German Car Forum

seriously, wheels very much like these have been on this X5 and the previous one

Looks pretty big. I have a hard time believing the greenhouse is going to be that large, the 7'er next to it has a lower and more "Coupe-like" profile than that 5. I think it looks good actually (I don't like windows that are too narrow on Sedans), but it's definitely interesting. Will make for a nice and "airy" cabin though which many Sedans are starting to lack these days. I think it looks great so far.

Oh my. The sleekness of this thing already - despite the still heavy application of cladding. This'll shake up the segment good 'n proper!

I'm telling you - I feel it in my bones: a return to E39 levels of dynamism, elegance and class domination.

Makes your toes tingle at the thought of such a thing...

Yep, me too. Just look at that 7er next to the 5er....While the 7er is one of the more stunning sedan designs, it even looks awkward next to the beauty of the 5er....
F10 5er will be perfect. Simple as that. Just like E39 was perfect when new....

Same goes for E60...And it's still perfect...

same sausage different lengths, although BMW has been denying it but I think we will witness it soon.

Are you thinking of the 5-series and the 7-series?

Not so much for the E60. Not bad, but not even close to the E39 which was a much more engaging car in my view. Many years since the introduction of the E39 and it still has presence and compares favorably with current competition (including the E60). I still stare and smile when I see one out on the road.

The F10 looks very promising. My only concern with the most recent photo's is the height of the cabin. Looks too tall, E60 like.

Tell me, i've owned E39 for 5 years...

But i still stand by my opinion...

The 5 series was a class leader since it's inception and that will continue with the next 5er! This one although wrapped in cladding already looks like it's destined for greatness!

Yes Dr. I believe BMW is going through this route. Resemblance between the lineup has increased significantly. Except maybe the Z4

^Which sucks.. and leads to the FACT that the Z4 is the only truely beautiful car from munich in a long long while...

Some are straight out ugly..
And some are pretty nice (X6 and 7er)

I would add E92/93 to your list of pretty BMW´s.Only really,really ugly BMW is current X3..other models are more or less good looking IMO .

Its not about resemblance but rather family face. You are recognisable as a eg. Jones or Smith cos you look like one. If you wanna crit a firm for using same sausage diff length then crit Audi. They're the worst offenders.

The Audi that really irritates me is the Q5. I can't understand how people can call it beautifull. Its one of the most boring bland looking cars on the road today, and its a smaller Q7.

Atleast we can say that the MB line up deversifies the most..

the resemblence between C,E,S, and the roadsters is faaaaar greater than the ones in the audi and bmw line up..
and on top of that you can still recognize each one of them as a MB
so i dont buy what the above poster says with the family face

This is simply because Mercedes Benz seems to change their design direction with nearly every model and has no chance to create design attributes apart from the obvious trademarks.

^ I think thats positive..they have plenty of trademarks..
So they shuffle things..and keep it fresh

I see it as a lot of indecision in the direction of the brands styling. However, the current retro-angular theme seems to be on track for a global product theme, E Class, E Class Coupe and SLS showing the way.

When we will see FEP 5 sedan ? Thanx

1st FEP stage has already started - mind the original light clusters featured on the prototypes. That usually indicates the 1st stage.

Next stage (2nd) is the heavy camo removal.

And the latest stage of FEP is after announcement - cars with only slight camo (few tapes on body, or only badges taped).



So, the 1st stage is easy to forecast - since there is usually a deadline for FEP beginning. So is the 3rd stage - coming very soon after first press release.

The 2nd phase is usually problematic - since there are no deadlines no other co-actions (eg. press release) to indicate the beginning of such a phase.

Since sometimes they start with 2nd phase directly ...

Also - now with usage of that psychedelic tape it's very difficult to distinguish between FEP & pre-FEP cars. Since the tape is used in pre-FEP stages as well - over the heavy camo (eg. check 6er, X3, 1er spy pics).

As said: the best indication of FEP start are prototypes with original light clusters (rear & front) - not eg. that rear round LED testing clusters as usually seen on initial prototypes.


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I was told that X3 would be "exposed" very soon after X1 press release announcement . So, expect X3 FEP II prototypes to hit the streets in the next days.

Regarding 5er sedan & 6er ... Mid-sommer & early fall, I was told. First pre-FEP 3er GT prototypes will hit the streets near the end of the year. Yet the latest BMW CEO indicates that can happen even sooner.

Also: expect Mini Spyder prototypes, soon. And much more exposed x-over ahead of IAA.

Maybe so, but not nearly like Audi. BMW is going back to the normal way, where all cars are distictive, but clearly based on the same design ideas...

I lol'd Artist. Only the X3 is ugly, and everything new from the F01 on will simply be stunning, just like the whole 3er line-up, X5, X6, Z4, 1er line.... The only cars looking moderately old, are the 5er and 6er imo. FL 6er or 5er M pack is still hotttt though

Yes but I never mentioned anything about Merc cos i agree with you about Merc. There are 1 or 2 models with great resemblence tho (ML class, GL class), but certainly Audi is the worst offender. So its not such a bad thing to be in the middle. By the way Scott Eni the ML class prototype is doing its rounds testing so BM should be busy with the next X5.

Yes there are certain similarities, use of design cues etc. but when I read that sausage simile, I can only think of Audi and to that state BMW has a long way...

We will knoe how similar are the new BMWs when the F10 is revealed. The front lights seem to be very similar to the ones on the 7er, the kidneys are different, and we still don´t know about the rear lights.

EnI and Scott told us months ago than the rear lights would be an evolution of the current car ones, slimmer and don´t wrapping into the side profile that much, but when I see the spy pics I can only think the we will see the same big L-Shape than on the F01, and that the EnI and Scott description was only for the exterior part of them, and that that description is also valid for the exterior part of the F01 rearlights.