BMW didn’t have to do much to facelift the X5, as it’s already such a great looking SUV. It’s a bit vanilla in its lesser specs but it’s still an overall handsome vehicle. So when it came time to sketch up the LCI facelift, BMW’s exterior designers were probably done before their beer and schnitzel lunch break. A nip here, a tuck there, and it’s done. In these new spy photos, we can see some of those minor changes through its camouflage. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here)
Like with most BMW LCI updates, the X5’s facelift focused on, well, it’s face. New, larger, and pointier grilles replace the pre-LCI car’s, and new slimmer headlights flank them. It’s not a radical update, as it still looks very much like an X5, but it certainly makes the X5 seem a bit fresher and more aggressive. Is it better looking? We’ll make that call when it officially debuts and we’re not looking at it through swirly camo.
We get to see the back end of the BMW X5 LCI in these photos and the taillights look mostly the same. However, from the side they look to have some real three-dimensional geometry, similar to the LCI’d X3. Which is good news, as the X3’s look great.
The car in these photos is a BMW X5 M, revealed by its quad exhaust pipes and M-style mirrors, though the latter are featured on even M Performance models now. For the BMW X5 M, the LCI will likely drop the standard variant, leaving only the Competition car, which will pack 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque from the same 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 as before.
We also wonder if there will be any interior changes to the X5 M but we’re struggling to think of any that it might need. The BMW X5 M already features the brand’s latest tech, driver’s display, shift lever, and climate controls. The only new option I can think of is the carbon fiber bucket seat option, which would be cool. Either way, we’ll see soon enough.
[Source: Motor1]