Reports Point to Two BMW Introductions at Shanghai Auto Show

[OmarKareem]

With the Chinese market being highly important for luxury manufacturers the world over, it makes sense that auto shows in the country would become an increasingly popular place for debuts

Last year, the Gran Coupe Concept was shown off at the Beijing Auto Show, and BMW debuted a production model extended-wheel base 5-Series at the show. In addition, Mercedes-Benz showed off its “Shooting Break” CLS preview concept. This year the debuts in the country promise to continue, with reports about BMW showing off two high-end models at the Shanghai Auto Show

BMW has a penchant for very lightly-veiled preview concepts. As such, when it showed off the 6-Series Coupe at the Paris Auto Show last year, everyone took it as a preview for what was coming next – the 6-Series Coupe

It was – but oddly, the 6-Series Convertible debuted first at the North American International Auto Show. Traditionally, a coupe model is always launched before the convertible. We guess BMW wanted to change things up on us. AutoWeek is reporting that the production coupe 6-Series will be making an appearance at the Shanghai show, in April

That’s not all though – a concept preview of the M5 could be coming as well. With a new-generation of the 5-Series going on sale last year, the V-10 powered previous generation M5 has been phased out. As an important model for the M Division, it can’t come soon enough

According to German automobile magazine AutoTelegraaf.nl, the new car is said to be powered by the 5.5-liter V-8 used in the X5 M and X6 M. The twin-turbocharged unit would make a startling 600-horsepower in the M5. Could it unseat the Cadillac CTS-V as the world’s fastest production sedan 0-60? Time will tell. With a potential preview at Shanghai to tide us over, the production model BMW M5 is slated to make its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show this fall