nwilliams

Can't tell !!!

Same here !!!!! It really looks the same !!

I say this with a real feeling of relief!! I bought a 2007 530i about 7 months ago and the dealer told me a facelift for the 5 series wouldn't happen for a couiple of years so I shouldn't worry about my new car looking dated right after I bought it!!

He was full of $hit about the car not getting a facelift but based on what I'm seeing...it's really a minor change! not like the 3 series where the difference can be spotted from far away.

One thing I don't understand is the facelifted model shown on the BMW website has a 530i badge on it ? I thought it was being replaced by the 535 ??

FairfieldCT

My car is just a month old. I wonder what it would cost to have the inside of the doors replaced? Think they could retrofit the new shifter? The parts must be interchangeble... otherwise they would never spend the $.

Thoughts?

nwilliams

I wouldn't bother! My car is 5 months older than yours !

From my experience with BMW thus far with regards to pricing...the differences are so small that the extra money you would spend on retrofiting these changes would be much better spent on something really cool...like some nice OEM BMW rims.....or ??? anything that works for you !!
I'm sure the cost of these retrofits would be pretty ridiculous!!!

And I believe the new shifter isn't available until June '07...if you look on the BMW website it mentions that date on the new shifter.

just my 0.02 cents !!!

snkpkp

its just a very subtle face lift. Love the new chrome line in the under grill. not much fan of the I wonder if we can change the front and rear lights.

mic325

I don't think you can retrofit the door panels within a reasonable budget. I am not sure if you have to replace the airbags as well, those are intergrated into the panels.

For the shifter, I don't think it can be changed at all. Seems like the transmission is all new, and the shifter is more like a electric switch than the old mechanical linkage one. I am not sure about this one, maybe we can take a look at the X5world.com and see how those people say about the shifter.

The trunk looks like they have a lite version of the M5 trunk finsiher. Whereas in the M5, it covers the keyhole, in the facelifted car, the keyhole is still here. LED tail lights looks good, BMW will probably come up with a retrofit kit just like the facelifted E46 coupe/cabrio.

The new idrive shortcut key and the center console looks good. The ashtray seems to have move from in front of the shifter to the vertical center console. The new compartment looks like some type of drawer, with all those PDC, heated seat buttons on the sides of it. It was below that cubby hole in the pre facelift model. A/C control panel is a little bit different too. The circular button has different functions now, so are the around the center dial. I was hoping the facelifted E60 will get the new A/C control panel from the E90/92, with a digital readout, it seems more in-place then the plain rotary style knobs.

aybeesea

Not sure about the strange chrome on the steering wheel spokes making it look like an upside down Merc symbol and the door interiors are a big yawn.

From a gadget perspective I covet the function keys (just because I don't have them).

Most importantly it remains the ultimate DRIVING machine.

F10 awaits...

ABC

rodybmw

A couple of thoughts about the E60 facelift:

-I'm glad that BMW did not do the facelift on the E60 the way they had done it on the E53, E46, and E65. The way they had done it on those models was that they actually changed the shape of the lights so that it made it impossible to retrofit the lights on the pre-facelift versions (unless you actually changed the fenders, bumpers and sometimes even the hood and trunk). The way they did it on the E60 is that they changed the look of the lights without changing the shape, so it does not make the pre-facelift E60's look dated and even makes it possible to retrofit the lights on an older E60 if one wishes. This is the way they had done it on the E39 as well.

-The LED taillights seem to have LED turn signals and CELIS rods, but the actual brake lights seem to be incandescent bulbs behind the CELIS rods. At least that is the way it looks in the BMW.com animation, and that is the way the E70 X5 is.

-I hope that they do in fact use the bumper mounted amber reflectors on the US models like they have on the E92 and E70 instead of having the amber reflector integrated with the headlights. Obviously the US models HAVE to have the amber reflectors somehwere. If it's the bumper mounted ones then it leaves the nice look of the clear headlights alone, like the Euro models. The amber reflectors on the bumpers do not bother me, but if they did there are plenty of solutions to alter their look. They can be painted body color, or can be replaced by clear or smoke reflectors once they become available aftermarket (like they are for the E46 coupe). If they use the bumper mounted amber reflectors on the US model and leave the headlights all clear then those of us that have been wanting to get the clear Euro headlights for years and looking on eBay.de will actually be able to buy the US post-facelift clear headlights and put them on our older E60's (that is if BMW does in fact use the bumper mounted reflectors and leaves the headlights clear).

-I guess those people (on Roadfly and some car magazines) that predicted a major redesign by BMW to get away from the "Ugly Bangle design" must be pretty dissappointed now

nwilliams

Here's some nice full size photos of the facelift 5 .....don't know if they were posted but here they are:

Rudy

Thanks for the pics!

miss525i

Nice finding fp60!
Very minor changes... Looks great! I like the new space gray very much.