Proton has wasted no time in letting the public get a good look at the facelifted Proton X50. Just hours after revealing the first official photos and details of the revised B-segment SUV, the national carmaker has now shown the car at a music festival at Heritage Valley in Chow Kit, showcasing the major exterior and interior redesign and the biggest new feature – an all-new engine.
As we’ve detailed before, the mill is a 1.5 litre i-GT TD (turbo direct injection, not turbodiesel) four-cylinder engine, replacing the previous three-pot unit – the VIN plate on the door confirms this to be Geely’s latest BHE15. Compared to the old TGDi unit in the Flagship model, power has gone up by just 4 PS to 181 PS, although peak torque has seen a useful 35 Nm bump to 290 Nm.
With an unchanged seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission and front-wheel drive, the new X50 nevertheless manages to get from zero to 100 km/h three tenths of a second quicker, taking 7.6 seconds. Yet, Proton still claims a 4.7% improvement in fuel efficiency.
More importantly, however, the TD unit is now standard across the range, and against the 150 PS/226 Nm port-injected PFI engine found in lesser variants of the previous X50, the new powertrain represents a significant boost in outputs. Speaking of variants, there are now just three – Executive, Premium and Flagship – this time around, with the base Standard being discontinued.
This facelift is based on the Geely Binyue L, meaning that Proton gets the latest version of the car, launched in China in November. The entire front clip is new, sporting reflector LED headlights (no more projectors, unfortunately), a massive (and rather controversial, judging by your comments) full-width slatted lower grille with silver L-shaped corners, and even different fenders to house S70-style chrome A-pillar extensions.
The upper grille is also new and unique to Proton, still with a silver surround and a red “Ethereal Bow” strip but gaining alternating vertical “pins”. All this is topped by a reshaped bonnet, now with fake vents at the corners near the A-pillars.
At the back you’ll find another wholesale redesign, with full-width taillights and a new tailgate that pushes the number plate recess lower down. The bumper gains more L-shaped corners but retains the old car’s large diffuser and quad tailpipes (finally, the X50 gets one pipe per cylinder). The side skirts have been redesigned as well, again with fake vents aft of the front wheels.
The wheels themselves measure 17 inches in diameter on the Executive and 18 inches on the Premium and Flagship – the latter with a two-tone turbine design and a rather classy “knurled” finish on the five spokes. The Flagship model shown here also receives the “Batmobile” rear wing as previously reported – an option hitherto exclusive to the Binyue – and maintains a black roof that is standard no matter the exterior colour.
As big a deal the exterior revamp is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the interior. That’s because the new cabin is a clean-sheet in-house design that isn’t shared with other Geely models, despite looking like many Chinese EVs on the market.
Taking centre stage is the “floating” centre console that houses twin phone holders (the driver’s side incorporates a Qi wireless charger, again a Flagship-exclusive feature), two cupholders arranged side-by-side and a row of four buttons for air-con on and off, auto climate control, the front demister and the hazard lights. Also reserved for the Flagship model is a black-and-red colour scheme that inverts the hues – black for the upper dashboard, red for the lower, presumably to reduce reflections on the windscreen.
A couple of things are missing – the gearlever has been replaced by a column-mounted stalk, while most of the air-con controls have been moved into the the much larger 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen. The interface is ostensibly similar to the Flyme Auto system in the eMas 7 EV but gains features yet to be offered on that car, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and Bahasa Malaysia voice control. You still of course get access to the latest Proton Link 2.0 app with the usual remote vehicle functions.
Elsewhere, the 8.88-inch digital instrument display is considerably larger than the outgoing model’s seven-inch unit, sitting behind an unchanged three-spoke flat-bottomed steering wheel. Other new features include a 72-colour ambient lighting system (with the X70’s “rhythmic” function) visible in the door pulls and a distinctive “looping” graphic ahead of the front passenger; this motif is mirrored in the also-new door cards.
The rest of the cabin looks identical to before, including the seats that still come with power adjustment for the driver on the Premium variant onwards. Meanwhile, the Flagship version retains its panoramic glass sunroof and adds the Binyue L’s cool half-transparent sun visors that provide some additional forward visibility while still keeping glare to a minimum.
Other bits of standard kit include remote engine start, auto lights and wipers, single-zone auto air-con, fabric upholstery and a reverse camera. The Premium adds faux leather upholstery, the aforementioned ambient lighting, a tyre pressure monitoring system, a powered tailgate and a 360-degree camera system with a new transparency function, while the Flagship throws on the exclusive features listed earlier.
Last but not least are the driver assistance systems. New rear side radar sensors are now fitted as standard, bringing features such as blind spot monitoring and the new rear collision warning, rear cross traffic alert and door opening warning to the entire lineup. Unfortunately, you’ll have to step up to at least the Premium (previously Flagship only) to get the rest of the ADAS suite – yes, even autonomous emergency braking.
This is enabled through a new camera array at the top of the windscreen, which should offer improved functionality for Level 2 semi-autonomous driving features such as adaptive cruise control with stop and go and lane centring assist. Other features included in the package are traffic sign recognition and auto high beam, with the Flagship throwing on an improved park assist system. Six airbags are now standard-fit.
The facelifted Proton X50 comes in five colours – Snow White, Passion Red, Jet Grey, Armour Silver and the new Teal Bayou Green from the S70, the latter replacing Ocean Blue. Now that you’ve seen the live photos, has your opinion of the car – especially that polarising front fascia – changed? Sound off in the comments after the jump.
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2025 Proton X50 1.5TD Executive
Gets as standard:
Mechanicals
- 1.5 litre DOHC i-GT TD engine
- 1,499 cc turbocharged direct-injected four-cylinder petrol
- 181 PS and 290 Nm of torque
- 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission
- Front-wheel drive
- MacPherson strut suspension (front), torsion beam (rear)
- Ventilated disc brakes (front), solid disc (rear)
- 0-100 km/h in 7.6 seconds
Exterior
- LED auto headlights
- LED daytime running lights
- LED full-width taillights
- 17-inch alloy wheels
Interior
- Keyless entry with remote start
- Push-button start
- Single-zone auto climate control
- Auto wipers
- Manual seats
- Fabric upholstery
- Multi-function steering wheel
- 8.88-inch digital instrument display
- 14.6-inch infotainment touchscreen
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- “Hi Proton” voice control with Bahasa Malaysia option
- Electronic parking brake
- Reverse camera
Safety
- Six airbags (front, side, curtain)
- ABS with EBD and brake assist
- Stability control
- Blind spot monitoring
- Rear cross traffic alert
- Rear collision warning
- Door opening warning
2025 Proton X50 1.5TD Premium
Adds on:
Exterior
- 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels
Interior
- Power-adjustable driver’s seat
- Faux leather upholstery
- 72-colour ambient lighting with “rhythmic” mode
- 360-degree camera with transparency
- Powered tailgate
Safety
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Adaptive cruise control with stop and go
- Lane centring assist
- Lane keeping assist
- Traffic sign recognition
- Auto high beam
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
2025 Proton X50 1.5TD Flagship
Adds on:
Exterior
Interior
- Black and red dashboard and seats
- Semi-transparent sun visors
- Panoramic glass sunroof
- Qi wireless charger (driver’s side)
- Park assist
GALLERY: 2025 Proton X50 facelift official photos
GALLERY: 2025 Proton X50 facelift colour options
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