Nobody asked BMW to slow down, and BMW, to its credit, didn’t. The next-generation X5 and the mid-cycle refresh of the 7 Series have now been photographed completely undisguised, courtesy of The Supercar Blog, and the images confirm what Munich has been telegraphing for months. The Neue Klasse design is a production reality, and it’s coming for your driveway.
Start with the X5, because that’s where the real action is. The new generation has been thoroughly redesigned from the ground up, ditching the cautious evolutionary approach BMW had been nursing for years. The double kidney grille is now longer and more horizontal, think the new i3, then stretch it across a full-size SUV and add a set of revised LED headlights that leave no doubt about which decade this car belongs to.
The muscular wheel arches and the imposing stance are still there, because some things are sacred, but the rear end has been completely reworked. Slim, wraparound LED taillights and a two-tone bumper that makes the outgoing model look like it was designed during a power outage.
The new X5 will cover the full spectrum of global market demands with gasoline, diesel, and plug-in hybrid options. The specific variant caught in the last spy shots is the M60e xDrive, pairing a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six with an electric motor for a combined output of approximately 570 HP.
The Series 7 facelift, meanwhile, is shaping up for its public debut at the Beijing Auto Show this April. The updates are sharper and more surgical. A more aggressive front end, a massive kidney grille that continues BMW’s tradition of kidney grilles you either love with religious conviction or despise at a cellular level, and the same split headlight arrangement introduced with the current model. The illuminated body contour remains, because apparently one round of internet outrage wasn’t enough to kill it.
Both models signal that BMW is fully committed to a new visual era. Whether the market agrees is, as always, an entirely separate conversation.
