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Why did Chief BMW Designer Chris “Flame Broiled” Bangle introduce this vehicle to the world? His successor, Adrian van Hooydonk, was responsible for its genesis (in the non-Hyundai sense of the word). At the unveiling, the outgoing design meister said Mr. Hooptie was in The Big Apple on Bimmer business. In any case, what a waste of time. (Not to mention money, as the industry is currently so awash in the stuff.) That said, it was nice to hear Mr. Bangle tell the assembled 3D-glasses wearing throngs that they looked “cute” in a 1950’s Life magazine cover photo sort of way. And I was intrigued to discover this four-door career coupe de grace offers more rear headroom than an X5. Will this, uh, thing ever make production? Do you care?
50 Comments on “BMW Reveals 2011 BMW 5-Series GT...”
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You know, from that angle alone it almost looks like a throwback to the M Coupe, which folks either really loved or really hated.
^^^Ditto. I’m not crazy about the perfectly vertical kidney grille, but this is a far better rendition of “flame surfacing” than the current 5er.
A five-door isn’t such a bad idea (in theory), but how about with BMW’s traditional clean and functional look? With Bangle gone and the economy in the tank might we see the return of real German design? Please?
Ok, so now we have the 5 sedan, 5 touring, X5, X6 and soon the PAS? Or is this the PAS? Or is the PAS the X6? Is this a lowered X6? Will it come with all-wheel drive?
Jeebus, and I thought Acura was bad for overlap…
I don’t like the hatch shape of the body. Front end is ok.
Should the car look more goofy… I’d suggest putting it in the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot section.
I swear that Volvo already made this car ( and I didn’t like the look then) but I’m frankly not interested enough to look it up.
BMW has too many models going. There is just not going to be enough engineering talent to go around. They need to get back to only having a 1,3,5, and 7. I’d also kill all the SUV’s but I’m just a hater.
Those wheels are hideous. Its all good, I guess, if it brings wagons and hatchbacks out of the closet of shame.
The front has a Volvoish look to me and the sides, well, a bath tub.
@lokkii, seems we were thinking the same thing. Just read your post after posting mine.
The front three-quarters gives an impression of a stretched Lancer Sportback
I can get over the front end, but the rest is just awful. *shudder*
They’ll sell in droves, of course. Especially once the economy rights itself.
The front three-quarters gives an impression of a stretched Lancer Sportback
I was thinking the same thing. It has a similar forward-leaning stance as a Lancer.
I love it. Long hood + hatchback + huge yet understated wheels = big win in my book. It looks sporty, fast, and like a battering ram all at the same time.
Then again, I liked the old M coupe too…
I too loved the M coupe.
This is hideous. HID-E-OUS.
It’s like whoever designed the Aztec, had a child that doodled this in between nap time and recess.
I need to go vomit.
I like the combination of usefulness and performance.
A shortened X6 does not a 5 series make.
I guess they think the X6 is a great design. Hey, how’s it selling? Oh, never mind.
It is the PAS, they’ll show it in Geneva, I’ll be there, and I won’t like it.
Sometimes it’s easy to make predictions, even when they are about the future.
Didn’t we see this once as a Saab 9000? Or a Lancia Thema? Or one of the Lancia Betas? Or one of the many Corolla variants?
No wait…it was all those AND my high school English teacher’s Oldsmobile Cutlass
I still say the BMW Brass has a bet going that rich douchebags will pay big money for any vehicle, no matter how pointless or stupid, that has a BMW badge on it. Hey, I wanna add twenty bucks to that pool!
Looks pretty fscking stupid to me. Looks like an X6 or whatever the hell it is.
…and here I thought BMW couldn’t do any worse than Bangle…
This is simply awful.
“Will this ever make production? Do you care?”
Yes, I care. If this makes it to production I will be very sad.
It’s the Subaru Impreza hatchback. Subaru used to chase BMW, now BMW is chasing Subaru.
It looks to me like BMW’s equivalent of the Dodge Caliber.
i read somewhere that they are callin this the 5 series gt. but anyway this is seriously overkill. progressive activity sedan? wtf? to me it jus looks like 7 serious wit a raised greenhouse and a cargo hatch. lame.
Chances are they will build it but it may not come to the US. While frowned upon here as “hatchbacks”, the 5 door configuration is very popular in Europe.
As for the styling? I haven’t been getting excited for BMW designs for quite some time and this is no exception.
Gone are the days of the clean designs exuding understated aggression and elegance. Of late the designs sort of exude a Volvo-esque feminine quality that just doesn’t fit the brand. If they wanted more female buyers they should have bought Volvo when they had the chance.
WHISKEY…TANGO…FOXTROT
WHY ON EARTH does BMW want to compete with its own, much better looking, much more practical 5-series wagon?
WHISKEY…TANGO…FOXTROT
WHY ON EARTH does BMW want to compete with its own, much better looking, much more practical 5-series wagon?
I agree with Lokii. Too many overlapping models that are not going to have enough development money to go around. I see a lot of one-generation-only models in BMW’s future. Idiots.
Once again I’m going to have to go with Mister Horse on this one…
“No sir, I don’t like it.”
I don’t get it. Is it a sport sedan or a CUV?
I’ll just take a 5-series touring, thank you. In Satin Black, with the chamois interior.
Wouldn’t touch this with a friggin’ 3-meter pole, mate.
offers more rear headroom than an X5
Ahaahaa that’s … sad! And this isn’t nice looking in photos, hopefully it’s better in person? At any rate it’s definitely not desirable looking.
That’s probably one of the most willfully hideous cars I have ever seen… I predict they’ll sell a million!
The rear IS Aztek. This is a joke, right? Or the redesign of the X5 or X6?
the roof is too tall, it should have been lower and sleeker.
i think BMW building a car for every niche and creating niches to build cars for is a really bad idea. bring back the days of 3, 5, 7 series and a sports car or two
If an X6 mated with a 1 series, this would be the result. I am a BMW fanboi but WTF ?
I know it’s just me, but when I saw the snout the first thing I thought was “Dionne Warwick”.
Bangle may have left the building, but I bet the next half-decade’s worth (at least) of new Bimmers now in the development pipeline all bear his/van Hooydonk’s handiwork. Good thing I don’t care about BMWs.
Ugh. It’s a BMW Venza. Good God, that rear end is hideous.
What…is that?
It looks like someone pulled an X6 out of the crusher before it was done.
Good grief. They’re willing to sacrifice the good name of the 5-series to further justify the mistake that was the X6???
Man, what an ugly vehicle….
Although I think it’s a nice, clean, handsome design, I agree with most of the posters here–taking into account BMW’s current lineup, I don’t see how this will not cannibalize sales of both the 5-series sports wagon and the X6.
I like the direction of BMW’s new designs, and after seeing the new 7-series, I have high hopes that they will return to the straighter, “cleaner” lines that characterize their previous generations (for example, the E34 and the E38) and which make them look athletic instead of overweight.
I own a 2001 E38 and believe that the styling of the new F01 makes it look more like an evolution of the E38 rather than of the E65/E66.
Sort of reminds me of the old AMC Marlin.
Don’t care, don’t want, don’t hope to see it live.
Every time BMW issues another market-focus-group-driven/Bangle derived thing, it makes me actively want to punish the company by withholding my business, even if it means denying myself the few cars they still make that merit consideration.
I’m seeing AMC and Aztek especially in the rear. And that side crease . . . is going to hurt someone, or, at the very least, make it damn hard to detail.
Yes, I definitely see a little of the old AMC style here (Matador coupe, anyone?). But what it really looks like is a Datsun B210 liftback.
And explain to me again why a 5-door hatchback is not a “5-door hatchback.”
I think that BMW must have kept the tooling from the SD1 and the (Sterling) 800-series hatchback from back when they owned Rover and now they’re trying to get the last drop of value out of them.
Atrocious.
Shame on BMW for putting out this crap.
Whatever.
I’d drive that. In white. With the twin-turbo inline-six.
I wouldn’t buy it, though.
Volvo called. They want their drums of turd-brown paint back.
if they dump the 5 Touring and introduce this idiotic, impractical, ugly and useless piece of crap instead in the US, as rumour has it, they don’t deserve to sell any cars….
a HATCHBACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Geez….didn’t they die in the 80’s ?
(and what the !#*& is a”4-door sports coupe…GIMME A BREAK !!)
..is it only me or did good taste vacate the BMW premises for niche wanna-be garbage?