New BMW X5 can’t hide Neue Klasse influence as 2025 launch approaches

The BMW X5 laid a lot of the groundwork for the modern SUV when it launched in 1999, and 25 years later it remains one of the strongest models in the BMW lineup. These new spy shots give us a first look at the future of the X5 as they show the new 2025 model being put through its paces ahead of launch. 

BMW’s SUV range is in the midst of some big changes. Unlike the new X1 with its iX1 counterpart, the new BMW X3 was revealed recently without the option of an all-electric iX3 variant. That space will soon be filled by the incoming Neue Klasse SUV. The larger X5 will sit on the existing CLAR platform rather than BMW’s Neue Klasse architecture, but CLAR can accommodate both internal combustion and electric car powertrains, so there’s potential for an all-electric BMW iX5, too. 

The model we’ve spotted here is a plug-in hybrid, evidenced by the charging flap on the front wing and the exhaust protruding from under the rear bumper. Despite the car having a petrol/engine setup, the front end looks remarkably similar to the electric-only Neue Klasse SUV with a blanked-off grille and headlights that wrap around the front. 

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The side profile shows the length of the next X5 with an extra pillar in the side windows compared to the new X3. There are also no visible door handles as flush-fitting units have been fitted. There’s a slanted bootlid to the rear with an overhanging roof spoiler, but otherwise it’s a familiar shape to the outgoing X5. 

A glimpse of the interior shows that BMW is looking to remove the curved twin display the current X5 uses to make room for a larger central screen combined with a separate, smaller driver’s display. It’s an arrangement we’ve previously seen on the Vision Neue Klasse X concept. 

While we don’t know anything about the all-electric iX5’s make-up just yet, we expect some of the new X3’s powertrains will be carried over to the X5. The X5 doesn’t traditionally come with four-cylinder units like the X3 so we should see the range kick off with a six-cylinder diesel in xDrive30d form with a more powerful xDrive40d above it. Petrol power will come in the shape of a mild-hybrid six-cylinder or a plug-in hybrid system - no doubt with increased all-electric range over the current X5 PHEV’s 62 miles.

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