There's been a lot of activity from BMW recently – we've seen spyshots of the next-generation G11 7 Series, the F30 3 Series facelift/Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) and the F20 1 Series LCI for some time now, and the company has just introduced the LCI version of the current 6 Series. Now it's the turn of the upcoming G30 BMW 5 Series to be captured by our European spy photographers.
It seems like just yesterday that the outgoing F10 5er was unwrapped, but that was in fact five years ago, so the end is nigh. In its place, the new car can clearly be seen to incorporate the latest BMW design language despite the heavy camouflage, with headlights that bleed into the kidney grilles. There are, however, some refinements also seen on the G11 7 Series spyshots so far, such as the new shape of the door mirrors.
Underneath the disguise and bodywork, expect to see the G30 riding on the new "35up" rear-wheel drive platform that will underpin everything from the next 3 Series up – the G11 7 Series looks to be the first recipient of the architecture. It is rumoured that the new car will shave up to 100 kg off the F10's weight through the use of lightweight materials such as carbon fibre, a technology gained from the BMW i project.
It's a good job it's so much lighter, because filling the base of the range this time will reportedly be the tiny 1.5 litre B38 three-cylinder petrol engine as found on the new MINI Cooper, albeit tuned up for use in the much larger car. We should also see the inclusion of the new B48 2.0 litre petrol four-cylinder that will replace the current N20 on the 520i and the 528i, as well as forming one part of an eDrive plug-in hybrid variant.
The top-dog M5 is expected to see its power output swell to 626 hp, in addition to the introduction of xDrive all-wheel drive as an option, just like on the current Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG.
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