gear kereta

New looks, better driving aids and lots of technology under its stretched out skin, that's what's new!

Many must have heard about BMW's oft-spoken conjoined EfficientDynamics term and let me assure you that this is no techno-spiel but a clear indicator as to the very core of this new 5-generation. Incidentally, the Munich car maker seems to have designated the car the F10, having run out of all numbers under its E-series model spread. Judging by the fact that the 5-series historically has had great competitors in the form of the Mercedes-Benz E-class and the Audi A6, the new F10 has to contend not just with these two rivals but also the latest line of Jaguars which have begun their slow but sure journey back to the front lines of the luxury car class.

And it is the Leaping Cat which I see more of in the latest 5-series Beemer, no not just in the way the car seems shrink wrapped around the mechanicals and also the way it is proportioned but the manner in which it rides and also the way it is opulently decked out. Lets start out with the proportions and the exterior treatment which are pretty praiseworthy given Adrian van Hooydonk's touch. Hooydonk who worked with Chris Bangle, on the other BMW models, has finally given the overtly prominent surface flame design theme a more pleasing integration into mainstream car design and where you had the delicious proposition of classic cars with their mile-long hoods and stately cabins, the F10 5-series blends these virtues brilliantly.

The long hood is evident as is the new protruding nose on to which BMW's corporate kidney grille has now been squashed and widened. On either side are the slant-eyed headlamps with LEDs eye-lashed on to its top leading edge. The long hood, with those chiselled lines on it (last vestiges of the surface flame era?) gives way to a rakish A-pillar and from there on the coupe-like glass-area sweeps right to the muscular rear end with BMW's famed Hofmeister kick delivering the essence so reminiscent of the marque in recent memory. The clever use of a character line just below the shoulders plus one just above the door sills, along with the slightly puffed up wheel arches hints at the famed athleticism of the brand, even though the new 5-series has a wheelbase which is longer than that of its predecessor.