We Caught the Facelifted BMW M5 Testing, Here’s What It Reveals
Article Summary
- BMW tested two facelift designs for the M5, one closer to Neue Klasse styling and one evolving the current car’s look.
- Sources say focus group and fan reaction pushed BMW away from the Neue Klasse-style exterior toward the conservative option.
- The interior is getting a full overhaul regardless, with a panoramic display, new central screen, iDrive X, and no more iDrive controller.
Two facelifted BMW M5 prototypes, the G90 sedan and the G90 Touring, were spotted testing near the Nurburgring this week, both wrapped in heavy camouflage but clearly running updated bumpers, lighting elements, and trim pieces over the current car’s body. We’ve heard for a while that BMW was running two parallel design directions for this facelift, not just two trim variations of the same theme. One pushed the M5’s face and surfacing closer to what Neue Klasse models like the iX3 are introducing: simpler panel breaks, the slimmer light signature, a cleaner front end. The other kept the current G90/G99’s identity largely intact and refined it instead of replacing it.
Two Designs, One Winner
Based on our sources, BMW ran both through customer research, and the Neue Klasse-leaning proposal didn’t land the way the design team hoped. Reaction from focus groups and from the enthusiast base (BMW has team dedicated to scope the sentiment on social media as well) reportedly pushed leadership toward the conservative route. That’s the version now testing at the ‘Ring, and it’s the version that’s going to production.
This isn’t BMW backing away from Neue Klasse as a brand direction. It’s BMW deciding the 5 Series and M5, cars with their own established face, didn’t need to inherit that language wholesale a year or two after launch.
The Interior Was Never Up for Debate
The exterior argument is the interesting part because the interior argument was already settled. Sources describe this as one of the most expensive facelifts BMW has ever done on a 5 Series or M5, and the bulk of that cost is sitting inside the car, not outside it. The cabin is being replaced wholesale with Neue Klasse-derived architecture: a panoramic display spanning the dash, a new central touchscreen, and BMW’s iDrive X software running the show. The rotary iDrive controller, the one piece of switchgear that’s survived two decades of BMW interiors basically unchanged, is going away on this car too. We’ve expected that for a while given where BMW’s software and hardware are heading, but seeing it confirmed for a mid-cycle update on the current M5, rather than waiting for the next full generation, says something about how aggressively BMW wants this rolled out.
Why BMW Played It Safe Outside
Put those two pieces together and the conservative exterior call makes more sense. A brand-new interior architecture is already an expensive proposition for a facelift. Layering a second major redesign on top of it, on the outside, would have pushed the cost of this update even further past what a typical LCI program runs. Sticking with an evolved version of the current design will certainly appease most of the ///M fan base.
It also means M5 buyers get a car that’s recognizably the one BMW has been selling since the G90 launched, not a transitional design wedged between two eras. Whether that’s the right call depends on how much you wanted BMW to commit to Neue Klasse everywhere at once. Based on what we’re hearing about the customer feedback, BMW didn’t think the M5’s audience wanted that, at least not yet.
Expect more sightings as testing continues, and expect the camouflage to come off well before any official reveal. [Photos by @ringprototypes]
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