The New BMW X5 Goes Gas, Hybrid, And Electric But Loses One Of Its Big Hallmarks

Can you believe the BMW X5 has been around for almost 27 years? Since September of 1999, it’s been an absolute mainstay of the luxury SUV market, arriving not just to the unibody club but the party in general. Since then, we’ve seen straight-sixes and V8s and plug-in hybrids and diesels, and BMW’s really leaning into offering something for everyone with the new 2027 model.

This new fifth-generation X5, codenamed G65, doesn’t just replace the outgoing X5, it also replaces the iX with the option of electric power. It’s also the biggest departure from the original X5 yet. In fact, it loses a feature that’s been a hallmark of the model since the very beginning, one that predates BMW’s once-infamous iDrive knob.

If you’ve seen the new BMW iX3, you won’t be surprised by the new X5’s face. It’s another take on the marque’s Neue Klasse styling language, shrinking the kidney grilles back down to a rather respectable size. The bumper trims around the lower grilles are rather tall on this M Sport model, but those seeking more restraint can skip the M Sport treatment altogether.

The most interesting thing here is the headlight treatment, a pair of X-shaped elements in each lamp assembly. It’s some obvious heavy-handed branding, but it works better here than the three-pointed stars in Mercedes-Benz’s latest headlamps simply due to pedigree. Back in the days of glass lenses, many racers taped up their headlamps in an X-formation to mitigate the risk of a puncture from broken glass should the lens be compromised.

Around the side of the new X5, things get even more interesting. The rear glass has been laid forward, then the rake’s been cheated further with some black trim. It’s a treatment that ties in with the forward-leaning flats around the arches, although its true effect on cargo space is yet to be seen. The time-honored Hofmeister kink, a staple of pretty much every BMW greenhouse since the 1960s, is almost unrecognizable now, and the door handles are little winglet-style affairs like you get on the Volvo EX60 and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Throw in the lack of a defined crease running longitudinally from the taillight to the front fender, and you get the largest departure from tradition of any X5 generation.

My main point of contention with the new X5 only arrives when you come around to the back. For more than a quarter-century, the X5 has featured a convenient split-tailgate with a top-hinged top section and a bottom-hinged bottom section. This arrangement stops cargo from rolling out when the vehicle’s parked uphill, can provide a support surface for slightly longer cargo that won’t quite fit with the tailgate closed, and can even double as an emergency changing table for new parents. It also makes for a very rectangular cargo area aperture, and now it’s gone. The new X5 no longer has a split tailgate, and that feels like a miss. Not only are the benefits of the prior design gone, the liftover height on the new X5 seems like it could be higher than on the old one, and that painted bumper surface is liable to get marked up by heavy or cumbersome loads.

Inside the new X5, BMW’s latest Panoramic iDrive infotainment system is on full display. The full-width instrument projection at the base of the windscreen, the unusually shaped main infotainment screen, even the same sort of passenger screen we’ve seen in the updated 7 Series. The funny steering wheel with the vertical spokes is here too, but so are some lovely-looking materials. Huge stitched sections on the dashboard and door cards, crystal on the seat switches, metallic finishes on the trim bezels, and a top-spec Bowers & Wilkins audio system. You can even option slate trim on the console. There’s no undue barrage of Vegas-style ambient lighting on display, nor huge slabs of cheap-looking shiny black plastic. However, I’d be curious to know how those HVAC vents are adjusted.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new X5 beyond its look is the sheer variety of choice. BMW’s already announced a huge mix of available propulsion methods: Traditional internal combustion, plug-in hybridization, battery electric models, at least one diesel for Europe, and a hydrogen fuel-cell model for, well, that’s a good question. The launch model in America will be the X5 40, powered by a 394-horsepower variant of BMW’s tried-and-true B58 turbocharged inline-six hitched to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Want more power? A 483-horsepower X5 50e plug-in hybrid is incoming with 44 miles of electric range, along with an iX5 60 with a 144 kWh battery pack and 800-volt architecture promising 460 kW DC fast charging, 435 miles of range, and 570 horsepower.

The new BMW X5 is definitely different, but so long as you aren’t a split-tailgate ride-or-die, it should offer something for everyone. Expect the first examples to arrive in American showrooms this autumn, starting at $73,550 for the all-wheel-drive X5 40 xDrive model.

Top graphic image: BMW