The luxury German automaker, BMW, has recently been spotted testing a new vehicle model that is believed to be the next generation variant of the company’s 5-Series model. The car has been caught on camera undergoing some cold weather testing of sorts side-by-side with the luxury German marquee’s current generation 5-Series model.
Judging by the spy images, the upcoming 5-Series from the German company should bear identical body proportions as that of the current generation variant of the model. However, as far as the visual styling is concerned, we can always expect BMW to treat its new vehicle lineups with an evolutionary design language. It is also mentioned that the upcoming 5-Series will be riding on the company’s 35up chassis which underpins the latest generation variant of the company’s flagship model, the 7-Series.
The upcoming BMW 5-Series will reportedly be considerably light as well, thanks to the use of carbon fiber and aluminum materials. This decrease of weight has even reportedly made it possible for the German company to implant onto the car a 1.5L 3-cylinder turbocharged engine which has been derived from the company’s 2-Series Gran Tourer and Active Tourer lineups. However, keep in mind that this is not official at the moment.
A plug-in hybrid variant of the next generation BMW 5-Series will most likely be available as well. This one will allegedly make use of a turbocharged 2.0L engine with four inline cylinders as well as an electric motor unit. This configuration gives the car 313 HP of power and 450 Nm of torque. The car will also count on a lithium-ion battery pack with a total capacity of 9 kWh and an 8-speed automatic Steptronic gearbox.
For customers keen on buying the range-topping M5 model, they may as well expect BMW’s typical xDrive all-wheel-drive (AWD) drivetrain. In addition to that, buyers of the M5 may also get a 4.4L V8 engine with twin turbochargers, bursting out 626 HP of power output in total.
Last but not least, we can all expect the upcoming BMW 5-Series to hit dealerships June next year, with a wagon (Touring) variant to follow in November the same year. Also, considering the model’s popularity in China, the 5-Series may even head to the country as soon as in the oncoming year of 2017.
