Year after year, BMW designs and builds vehicles we like to drive and vehicles we like to look at. But that's pretty much a given, since we are BMW enthusiasts. We're supposed to like them. Still, it's nice to know that our own appreciation of the marque is mirrored and validated by the editors and readers of many automotive publications around the world. The year 2017 was another in which many BMW products were recognized for their design, technology, connectivity, sustainability, performance, and enjoyable driving.
The new G30 BMW 5 Series Sedan was going to grab some awards. We knew that going in. How could BMW's benchmark midsize premium sedan not be recognized by the automotive press? The UK's What Car? automotive trade journal voted the new 5 Series to be the 2017 Car of the Year. Great Britain's Autocar named it the 2017 Executive Car of the Year as part of its 2017 New Car Award program.
Readers of the German Auto Zeitung trade journal gave the new 5 Series the Auto Trophy - World's Best Cars in the Luxury Class. Not to be outdone, more than 40,000 readers of the German journal Auto Bild Allrad made the 5 Series their choice as Four-wheel-Drive Car of the Year. When did you ever think a BMW 5 Series Sedan would earn that accolade?
BMW put all the connectivity it could muster into the G30 5 Series, and that effort resulted in the car winning an auto motor und sport/Chip 2017 Car Connectivity Award and the coveted Golden Computer award from Computer Bild.
Auto Bild designated the new 5 Series as Value Champion 2017 to recognize the car's long-term quality. The car's design led to it receiving the Red Dot Award for Product Design by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, and an iF Gold Award for outstanding design from iF Industrie Forum Design e. V.
With electrified vehicles being so high on BMW's priority list, it must have made company executives feel good about taking home some hardware for products from BMW i. For example, even though the BMW i3 has been on the street for almost four years, readers of Auto Zeitung still felt it deserved an Auto Trophy World's Best Cars in the Electric Car category, while the BMW i8 took home a Green Mobility Trophy in the Best Hybrid Car class.
The BMW i3 and BMW i8 were voted Green Auto Test winners by the automotive trade journal Auto Test in collaboration with Ökotrend. The BMW i3 took the Small Car class and the BMW i8 won the Coupes class as each were voted a Most Environmentally Friendly Car. Auto Bild Allrad readers voted the BMW i8 a Four-wheel Drive Car of the Year in the Four-wheel Drive Hybrid Cars category.
Back in the U.K., the refreshed BMW i3 won the What Car? Car of the Year as well as Autocar's New Car Award in the Electric Car of the Year category. Meanwhile, the BMW i8 won an International Engine of the Year Award for the third straight year.
BMW iPerformance vehicles were not forgotten. The BMW X5 xDrive40e iPerformance was named Green SUV of the Year by the Green Car Journal in the U.S.
BMW's emphasis on connectivity paid off with a bunch of accolades from Auto Bild as it won in the Best Brands Award with best ratings in the Connectivity and Infotainment category for Connected Car, Assistant Systems, Menu Navigation and Operation, Smartphone-to-Internet Connectivity, and Well-connected Services.
In the auto motor und sport/Chip 2017 Car Connectivity Awards, BMW’s Navigation system Professional received honors in the Navigation Systems category, while the BMW WLAN Hotspot did the same in Entertainment/Multimedia, and the BMW Touch Display won the Operating Concepts/Displays.
If the company's products are winning awards, perhaps the company itself deserves recognition. That's what BMW received from the Best Brand Organization (which includes ProSiebenSat. 1 Media, WirtschaftsWoche, Die Zeit, and Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung) when BMW was honored as Best Corporate Brand in the International category. The BMW Group received the Robb Report's Luxury Award in the Business Enterprise class. The BMW Group was also named the Green Car Test Winner by Auto Test and Ökotrend and also presented with the title, the Most Environmentally Friendly Brand.
New BMW Group products were not the only ones to receive distinction in 2017. The BMW 600 was voted by Auto Bild readers to receive the Golden Classic Steering Wheel award and the BMW M1 took home a Motor Klassik Award.
For a comprehensive summary of BMW's 2017 awards, see the long list below.
With the onslaught of new and Life Cycle Impulse BMWs expected in the new year, we expect more accolades for the marque will start showing up almost immediately.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
Prizes awarded by Auto Zeitung:
“Green Mobility Trophy”
BMW i8 (best hybrid car)
“Auto Trophy – World’s Best Cars”:
BMW i3 (electric cars)
BMW 3 Series (midsize class)
BMW 5 Series (premium class)
BMW X3 (SUVs from €25,000 to €50,000)
Prizes awarded by Auto Test and Ökotrend:
“Green Auto Test Winner/Most Environmentally Friendly Cars”:
BMW Group (most environmentally friendly brand)
BMW i3 (94 Ah) (small cars)
BMW i8 (coupes)
Prizes awarded by Sport Auto:
“Sport Auto Award”:
BMW 340i (sedan/touring models up to €50,000)
BMW M240i Coupe (coupes up to €50,000)
BMW M240i Convertible (convertibles/roadsters up to €50,000)
BMW M2 Coupe (coupes up to €100,000)
Prizes awarded by Auto Bild Allrad:
“Four-Wheel Drive Car of the Year”:
BMW 5 Series (four-wheel drive passenger cars over €40,000)
BMW i8 (four-wheel drive hybrid cars)
Prize awarded by Motor Klassik:
“Motor Klassik Award”:
BMW M1 (classic cars of the 1970s)
Prize awarded by Auto Bild Klassik:
“Golden Classic Steering Wheel”:
BMW 600 (small cars and compact cars)
Prizes awarded by auto motor und sport and Chip:
“Car Connectivity Award 2017”:
BMW 5 Series (connected car)
BMW Navigation Professional (navigation systems)
BMW WLAN Hotspot (entertainment/multimedia)
BMW Touch Display (operating concepts/displays)
Prizes awarded by Auto Bild:
“The Best Brands”:
BMW (connected car)
BMW (assistant systems)
BMW (menu navigation and operation)
BMW (smartphone to Internet connectivity)
BMW (well-connected services)
Prize awarded by Computer Bild:
“Golden Computer”:
BMW 5 Series (connected car)
Prize awarded by Auto Bild and Schwacke:
“Wertmeister 2017”:
BMW 5 Series (premium class)
Prizes awarded by auto motor und sport:
“Autonis”:
BMW 2 Series Coupe (compact class)
BMW 4 Series Coupe/Gran Coupe (midsize class)
Prize awarded by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen:
“Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017”:
BMW 5 Series Sedan (passenger cars)
Prize awarded by iF Industrie Forum Design e. V.:
“iF Gold Award 2017”:
BMW 5 Series (automobiles)
Prize awarded by Best Brands:
“Best Corporate Brand (international)”:
BMW
Prize awarded by Robb Report (US):
“Luxury Award”:
BMW AG (business enterprises)
Prize awarded by Engine Technology International:
“International Engine of the Year”:
BMW i8
Prize awarded by EuroCarBody 2017:
“EuroCarBody Award 2017”:
BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo
Prizes awarded by What Car? (GB):
“Car of the Year”:
BMW 520d (Overall Winner 2017)
BMW i3 (Electric Car £20,000 – £40,000)
BMW M140i (Best Hot Hatch > £25,000)
Prizes awarded by Autocar (GB):
“New Car Awards”:
BMW 5 Series (Executive Car of the Year)
BMW i3 (Electric Car of the Year)
BMW (Technology Award)
Prize awarded by Test Aankoop/Test Achat (B):
“Best of the Test”:
BMW 3 Series Touring (Family Break)
Prize awarded by Green Car Journal (US):
“Green SUV of the Year“:
BMW X5 xDrive40e iPerformance
Prize awarded by U.S. News and World Report (AUS):
“U.S. News Best Car”:
BMW X3 (Best Luxury Compact SUV for Families)
Prizes awarded by cars.co.za (SA):
“Consumer Awards”:
BMW 750Li Design Pure Excellence (First Class of the Year)
BMW M2 Coupe (Performance Car of the Year)
Prize awarded by Car and Driver Magazine (BRA):
“Best Premium Sedan”:
BMW 5 Series
Prize awarded by NDTV Car and Bike (IND):
“Luxury Car of the Year”:
BMW 7 Series
