[RPiM5]

Initial thoughts are good. Of course we will have to wait until Thursday to get all the good pictures, but based off of these I can offer an early assessment.

From front to back:

Starting off with the lower front bumper fascia, I think they did a great job. The only thing that looks out of place is the sensor mounted in the middle of the lower front grille, but at least it is recessed a bit to not look so out of place. Otherwise this area of the front bumper is very well done and aggressive/sporty looking. I am assuming that in these pictures what we are seeing is the ///M Sports Package as well.

Moving higher, you can tell that there is now a slight lip just underneath the kidney grilles making the front bumper stick out a bit like an enlarged chin on a person, where as on the F10 it is completely flat right there. I prefer that area to be flat like on the F10.

The kidney grilles have once again gotten larger. BMW please stop doing this. However for the G30 it is not nearly as bad as on the G11 as far as size goes. I do feel like the entire front section of the car has a lot more presence though because of how the headlights interact with the kidney grilles, and they made it so that it is not a edgy looking as on the 3/4 Series, giving a more refined/upscale/luxury look, while not being as sporty looking as the 3/4 Series, there is still some sportiness infused, especially with that M Sports Package.

The hood looks longer and flatter this time. Where the hood meets the kidney grilles there is no longer that look where the front bumper dives down a bit, instead it's almost as if the kidney grilles have been raised in height a bit to meet the hood giving a longer hood appearance.

The headlights look good, I was really worried about them, because of what I saw on the G11 7-Series and on the current F30. No, instead the headlights look very refined with smooth lines and that long straight line on the headlight from the fender to the kidney grille gives the front end an elongated elegant look. Even on the bottom of the headlight, the curve is only a small one adding to the elegant appearance.

Lower fenders with reverse air curtain looks good, I am so glad that they did not put the hockey stick on the 5-Series, I would have never bought one. No more signal lights on the fenders for the 5-Series, I think it's a shame, but the LCI F10 moved the side signal indicators to the mirrors, so I was prepared. I prefer them on the fenders.

Sideview mirrors look fantastic. A hell of a lot better than the F generation side view mirrors on non-M cars (not including the M2).

Doors and door handles all seem familiar, nothing drastically different there. The Hoffmeister kink is still there in classic BMW style. I'll have to wait until we get closer pictures of the door handles to really see what's new there.

Moving on the rear, the proportions all seem right with this new 5-Series, they obviously kept a good thing going from the F10. From the trunk (boot) lid down to the exhaust tips, it all looks good. Not too long, not too short. Unlike on Mercedes sedans where I feel that the side profile of the trunk line goes too low. The M Sports Package on the rear bumper looks really good too. I do notice how on the 540i, BMW switched to a more Mercedes like exhaust tip design where the exhaust tips isn't really the exhaust tip. Of course the F10 550i has always had this, but at least with the F10 5-Series you could always tell a 535i from a 550i by the exhaust tips. I do wonder what things they will do different for the G30 M550i versus the 540i concerning the exhaust tip designs.

The tail lights seem to have gotten narrower and more aggressive looking but yet still look refined enough for the 5-Series. However, the way in which the tail light comes forward into the rear quarter area reminds me slightly of a Hyundai Elantra.

The interior. Obviously more pictures will be needed, but so far I like it a lot. I've never been a fan of the floating screen design as it looks like it's out of place or an afterthought, but it works. I love love love the new steering wheel, so kudos to BMW there. I am not sure yet how I feel about that lower center console, I can't see what the cupholders look like yet. It is interesting that BMW decided to move the window control switches back to the arm rest area. In the F10 it was more E39 like, now they've reversed the design again. One thing I do love however, is that they finally finally finally, put the switch to lock and unlock the doors back on the doors themselves. It was always so annoying having to use one button for that function, and we've all been dealing with it for years in almost every kind of BMW model. My E90 had it, my E60 had it, my F10 has it, and my F36 has it. Glad to see common sense finally caught up with BMW engineering.

Overall, from this initial shot of the G30 interior it does look nice, but it also looks more techy and even dare I say sporty, as compared to say a car like the new Mercedes E Class, which exudes luxury over sportiness. If I were looking for a tech laden interior I would have look no further than the G30, but if I wanted real luxury, I'd have to go E Class all day every day. But like I said, we'll have to wait and see what the rest of the interior looks like soon .