[Jason]

VIDEO:
http://www.bild.de/BILD/auto/2009/05...hrer-hoch.html




Here's a video of the German police pulling over a 2011 5-series (F10) test mule on Autobahn A4. The police found the test car suspicious looking due to its camoflage body suit and decided to do some further investigating.

Note to spy photographers: you've just learned a great way to get any shots of test vehicles you desire (joking!)


Thanks to these German police officers we're able to see some interior details

[mitch_e90]

lmao, that' ll teach BMW!

and then is it me, or is the cop on the left side of the first picture looking like he' s pulling his gun?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by mitch_e90

lmao, that' ll teach BMW!

and then is it me, or is the cop on the left side of the first picture looking like he' s pulling his gun?

That's the first thing I thought too

Must be cool to be a police officer on the autobahn where you can pull over test mules to check out

[ebeem]

Originally Posted by PM3

surprise, surprise...a carbon copy of the new 7...another bastard child of the F01...BORING BMW

You have two design companies on two different continents, a number of different products with different carachters and different market targets and all they do is the same interior on the X6, X5, 7, 5 and let me guess how the next 3 interior will look like...i bet i can get you a spyshot by tomorrow...

SAME SAUSAGE DIFFERENT LENGHT...i just dont get it...the company directors say they have a plan for the next 10 - 15 years and they will stick to it...they start with the previous seven and make every other car different - wich i thought it was great cause all of the different series have different targets, and now they go back, change what they said - i remember some bmw hotshot saying that people criticised bmw for all they cars looking the same but with different lenghts and didnt want that...and now...same shit just a different smell...i just dont get it

Why do you a) drive a BMW and b) still attend this site
if you a are bashing on any new BMW around?

[FrenchBoy]

Seriously, that looks like a publicity stunt from BMW.

Police pulls over a camouflaged car, a camera is coincidentally right there to film the whole thing. Oh and they are nice enough to open all the doors for us so we can see the inside.

Com'on now...

[Jason]

Originally Posted by FrenchBoy

Seriously, that looks like a publicity stunt from BMW.

Police pulls over a camouflaged car, a camera is coincidentally right there to film the whole thing. Oh and they are nice enough to open all the doors for us so we can see the inside.

Com'on now...

Fine with me, as long as we get to see more of the car

I don't mind strip teases!

[bdardashti]

Nice the new 5er will still have stick!

[Bimmer Nerd]

ugh whatever, as others have replied the interior looks the same, the grill seems to be as huge as the 7 and it looks like its going to have to same headlights as the 7 and 3 series already, come on BMW, seriously give us something exciting, i bet the this 5 series headlights are going to have that white "eyelid" at the top and going to have the 2-3 strips of LED in the back.

[ojwerks]

I dont get what all the hype is about... isnt that how its always been ????

back when the E39 came out... little after the E46 came out and it look alot like the E39 in minature ... and the E39 looked alot like a baby 7 series ....

everytime a "new" car comes out people criticize and say how the current model is so much better...eventually they get popular and make the old model look outdated and people begine to praise the new model..... 90% of the time thats how it is...

[fdsasdasdf]

That looks like the steering wheel from the new 7-series. Am I the only one who hates how it looks?

[MI6]

Originally Posted by PM3

surprise, surprise...a carbon copy of the new 7...another bastard child of the F01...BORING BMW

You have two design companies on two different continents, a number of different products with different carachters and different market targets and all they do is the same interior on the X6, X5, 7, 5 and let me guess how the next 3 interior will look like...i bet i can get you a spyshot by tomorrow...

SAME SAUSAGE DIFFERENT LENGHT...i just dont get it...the company directors say they have a plan for the next 10 - 15 years and they will stick to it...they start with the previous seven and make every other car different - wich i thought it was great cause all of the different series have different targets, and now they go back, change what they said - i remember some bmw hotshot saying that people criticised bmw for all they cars looking the same but with different lenghts and didnt want that...and now...same shit just a different smell...i just dont get it

We all know what the new 5er will look like- the 550 GT is your answer. That being said I do wish the new 5 had a different interior than the 7 but alas it won't happen. Especially when so many complained about the E60's lack of interior quality....

[Handsome_Rob]

Originally Posted by FrenchBoy

Seriously, that looks like a publicity stunt from BMW.

Police pulls over a camouflaged car, a camera is coincidentally right there to film the whole thing. Oh and they are nice enough to open all the doors for us so we can see the inside.

Com'on now...

Dude I've been pulled over by the Polizei twice. I had everything open and was asked to step over by a tree some 30 feet away.

[ROTORHEAD77]

The Politzei do not need PC either. They can pull you over for random checks. They are however, a bunch of professionals from what I can derive. That and they sport very chic leather jackets. They had to give them something to compensate for their 800 Euro a month starting salary.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by PM3

Reason why i am getting a csl...these things along with the current m5 and m6 will one day become classics as beeing the last of the greats.

Dont get me wrong...bmw currently is putting out the best products on the market - the current 3 beeing top of its class,same for the new 7, the x5 is perfect, again best of its class, the current five is getting better reviews compared to the brand new e merc and contrary to what most of you think I actually believe the 5GT will be a good sucess for bmw because its a great product - i dont like it but it is - the question in the end, and what i have been trying to say is: should bmw be the carmaker to put out these products?

hands here who think bmw should make a GT5 instead of cls 4 door competitor? who thinks bmw should build a X5 or X6M instead of a m3 csl? and who here believes bmw should spend billions developing a 7 series hidrogen instead of R8 competitor?

BMW build a reputation for beeing a premium brand with a focus on sportiness and fun cars to drive and lately I just feel this isnt the case.

You probably think i am a pessimist...not so. I am a perfectionist. Always have been. And thats why i get so frustrated with the way bmw does things these days.
I will give small examples: the current m3 - it is the best car compared to the rest of the competion (amg and audi and a few others) all carmagazines agree on this (and having driven on on two different ocasions i totally agree. BUT, everybody else had a feeling they could have done better, specially regarding the steering. My opinion is that the car was just to good and they taken it down a notch to make way and reason for a csl but in the end it just got cancelled.
Another example: the 135 (i was actually torn between this and the csl for my weekend twisted roads). It is an excellent machine. This could have been a car that we would still be talking about in the next 20 years like we still do regarding the E30 m3. it was small, nimble, with agreat engine and then...the steering lets it down...shit some carmagazines (and i havent driven one so im taking there word) say that even the front wheel scirocco has more feel that the somewhat lifeless 135 steering..Why??

I will say it again, bmw currently does some of the best cars, if not the best in the premium sector but apart from the naturally aspirated M´s i dont think bmw does a car today that we will still be talking about in the next 20 or 30 years time. Everyone of us here will still remember the r8 or the e30m3, or the e46 m3csl in two or 3 decades but let me know if you still remember the gt5 or the short lived x5m

You have some good points but are forgetting one key ingredient- emissions regulations and the fact HALO cars do nothing for brands; GM and all the others failing have proven that. BMW does not need an R8 competitor; the M3 is darn near close enough. The thing people also need to remember about VAG and the R8 is that many of the pieces are Lambo and VW shared so development was not as costly as it would be for BMW.

The X ///M vehicles were designed to show what could be done with the technologies BMW possesses- While they may not make enthusiasts happy there is a reason for the madness: to reduce development costs across models and the anticipated market read when the X6 was developed was that these things would sell well . If BMW is to remain independent they need to do this.

As far as the CLS goes- BMW has never sold many and the last model was a break even product but the energy focussed on it could have been spent elsewhere, the main focus in the BMW camp is emissions, efficient dynamics and the like. The hydrogen 7 is a long term project (not costing billions) and has received subsidies. It is a better concept than the plug in hybrids that are getting the main stay of attention these days.

BMW will be launching 20+ models in the next 2 years, and many things may surprise you- such as 3 cylinder motors, triple turbos, hybrids for more power rather than efficiency and true two-mode hybrids.

The GT-5 looks better in person and personally I rather see soccer moms driving something like that than a SUV- The PAS concept is the foreshadowing of fading of SUVs, the X1 is along the same lines.

There will be styling differences from the 5er and the GT, the interior of the 5 will be more along the lines of the GT than the 7 and there are differences between the 7 and the GT, so I am not sure why everyone things they are the same?

When you see the car in person I have a feeling you will view things differently.

The 1 series steering is a bit disappointing but on the other hand it does not surprise me as the system was never intended from the start to be for such a performance model- the N54 was designed after the hatch and the coupe was an after thought. The next generation will be designed to accommodate more derivatives.

From what I am hearing some of the next gen cars will even feature SPARE TIRES and BMW will fade out RFTs! we will see but that is a distinct possibility as the tire brands have not fulfilled their obligations and promises.

[Norsk]

Originally Posted by FrenchBoy

Seriously, that looks like a publicity stunt from BMW.

Police pulls over a camouflaged car, a camera is coincidentally right there to film the whole thing. Oh and they are nice enough to open all the doors for us so we can see the inside.

Com'on now...

Zeee's Zgerman cops!

[xDrive50i]

Originally Posted by ojwerks

I dont get what all the hype is about... isnt that how its always been ????

back when the E39 came out... little after the E46 came out and it look alot like the E39 in minature ... and the E39 looked alot like a baby 7 series ....

everytime a "new" car comes out people criticize and say how the current model is so much better...eventually they get popular and make the old model look outdated and people begine to praise the new model..... 90% of the time thats how it is...

+1

[xDrive50i]

I don't like it either that BMW seems to put almost the same interior into their cars (e.g. the new 5 series GT front interior looks pretty much the same as that of the 7 series including the steering wheel). But that's to be expected since they will cut down on the amount of different parts that need to be designed, manufactured, stored, assembled, etc... to reduce the cost for all of the aforementioned steps and to streamline the company and make BMW more efficient in the process.

[Year's_End]

[QUOTE=PM3;5228795]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

You have some good points but are forgetting one key ingredient- emissions regulations and the fact HALO cars do nothing for brands; GM and all the others failing have proven that. BMW does not need an R8 competitor; the M3 is darn near close enough. The thing people also need to remember about VAG and the R8 is that many of the pieces are Lambo and VW shared so development was not as costly as it would be for BMW.

The X ///M vehicles were designed to show what could be done with the technologies BMW possesses- While they may not make enthusiasts happy there is a reason for the madness: to reduce development costs across models and the anticipated market read when the X6 was developed was that these things would sell well . If BMW is to remain independent they need to do this.

As far as the CLS goes- BMW has never sold many and the last model was a break even product but the energy focussed on it could have been spent elsewhere, the main focus in the BMW camp is emissions, efficient dynamics and the like. The hydrogen 7 is a long term project (not costing billions) and has received subsidies. It is a better concept than the plug in hybrids that are getting the main stay of attention these days.

BMW will be launching 20+ models in the next 2 years, and many things may surprise you- such as 3 cylinder motors, triple turbos, hybrids for more power rather than efficiency and true two-mode hybrids.

The GT-5 looks better in person and personally I rather see soccer moms driving something like that than a SUV- The PAS concept is the foreshadowing of fading of SUVs, the X1 is along the same lines.

There will be styling differences from the 5er and the GT, the interior of the 5 will be more along the lines of the GT than the 7 and there are differences between the 7 and the GT, so I am not sure why everyone things they are the same?

When you see the car in person I have a feeling you will view things differently.

The 1 series steering is a bit disappointing but on the other hand it does not surprise me as the system was never intended from the start to be for such a performance model- the N54 was designed after the hatch and the coupe was an after thought. The next generation will be designed to accommodate more derivatives.


Those are very good points and I agree with you...i have said it before i think bmw made a very good move with its efficient dynamics and trust me i am all for low consumption - i live in portugal where 1 gallon of super unleaded costs almost 9 dollars, but the point is - and as I have highlighted in your comment - bmw is first a sporty premium brand and as you said, thats not where there focus is anymore! Sure they have to diverse, someone will buy the GT and the X5M, but those core models that made bmw what it is today dont exist anymore and from the look of it they wont anymore. You have to know where to draw a line and create a balance between efficient and dynamic, and for instance, was it worth the sacraficing thee hidraulic steering on the one for the mpg and destroy what could have been one of bmw´s greats??

The only thing i disagree is you saying the m3 is a close competitor to the r8. I spend alot of time in London and let me tell an m3 wont turn half as many heads as an r8...not even close. Again, i know the m3 is a magnificent performance car, probably a better allround, but the R8, even if it was just breaking even, its building the future of audi, not the immediate but in the medium term and longterm. Most people dont see this but the R8 its worth it weight in gold for audi - first, and even if it wasnt a great drive, it trasnpires the notion of a sporty brand. Secondly, the people that look at this car are this car are teenagers. I will give you an example. When my eldest soon was a kid i remember him having a poster of a lambo contach in his bedroom wall. Kids these days dont put many posters but my youngest daughter loves that zach efron kid and in his latest movie do you know what car he drives?? thats right, an R8. And another small detail - and this is a really important one - the other day I was watching The Mentalist - dont know if you guys heard of it - and to cut it short this guy was saying "my daughters friends come pick her up in there audis" !!!! Remember how in the 80´s and 90´s the word bimmer was on every american tv show?? now its audis, and its these kids that today ask there parents for an A4 but tomorrow (10 or 15 years) will buy the A6 or the Q or whatever.
Slowly audi is building an image of THE sporty premium brand and bmw is building cars for the soccer mums. So thats why i thing bmw DOES need an R8, its not about making money of it but build the fan base for the next 20 or 30 years. Why do you think you or I are bmw fans today?? for me it was the 2002 that made me a bmw fanatic. I couldnt afford one so i got a 1602. They may not afford the R8 but there parents might or they might just asked for there 18 birdays, if they are lucky, an A3 or whatever. + i read Van hoydonk saying bmw had the tech and know how to make a bmw supercar anyway.

I will say it again - i am all for efficient dynamics and bmw 5GT ( i actually think it will be a sucess) but lets not forget that this companys moto, its history and what made it what it is today and the reason of us beeing all here today is The ultimate driving machine!! BMW can make (and obviously they dont need my permission all the niche models they want but there are some core values that need to be respected, a healthy balance.

And i will give you another example. I have read that Z4 book (good by the way), and one of the 10 rules for a bmw roadster since the very first bmw roadster ever made was for it to have a fabric roof to keep the weight down and i remember on bmws press releases and some catalogues for previous models bmw saying " our roadster will always have a fabric roof because there isnt anything like the sound of rain on a fabric roof" !!! ... THEY JUST MADE THE NEW Z4 AND THE NEXT 6 WITH A HEAVY, FUGLY LOOKING METAL ROOF!!!!!!!!!! CONSISTENCY SOMEONE?? And then they have the balls to talk about low fuel consumptions and making cars lighter. They say one thing and do another.
My friends say that bmw is like my football (soccer for the good folks across the pond) team cause i speak so passionate about it. I am always saying the audis (audis are i bit more popular here) are shit cause no rear wheal drive and lifeless stearing and mercs are for the geriatric people. And sucessfully - one of my best friends traded is A4 for his very first bmw ever - a brand new 320d - but my point beeing you will always support your team but when the manager sucks you boo them out of the stadium. Just because they lost the championship doesnt mean you will start supporting another rival team.


Oh and you have to admit that the interiors (sure with some minor differences) are getting all a bit alike. They are very luxurious no question there - i thought bmw could never make another interior as good as the one on my seven and then they pull this GT. that i cant denie, its just that they all look pretty much the same.

90% of your posts consist of the same rehashed complaints about BMW's direction.

[Spartikus]

I would be pulling over mules too.

[Mu Mu]

I really cant complain. The way I see it is that, you can get some of the nicer features from the top models in lesser models. I would rather have this than the bangle butt! A long as quality remains up there, coupled with all the elements that make a BMW what it is...I don't care if they take stuff from bigger models and put them in smaller ones. Where I would have a problem is if they were doing it vice-versa.