BMW Invades Shanghai, Wave 1: The BMW Concept M5.

by Bertel Schmitt

Published: April 4th, 2011

bmw invades shanghai wave 1 the bmw concept m5

I had planned to go to the Shanghai Auto Show which will open its doors to the press on April 19th. Then BMW sent a long distance bomber over Beijing and carpet bombed me with pictures of everything they will show in Shanghai. Now I can save the money for the ticket and the hotel. I have seen all I need to see. Instead, we declare this Monday BMW Day. BMW Concept M5 gallery after the jump. Right this way ..

Chinese and international visitors of the Shanghai show will drool over this car. So close, and yet so far: They can’t have it. It looks real, downright traditional, but it’s a concept. The BMW Concept M5 “demonstrates how athletic design and the racing-inspired character of a BMW M automobile can be combined with the aesthetic and functional features of a sedan of the upper midrange segment,” says the press blurb. (Who writes that stuff?) No concept machinery under the hood: A real high-revving V8 engine with an unreal M TwinPower Turbo. Hidden cameras will record facial expressions, while special sensors count sweaty palms. You bet the Chinese will DEMAND to get that car. (Why is it not in red?)

#BertelSchmitt #BMW #China #Germany #ShanghaiAutoShow2011

Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 3 comments

Philadlj on Apr 04, 2011
This is what Brilliance should be knocking off, not the X1...

Like Reply
Cole on Apr 04, 2011

LOL if its LWB in China

Like Reply

Recent Comments

TheEndlessEnigma I would mandate the elimination of all autonomous driving tech in automobiles. And specifically for GM....sorry....gm....I would mandate On Star be offered as an option only.Not quite the question you asked but.....you asked.
MaintenanceCosts There's not a lot of meat to this (or to an argument in the opposite direction) without some data comparing the respective frequency of "good" activations that prevent a collision and false alarms. The studies I see show between 25% and 40% reduction in rear-end crashes where AEB is installed, so we have one side of that equation, but there doesn't seem to be much if any data out there on the frequency of false activations, especially false activations that cause a collision.
Zerocred Automatic emergency braking scared the hell out of me. I was coming up on a line of stopped cars that the Jeep (Grand Cherokee) thought was too fast and it blared out an incredibly loud warbling sound while applying the brakes. I had the car under control and wasn’t in danger of hitting anything. It was one of those ‘wtf just happened’ moments.I like adaptive cruise control, the backup camera and the warning about approaching emergency vehicles. I’m ambivalent  about rear cross traffic alert and all the different tones if it thinks I’m too close to anything. I turned off lane keep assist, auto start-stop, emergency backup stop. The Jeep also has automatic parking (parallel and back in), which I’ve never used.
MaintenanceCosts Mandatory speed limiters.Flame away - I'm well aware this is the most unpopular opinion on the internet - but the overwhelming majority of the driving population has not proven itself even close to capable of managing unlimited vehicles, and it's time to start dealing with it.Three important mitigations have to be in place:(1) They give 10 mph grace on non-limited-access roads and 15-20 on limited-access roads. The goal is not exact compliance but stopping extreme speeding.(2) They work entirely locally, except for downloading speed limit data for large map segments (too large to identify with any precision where the driver is). Neither location nor speed data is ever uploaded.(3) They don't enforce on private property, only on public roadways. Race your track cars to your heart's content.
GIJOOOE Anyone who thinks that sleazbag used car dealers no longer exist in America has obviously never been in the military. Doesn’t matter what branch nor assigned duty station, just drive within a few miles of a military base and you’ll see more sleazbags selling used cars than you can imagine. So glad I never fell for their scams, but there are literally tens of thousands of soldiers/sailors/Marines/airmen who have been sold a pos car on a 25% interest rate.