Spy shots of BMWs in development are fairly common. A new BMW model is big news, so any photos showing them testing will be flashed around the world in a matter of hours, if not minutes.
Such is the case of these photos of the likely 2017 5 Series plug-in hybrid version. Theoretically, if we can look past the swirly camouflage, we can see what the new 5 Series will look like.
But look closely. We’re betting that BMW won’t be selling many cars with body panels held together with sheet-metal screws.
It appears that BMW is no longer satisfied with camouflaging development and test cars with its familiar irregular swirls and circles patterns. Now it is covering up new design lines entirely with fake body panels. We don’t know if this is simply to thwart the seemingly ever-present spy photographers who camp out in Munich or at the Nürburgring, or to cut down on speculation about new models from people who write about cars—like us. Or, given the predilection of other car companies to copy BMW design trends, to keep the competition guessing until the last possible moment.
In the end, until the official reveal of a particular BMW model, we don’t know for certain what the styling details will be.
Having said that, we can see the general outline of the car, and how the headlights and about half of the taillights will look. It has a traditional Hofmeister kink. The front fascia is pretty well disguised, but we can at least see how the kidney grilles look. Otherwise, it looks like the new 5 will be an evolution of the current 5 with some design cues from the new 7 Series thrown in.
The electric charging port door on the left front fender indicates this particular model will be a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which again, is no surprise since BMW has promised a PHEV version in every series. There is already a BMW PHEV with a 5 in its name that’s about to hit showrooms: the BMW X5 xDrive40e. If a next-generation 5 Series PHEV has a similar power train, that means a combination of a two-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine and an electric motor that will together produce over 300 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque.
All that power should make a new 5 Series move even better than an X5, since the next 5 will undoubtedly be on a weight-loss program much like its elder sibling, the G11/G12 7 Series that weighed more than 200 pounds less than its predecessor.
We look forward to eventually seeing the next 5 Series in its final form, but until then we’ll have to be thankful when we can just see it without the sheet-metal screws.—Scott Blazey
[Photos courtesy of Automedia via worldcarfans.com.]
