Asian Carmakers Corp., the authorized distributor of BMW vehicles in the Philippines, will launch the all-new 5-Series sedan this June.
According to Asian Carmakers marketing director Maricar Parco, Asian Carmakers will initially bring in just a petrol variant of the 5-Series by May. The second variant, a diesel, will be made available before the end of the year.
The 5-Series variant that will first be introduced in the Philippines will be the 523i. Powering it will be an inline-six, 2.5-liter engine that will churn out 204hp and 270Nm of torque. Mated to it will be BMW's eight-speed Steptronic transmission to give the driver a semblance of manual control over the automatic system.
Designed by current BMW design chief Adrian van Hooydonk, the all-new 5-Series eschews the controversial ‘flame surfacing' design and ‘Bangle butt' rear end of its predecessor for a more conservative and sober look.
Although the 5-Series will officially be available in June, Asian Carmakers is already accepting pre-orders for the 5-series at P5.79 million.
As for the other 5-Series, the Gran Turismo, when TopGear.com.ph asked if Asian Carmakers has any plan of bringing it here, Parco said, "we've received some inquiries about it but we haven't received a confirmed order for it yet."
"But if someone places an order and puts down the money for it, we'll be glad to bring it in," Parco added.
