From what we’ve been told, the next-generation BMW 5 Series will be a handsome, understated looking car. Essentially, BMW wants to sorts of design languages: big and bold for the higher end luxury models, and understated and reserved for its more normal models. The 5er will fall into the latter camp and you can tell in these new spy photos. (We don’t own the photos but you can see them here)
In these new photos, you can see the new 5 Series up close, in heavy camouflage, but without as much body panel fakery as we’ve seen before. There are a few fake panels clearly added to this test mule, such as the panels covering the hood, the Hofmeister Kink, and the taillights but there isn’t too much. Which is good because the car seems to have a sleek, handsome design that we’re really excited to see.
Up front, slim headlights flank sensibly sized kidney grilles. While the grilles are still pretty large, they’re far more reasonably sized than those found on the new 7 Series or even the 4 Series, which is refreshing. It also gets flush door handles, like on most new BMW models, which not only look cool but are more traditional. One interesting bit of design to note is the taillight texture. In one of the zoomed in photos, you can see an interesting pattern to the texture of the taillights, which is neat.
The test mule in these photos is a plug-in hybrid, judging by the large “Hybrid Test Vehicle” badges. We don’t know if that’s a sensible hybrid, such as a BMW 530e, or a high-performance hybrid, like an M560e. I’m inclined to think the former, though, judging by the test mule’s lack of visible exhausts. However, it isn’t the fully-electric BMW i5, as that car is set to debut next year and will likely have a more unique design.
[Source: Motor1] [Top Image: instagram.com/wilcoblok]
