latter likely only to account for about five percent of overall sales, but still critical, stressed Pitney, to reinforcing the brand's "Ultimate Driving Machine" image.

And yes, he stressed, while BMW has been playing with a second advertising tagline, "The Joy of Driving," that long-lived "Ultimate" slogan isn't going away. "That," he insisted, "would never, ever occur."

Gallery: First Drive: 2011 BMW 535i

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BMW sets price on new 5-er; says no price too high for independence originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Drew Dowdell 5,165]

Have you ever seen one of those women who had a nose job to fix the previously botched nose job, yet it still came out looking horribly wrong?

Edit: Anyone know the weight of this thing now that it's been consolidated onto the 7-series platform?

[Cubical-aka-Moltar 1,396]

Edmunds lists the weight of the 6cyl at 4056 lbs.

As far as the styling, not sure what I think of it until I see one in person. I didn't like the Bangle generation at first, but it grew on me over the years.

[Cubical-aka-Moltar 1,396]

By the way, here are the specs as listed on Edmunds.

Exterior

Length: 193.1 in. Width: 73.2 in.

Height: 57.6 in. Wheel Base: 116.9 in.

Curb Weight: 4056 lbs. Gross Weight: 5159 lbs.

Interior

Front Head Room: 40.5 in. Front Shoulder Room: 58.3 in.

Rear Head Room: 38.3 in. Rear Shoulder Room: 56.2 in.

Front Leg Room: 41.4 in. Rear Leg Room: 36.1 in.

Luggage Capacity: 14 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 14 cu. ft.

Maximum Seating: 5

Performance Data

Performance

Base Number of Cylinders: 6 Base Engine Size: 3 liters

Base Engine Type: Inline 6 Horsepower: 300 hp

Max Horsepower: 5800 rpm Torque: 300 ft-lbs.

Max Torque: 1200 rpm Drive Type: RWD

Turning Circle: 39.2 ft.

Fuel Data

Fuel

Fuel Tank Capacity: 18.5 gal.

EPA Mileage Estimates: (City/Highway/Combined)

Manual: 19 mpg / 28 mpg / 22 mpg

Range in Miles:

Manual: 351.5 mi. / 518 mi. / 407 mi.

[Drew Dowdell 5,165]

hmm... I was lead to believe by a certain someone that if I just waited till the next gen 5-series, it would be some ultra light weight wunder car with even more power than the current one.....

when in actuality, it's gone up in weight by over 500lbs with no increase in power.

oh yea, and its now 200lbs heavier than the CTS with the same power.

I know... I know.... just wait for the next 5-series.

[Cubical-aka-Moltar 1,396]

hmm... I was lead to believe by a certain someone that if I just waited till the next gen 5-series, it would be some ultra light weight wunder car with even more power than the current one.....

Well, IIRC, the new 5 doesn't have the aluminum front structure that the Bangle generation had.

[Drew Dowdell 5,165]

So BMW cheaped out..... not only did they move the 5-series to the much larger/heavier 7-series platform, they removed the high tech aluminum structure from the previous generation.

[smk4565 351]

The pricing is pretty good, right in line with the previous model and the Benz. Making the 5-series bigger is a mistake I think, because now it is adding weight like every other car. Hopefully the M5 addresses that, because they can use carbon fiber on it. The E550 weighs 4034 lbs with a V8, I don't know why BMW can't make a lighter weight car than Mercedes, BMW is supposed to build light and nimble cars.

[Drew Dowdell 5,165]

You're not going to rake BMW over the coals for ballooning the weight up 500lbs and 200lbs over the CTS you love to beat on? I'm shocked! shocked I say!

[balthazar 2,009]

^ no you're not.

BMW must be diverting too much attention toward upcoming volume-potential FWD cars to spend much creative thinking toward the platform-sharing, weight-swelling, slower 5-series.

[Drew Dowdell 5,165]

Oh well. So much for BMW. There's still always Jaguar XF on the old Mustang platform..... plastic grills, Kia like reliability, and all.....

[regfootball 251]

hmm... I was lead to believe by a certain someone that if I just waited till the next gen 5-series, it would be some ultra light weight wunder car with even more power than the current one.....

when in actuality, it's gone up in weight by over 500lbs with no increase in power.

oh yea, and its now 200lbs heavier than the CTS with the same power.

I know... I know.... just wait for the next 5-series.

LOL

my first thought too was the weight vs the CTS and /or G8 for that matter.

no excuse for a 500 pound weight gain. so GERMANIC of them.

CTS was derided for a small interior for the size, but look now, the CTS and 5 series interior specs are not that far apart.

Edited April 17, 2010 by regfootball

[regfootball 251]

what is the front rear weight dist on the new one did BMW get rid of their 50/50 weight bias?

[smk4565 351]

The 535i added 330 pounds. Even though the car got bigger and added more gadgets and safety features, that is still too much weight gain. They are forgetting what made the E39 so good, was how agile it was.

They say the weight distribution on the new car is still 50-50 due to use of aluminum in the hood and door panels. But I think they should have kept as much aluminum as possible in the chassis to keep weight now, and they shouldn't have made the car bigger. The E350 is 3,825 lbs and Mercedes isn't really know for making light weight cars.