New BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase for China

New BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase for China

BMW has unveiled details and photos of the new long wheelbase version of the 5-series. It definitely doesn’t look like a long wheelbase variant from the outside, instead looking quite ‘standard’ instead of disproportionate with the B pillar to C pillar stretched awkwardly. This is because the original wheelbase F10’s rear door actually looked shorter than the front door, and with this long wheelbase version the doors actually look about the same length now. I actually prefer look of the LWB model to be honest!

New BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase for China

The new long wheelbase 5-er was designed for the Chinese market as the demand is huge there for longer wheelbase versions of cars. Even the Audi A4 has a long wheelbase version called the A4L there. The new range of LWB 5-er comes as 523Li Standard, 523Li, 528Li and 530Li models and the wheelbase has been stretched by 140mm to 3,108mm. That’s actually even longer than the short wheelbase version of the 7-Series (F01) or the 5-Series GT, which have 3,070mm wheelbases and compared to the long wheelbase E60, it’s 44mm longer.

New BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase for China

There are rear-seat comfort options such as four-zone automatic air conditioning, rear-seat entertainment, a cooling box as well as electrically adjustable sunblinds on the rear side windows and a folding table integrated in the backrest of the front passenger’s seat. The high-comfort rear seat bench developed specifically for the long-wheelbase version offers space for three passengers, yet the two outer seats come with single seat contours with lower backrest angles for a more comfortable seating position.

New BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase for China

The 523Li Standard makes 177 horsepower from its 2.5 litre engine which is actually down from what we’ve been enjoying in our E60 523i. Take away the “Standard” from the model name and you get 204 horsepower in the 523Li, a similar tune to the rest of the “23” cars around the world including the Z4 sDrive23i. It’s only the 523Li “Standard” model which gets a further detuned engine. The difference in power accounts for 1.1 seconds in 0-100km/h acceleration time. The 3.0 litre engine in the 528Li makes 258 horsepower while the top of the line 535Li makes 306 horses.

The 5-er LWB is exclusive to China only which is a left hand drive market so don’t expect it to be found on Malaysian roads, not even through the grey importers. Look after the jump for hi-res images and videos of the car.

GALLERY: BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase – Exterior
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1016]
GALLERY: BMW 5-Series Long Wheelbase – Interior
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1017]

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • Toyota drivers are idiots on Apr 02, 2010 at 12:57 am

    So what is the purpose of having the 5-Series Gran Turismo which is essentially a long wheelbase jacked-up 5-Series, or they might just cannabalise the 7-Series

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  • Mazda 3 MPS on Apr 02, 2010 at 1:01 am

    cacat version

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  • me been to china. boy, they sure love long cars.

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  • nabill on Apr 02, 2010 at 2:01 am

    i dont understand why LWB in a place that is not excatly known to have very tall ppl ??

    or is it a inferiority complex at work ?!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • mazda6 784 on Apr 02, 2010 at 2:56 am

    it’s look so ugly to me….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • armandd on Apr 02, 2010 at 2:59 am

    looks better than the standard version.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • JULIAN_LEE on Apr 02, 2010 at 7:26 am

    now we’re talking…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ben X5 on Apr 02, 2010 at 7:38 am

    perfect.. :D..

    now we can have enough space int he 5 series.. with the big size of the 7 hehe :P..

    should be great to drive :D..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • theanswer on Apr 02, 2010 at 8:17 am

    disadvantages for rwd car..no rear flat floor.

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  • tanasi on Apr 02, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Audi beat them to this long time ago

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  • Audi/VW has somewhat Toyota enjoy in this country due to the history of the VW in China. VW=MMC in Malaysia.

    BTW, when it come to driving pleasure l rather prefer RWD with middle hump than FWD though few FWD also great handling like Golf GTI.

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  • carfan on Apr 02, 2010 at 10:27 am

    Makes good sense if u hv a driver esp for companies in Asia. Both the Es and %s neeed to have the extra inches to make it comfortable to be chauffered. The price gap bt 5 and 7 is too large for most company budget in Malaysia. Too bad it will not be available here as it needs to be CKD to be competitive.

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  • rally_fan on Apr 02, 2010 at 10:46 am

    “Toyota drivers are idiots says:
    2/4/2010 at 12:57 am
    So what is the purpose of having the 5-Series Gran Turismo which is essentially a long wheelbase jacked-up 5-Series”

    its so clear, i dont know how it can be anymore clearer.. the gran turismo is meant to be driven by the owner, whereas this is meant for the owner to be driven by a driver.

    bmw continues to not make sense to most people with some of its niche model cars.. but somehow, they are continuously judging their market segments correctly. end of the day, what doesn’t make sense to some of us, seems to make perfect sense to others.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • subhero on Apr 02, 2010 at 11:09 am

    wah.. this new 5 series BMW seats better than CHINA AIR seats.

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  • cordoba1 on Apr 02, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Was in China last week the new Audi A6L sure looks great. Wonder why BMW does not think there is a market here for L versions? Maybe some thinking out of the box is needed…Well if anyone from Audi reading this, it will make a great statement if the new A6 comes with the L version in Malaysia…

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  • phas3r on Apr 02, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    why do they need a compact saloon (audi a4L) with a long wheelbase? just buy the bigger cars cannot? (a6 or a8)

    it’s like creating a long wheelbase kancil, what’s the point of it?

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  • cordoba1 on Apr 02, 2010 at 5:30 pm

    The point is you get lots of space and prestige by having an extended version without paying much more to upgrade to a higher model range. It will also satisfy segment of the market who is kiasu who wants more for less.

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  • Mazda 3 MPS on Apr 08, 2010 at 3:25 pm

    short wheel base FTW

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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