2017 BMW 5 Series production begins in India ahead of June 29 launch; bookings open

German carmaker BMW has commenced the production of its soon-to-be-launched 5 Series in India. It is brought to India as Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) and is being assembled at the company's plant in Chennai.

The new BMW 5 Series has been scheduled for its launch in the country on June 29. Ahead of its launch, the dealerships of the company across the country have started accepting bookings for the new model against a down-payment ranging between Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 3 lakh.

"BMW 5 Series has been the undisputed leader of its segment and is an absolute success story. The all-new BMW 5 Series that will be launched this month has everything that is needed to take the Indian luxury car segment by storm. I would like to congratulate the Plant Chennai team for achieving this important milestone and we are extremely proud for the smooth start of production of the all-new BMW 5 Series," said Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India.

BMW 5 Series, which was unveiled in the global market last year, is longer by 36mm to 4,935mm, and height has gone up by 2mm to 1,466mm. The wheelbase has also been increased by 7mm while the width got extended by 6mm to 1,868mm. The sedan in its new avatar is also lighter by 100kg as it is built around the BMW's new Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform.

Powering the sedan in India in its new avatar will be a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine developing 190hp in the 520d, 3.0-litre, inline-six unit that can churn out 265hp in the 530d and a 252hp 2.0-litre petrol mill in the 530i. All engines will be mated to eight-speed automatic gearbox.

BMW 5 Series sedan will pack an iDrive 6.0 infotainment system with gesture control, voice control, and heads-up display, electrically adjustable driver and passenger seats and optional 16-speaker, 600-watt Harmon Kardon sound system.

The new BMW sedan will be pitted against Audi A6, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Jaguar XF.