2017 BMW 5 Series Features and Options – Video

Changes start at the front with new, sleeker LED headlamps integrated with the trademark kidney grille; adaptive LED lights with a 500-metre illumination range will also be available.

Beneath the new body, the 5 Series also benefits from a new chassis – it’s the same basic platform used on the 7 Series but without the carbon fibre core. Nevertheless, it helps cut 70kg from the kerbweight alone. More extensive use of aluminium on the body, plus lighter brakes and alloy wheels, sheds another 30kg. The 5 Series also maintains its 50:50 weight distribution.

“If you close your eyes, first you will think it is a 3 Series to drive but on the highway it will feel like a 7 Series,” Hacker told us. “That’s what we wanted to achieve with the new model.”

 

 

The new chassis also means the dimensions of the 5 Series have increased slightly over the outgoing model’s, with the wheelbase now 7mm longer, and the overall length of the car stretching by 36mm. The new model is also 6mm wider and 2mm taller than its predecessor, while boot capacity has been increased by 10 litres to 530 litres.

Shortly after the 5 Series is launched next year, BMW will introduce a flagship M550i xDrive version that will be powered by a 455bhp 4.4-litre V8. The company claims the model will be capable of covering the 0-62mph sprint in just 4.0 seconds – three tenths of a second faster than the current 552bhp M5.