• by Tanya Gazdik , January 8, 2017

BMW of North America unveiled its new 5 Series via Facebook Live Sunday from the 2017 North American International Auto Show.

The event showed off the vehicle ahead of its official debut at a press conference Monday morning at the show. The 17-1/2 minute broadcast, which is still available for viewing, marks the first-ever Facebook Live vehicle debut for the BMW brand, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at what the automaker is calling the most innovative BMW 5 Series to date. 

As of Sunday night, it had already garnered over 26,000 views, been shared over 300 times and received over 719 comments. BMW had been teasing the reveal on its social media during the past few days. 

The broadcast was hosted by Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing, BMW of North America, with Motor Trend's editor-in-chief, Ed Loh.

The pair took viewers through an unveiling of the all-new 5 Series variants, previewing updated design elements and new technological features like Intelligent Voice Control and the iDrive 6.0 user interface. The event included the social debut of multiple 5 Series variants including the 2017 BMW 540i, the first-ever BMW M550i xDrive and the BMW 530e iPerformance.  

The BMW 5 Series Facebook Live event was produced by the agency Laundry Service as a part of its first major activation on behalf of the BMW brand. The agency was selected by BMW of North America as social media agency of record in late 2016.  

Laundry Service teased the Facebook Live Broadcast with photographer and social influencer Karim Mustafa, placing him in the driver’s seat of the all-new 5 Series for a road trip from BMW North America’s New Jersey headquarters to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Mustafa is posting photos and video content from the journey on his Instagram account.

The 2017 BMW 5 Series is the seventh generation of the sedan, which has sold more than 1 million units in the U.S. alone since 1975. It will be available at U.S. dealers in February. Pricing and further marketing plans will be announced closer to launch.