One of the toughest opponents of the new BMW G31 5 Series Touring comes from its own ranks, because, of course, the new premium touring has to convince many drivers of the predecessor to change to the newest generation. Most of the photos published so far show the new model with the M Sport Package, therefore we don’t have any suitable comparative photos, but we can at least look at the overall design of the two models.
One of the most striking changes in design is the direct connection between the kidneys and headlights, which makes the 2017 BMW 5 Series Touring even wider and sturdier. The innovations on the side view and at the rear of the new touring are less noticeable and evolutionary, but our image comparison makes the essential updates quickly recognizable.
Although the BMW G31 5 Series Touring is 36 millimeters longer, 8 millimeters wider and 10 millimeters higher compared to its predecessor, the weight was significantly reduced. Depending on the engine, the weight of the now over 4.94 meter long touring went down by up to 100 kilograms, of which benefit driving dynamics and efficiency. The lightest model for the market launch in June 2017 is the BMW 530i Touring with a supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine, bringing a weight of 1,640 kilograms.
The larger dimensions set the foundation for an even larger and, above all, somewhat more versatile luggage compartment. The trunk volume grows to 570 – 1,700 liters and its permissible load by up to 120 kilograms, depending on the model variant (to 720 – 730 kilograms).
The G31 5 Series Touring also offers great advances in comparison to its predecessor in the areas of infotainment and driving assistance. Of course, the latest iDrive generation with touch screen, tile optics, gesture control and even improved networking connectivity are used in the new edition.
The Head-Up display with 70 percent larger projection area, the possibility of inductive charging according to capable smartphones, the WLAN hotspot for up to ten mobile devices, the integration of Apple CarPlay and many further detail improvements speak in this area for the G31.
The more powerful assistance systems also enable the new touring to drive the car as a whole: at speeds of up to 210 km / h, the BMW 5 Series Touring can independently take over the steering for a few seconds and provide the driver with a short time-out. Even more comprehensive than before, systems such as the Lane Keeping Assist with active side collision protection are optimally utilized by every adjacent centimeter of roadway width in narrow highway construction sites.
Even if the G31 can drive autonomously in many situations, the joy of driving remains the focus. The integral steering system and the M sports suspension can now also be combined with the all-wheel drive. In general, newly developed chassis components and the reduced weight ensure a much more agile driving feel.
The larger spread of the adaptive chassis, the further improved driving performance and the consumption reduced by up to 11 percent provide further arguments for the new edition.
[Source: Bimmertoday]
Almost no change at all… :/ i would call G30 F10 facelift…
Why mess with success? Under deceptively familiar skin, much change & innovation. WhatCar? In the UK awarded it car of the year, so NOT a facelift.
The risk is it will look old before its time.
How often does that happen to a BMW? Another benefit of carrying classic design cues through generations & across the range. One reason the competition now emulate one sausage/three sizes.
In some markets this is not an issue, in some its a big issue, here in Australia, this strategy has been a total disaster.
In the bangle era, the Three and Five series, plus to X5 used to outsell all is competitors combined. The sales leads were massive. Now the C Class out sells the 3 series 2 to 1. The X5 is lost in a crowded market, were it is competitive but not a class leader kike it used to be. So sad. The BMW of today would never of built the brand that exists today. The new 5 series needs to reassert itself in the face of a new E class. A E63 based on the old E Class were selling for a 50K premium over an M5. BMW’s were even discounting M5’s last year, totally unprecedented stuff.
Sorry but not ever body wants to buy a car and have nobody notice that they just bought a brand new car.
I wonder if the BMW market peaked Down Under for other reasons? US was once their largest market, sales down last year. After years of sales records, the tide is going back out, while still rising in other markets. I’m sure BMW will rally, their model range never stands still. The new E is a big design improvement, but now it resembles it’s brethren. In the Bangle era, competition was far less intense, premium market also much smaller so easier to dominate, particularly while M-B chased Chrysler.
BMW’s competition stepped up, BMW thinking it owned the game just kept doing more of the same.
They say in business you have a generation that builds an empire, the next maintains it, the third squanders it.
The squanders are now in charge.
Disagree. Much of their competition arose because of their success, would rwd. Japanese & American performance sedans even exist? Ditto Mercedes buying AMG or VW marketing a fwd. sedan (whose only competition history was in rallying) as an upscale performance vehicle. This century alone, BMW anticipated the move to crossovers & are ahead in electric as well. When I started following them in 1970, they had one small, expensive 2 dr. sedan on the market, so they have a few generations to go. The competition have stepped up, but that BMW have maintained independence & leadership while others vanish or get bought out is remarkable.
My point is that the conservative BMW of tody would not have taken the BMW of the seventies, to where the brand stands today.
BMW is going great things under the skin. From a technical point of view the G30 is amazing. The design direction on the other hand is now going down the ultra conservative mind set. Fortunately the F10 was a great looking car, so a conservative evolution will be ok for now.
The risk is that in three years time you end up with a car that the market perceives as ten years old not three because the market just sees a styling concept that is that old. That is a problem if your G30 still has four years left in its product cycle.
This works when you are Ford or Toyota putting out a new model every 4 years, they usually do a modest change follow by a major change. If you look back at the years that built BMW into the brand it is today you see a far greater level of styling change between the generations than you see today.
What BMW management do not seem to realise, is that what they are doing at the moment is a experiment with no precedent. There really is no evidence supporting the claim of it being that low risk.
The market for luxury cars has grown enormously, BMW has done ok out of it, but not as well as it really should have.
Conservative is not the word I would use for the manufacturer of the i3 & i8. They have also doubled their sales volume & model range in this century, which I think indicates they are doing better than ok. I have not seen a new 5er as yet (hopefully later this month @ CIAS), but for now I will defer to WhatCar?’s choice for their Car of the Year.
BMW competition has surely stepped above big time. I agree with you on this one as well.
And my personal opinion is that the ‘why fix it when it ain’t broken’ approach of BMW is to be blamed most here.
In this echelon of market, expectations are different. Mere good is average here. No one has time to notice subtle changes. And drastic changes and radical improvements are way of life.
Infact whole auto industry need to change a lot. I personally feel that BMW’s 7 year product cycle will bite them back sooner than later. And if they are going to bring facelift level of changes to altogether new generations then you need all the luck out there.
We are moving quickly. I see that some people change cell phones in six months, vehicles in couple of years. And these durations are shortening.
With such short attention span for things around and need for changes higher than ever, those who wont adjust according to times will have to bite bullet.
Actually I would argue that the Seven Series is the alarm going of. I just hope somebody is listening.
The S Class proves that there is still a market for this class of vehicle. BMW appears to be trying to blame everything else.
Cars like the Six Series Grand coupe show that BMW is capable of delivering something special if the shackles are removed. All the better for not having a status quo design to follow.
So I hope the new X7 will has its own sense of style, be its own thing, and not just a seven seat X5. It could be epic, I am worried it will not.
There surely is a market for his class of vehicle. i, personally, believe that while BMW was preparing for next gen 7, MB was busy preparing next gen luxury. When i saw the G11 7 the first time i thought was BMW snoozing all the time and hoping that somehow this will be able to hold its own against mighty S. Current S is job amazingly well done even by MB’s standards.
I also feel that BMW honchos never saw S coming in this avatar at all and once they saw that we might be dead on arrival probably, to bring in some sort of distinction to 7, they launched it with half cooked gesture control feature (already considered one of the most redundant feature by many).
For vehicle of this class, Brand image is paramount, second comes the ride quality and third comes interior (actually second and third can be considered second overall). The biggest USP according to BMW India, when 7 was launched here, was laser headlights (HAHAHA). That was the feature they advertised in new 7s promotion. Is it some sort of self acceptance on BMW’s part that rest all is not worth advertising. Despite all the brilliance involved in laser lights, is it enough a reason to sway the prospective customer from S class. What were they even thinking?
I am a bmw fan but i m not blinded by fandom. BMW has to fix a lot if they are to bring some momentum to their side.
I agree with lot of your statements.
BMW’s story is pretty similar in India as well. They sat their shop in India somewhere around 2005-06.
Instantly they beat the pulp out of MB. At that time, most of the models were from bangle era. Compared to MBs of that time, bimmers looked 2 generations ahead. They became a rage almost instantly.
But MB reclaimed its numero uno status by 2013.
There were few factors that resulted this fiasco. Run flat tires were not suitable for our roads, most bimmers had bone shaking ride quality, dubious sales and service support etc. But the biggest factor clearly was their design direction. Most cars, post bangle designs,felt extremely tame and submissive. It felt as if a tiger that was about to roar blurted a timid ‘meow’ instead. :P
This actually leads to one important conclusion here. If designs click with buyers then most buyers are willing to trade for the flaws of vehicles. But if design failed, all the so called improvements beneath the skin are useless. F generation cars had their ride quality properly sorted out but people didn’t liked them much. Heck, even Audi beat BMW by 2012.
Currently MB stands head and shoulders (and probably heal) above BMW in India in terms of brand cache.
Interesting perspective, always interesting to hear a perspective from India
Kind Regards
Best wishes from India :)
I love my 2003 E39 M-sport Touring and expect to put a lot more miles on it, but the 2017 G31 sure looks delicious. Maybe I can afford a nicely used one in about 10 years, that’s the ticket.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/770c8e21a6e9c1fb8facba339525cc4aa8685dcd56219c0f4b14db6e5ffc3e46.jpg