Preview: 2010 BMW 5-series revealed!!

Could this really be the new 5-series???

The new design is critical for BMW’s design manager Adrian van Hooydonk and his team, who have to create an exterior that radiates the brand’s distinctive design values and at the same time feels new and fresh. Using information from various sources, these renderings were compiled by our partners over at Sweden’s Auto Motor and Sport and their illustrator Radovan Varicak, giving us a preview of what the final version will look like.

The front-end will likely feature a more upright kidney grille in order to comply with stronger pedestrian protection laws, while the headlights won’t be stretched out like on the current model. BMW’s characteristic interaction between convex and concave shapes will still be emphasized, and will be clearly indicated in the engine hood’s lines.

The rear roofline and C-pillar connects more fluidly to the trunk lid, which is now devoid of the Bangle-butt that was so universally derided with the E60 model. Parts of the tail-lights continue onto the trunk lid in order to strengthen the impression of width. We must say, this design is very pleasing and if BMW’scar looks anything like this, we sure it’ll lure back any customers loss to its rivals because of the controversial styling of the former E60.

The new 5-series is being built off an entirely new chassis, with double wishbones in the front, like on the new X5. The move is designed to give better control and road grip around corners, according to the chassis engineers. With the aid of the extremely fast Flex-Ray automotive network communications protocol, the adaptive shock absorbers is set to become more effective, as will active steering.