BMW's Next X5 Trades Its Old Handles For Flush Panels And A 435-Mile EV Sibling

When the original X5 landed in 1999, it rewrote the rulebook by proving a tall SUV could handle like a sports sedan. More than two decades later, BMW says the fifth generation represents the biggest jump the nameplate has ever taken, borrowing heavily from the brand's Neue Klasse design language while expanding into five distinct powertrain flavors, from combustion to hydrogen.

Visually, the new X5 owes a clear debt to the smaller iX3 that arrived last autumn, picking up that model's smooth surfacing and visor-style front end. But BMW's team didn't just scale up the iX3's look. The full-size SUV gets its own signature touch: paired double-X light clusters up front that fold headlights, turn signals, and daytime running lamps into a single unit.

Walk around the side and the changes keep coming. Door handles now sit as small tabs recessed into the pillars rather than protruding outward, window seals are tucked away for a cleaner profile, and the wheel arches have been sculpted with sharp, almost machine-cut edges. Buyers get 21-inch wheels standard, with factory options stretching all the way to 23 inches, no aftermarket shop required. Adaptive dampers come standard too, though air suspension remains a paid upgrade.

Around back, slim horizontal light bars mirror the double-X motif from the front end, tying the whole design together into something that's still recognizably X5 but noticeably sleeker and more aggressive than before. It's a look that should put real pressure on Mercedes' newly refreshed GLE, which suddenly seems a lot less adventurous by comparison.

Step inside and BMW leans into both premium materials and screen real estate. An available Clear and Bold package brings genuine slate trim to the center console alongside glass-topped controls for the gear selector and volume dial, while a backlit ambient strip runs door to door. Every X5 also gets a panoramic glass roof spanning roughly 28 square feet. Tech-wise, the cabin carries over BMW's Panoramic iDrive setup already seen in the iX3, i3, and updated 7-Series, headlined by a 17.9-inch central tablet, a pillar-to-pillar display strip, a 3D head-up display, and an optional 14.6-inch passenger screen for in-motion video.

Despite borrowing so much Neue Klasse styling, neither the gas-powered X5 nor the electric iX5 actually rides on the Neue Klasse platform underpinning the iX3. Instead, both stick with a reworked version of the outgoing CLAR architecture. The lineup kicks off with rear-drive X5 40 and all-wheel-drive xDrive40 models, each powered by a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six paired with 48V mild-hybrid assistance, now good for 394 horsepower and 428 pound-feet of torque, gains of 19 hp and 45 lb-ft over the outgoing model. That bump trims the 0-60 mph sprint down to as little as 5.1 seconds