FUTURE MODELS: Restrained design changes hide major changes beneath skin of new BMW 5 Series
If you look very closely at the body styling of BMW’s new 5 Series, you might pick up hints that it’s actually an all-new car. But you’ll have to look very closely, with subatomic-spec analytical tools.Of all the conservative new model designs to come out of Germany in the past year, the seventh-generation 5 Series is easily the least adventurous.The upside is there probably won’t be a need to worry about the technology package. The 5 Series has always been BMW’s technology leader, even if the last two generations have seen the panels draped over it in ways that take steady-as-she-goes to the outer edges of middling.The 5 Series, due on sale in SA in March next year, will arrive riding on a 7-Series platform, shortened to 4,953mm, or a matchstick under 5m long.Critically, the car’s mix of high-strength steel, aluminium, magnesium and carbon fibre in its core parts have slashed 100kg from its overall massIt will initially launch with four engines, including the 530i and 540i petrol-f...
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