BMW M5 facelift is already testing with a less piggy face

The G9X generation BMW M5 has barely been on sale for six months but we’re already seeing prototypes for the facelift (or life cycle impulse in BMW speak) rounding the Nürburgring, after first being spotted cold weather testing at the beginning of the year. Expected to debut in the latter part of 2027, no amount of disguise (short of total facial cladding) can hide the fact that BMW’s mid-sized saloon is getting a Neue Klasse makeover.

Facelift models don’t usually feature wholesale changes to the bodywork, but BMW is planning to buck this trend with its 5-series and M5 overhaul. At the front the headlights and front grilles look very similar to the Neue Klasse saloon concept, with horizontal kidney grilles with the headlights integrated into the overall shape, replacing the slightly piggy, E60-reminiscent face of the current 5-series and M5. Extensive air intakes remain in the lower section of the bumper. There are camouflage panels hiding what we would assume to be revisions to the tops of the front wings and the central bonnet area, too. 

What wasn’t too visible in previous spy images was the rear of the car. Not so on the car captured lapping the Nürburgring. Here there will not be quite such a dramatic change, as at the front. There still appear to be slender, horizontal rear light units with broadly the same shape as the current car’s. What’s not known is the arrangement of the lighting within.

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The current powertrain which features a twin-turbocharged V8 and an electric motor will remain with the combined output expected to rise a smidgen from its current 717bhp and 738lb ft. It’s possible that the M5’s weight could drop slightly thanks to advances being made with battery technology which would allow smaller batteries to deliver the same electric range as the current car. Alternatively, the weight may remain the same but possibly feature denser batteries that extend the car’s electric range.

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Will we see another return of the CS badge for the M5? We can only hope, given the excellent eCoty 2021-winning form of the last one. If another M5 CS is in the pipeline, we certainly hope some of the c/700kg the M5 has gained since the last one is shed in the process of adding focus.

Fairly significant changes are expected on the inside, in line with what’s coming with the Neue Klasse range of cars. In the Neue Klasse concept car, BMW’s new panoramic vision system takes the place of the traditional driver’s display that’s integrated in a curved panel with the infotainment display on the current M5. This system features a black strip at the base of the windscreen laden with visuals from pillar to pillar. Then for the infotainment, a large parallelogram (with nipped corners) screen adds to the pixel count, powered by BMW operating system X. All of this has been mooted for imminent production cars but whether the M5’s interior makeover will go the whole Neue Klasse nine yards remains to be seen. We do expect the panoramic vision tech to feature in some way.