We can’t recall the last time a car manufacturer started testing an updated version only a few months after launching the original model. That’s the story of the seventh-generation M5, which arrived at early adopters in the last weeks of 2024. In mid-February 2025, car paparazzi spotted the Life Cycle Impulse in Arjeplog, Sweden. Now, the LCI is back in a bigger batch of spy photos.
Just so we’re clear, the M5 facelift’s market launch won’t happen anytime soon. We’ve heard BMW will start production of the LCI in March 2027, so the updated super sedan is still a couple of years away. But even if that’s the case, the pre-LCI model will have a shelf life of less than three years, an uncommonly short period. We reckon some M5 buyers will feel frustrated seeing the sports sedan get a facelift so early.
Why the rush? The only logical explanation that springs to mind concerns the Neue Klasse. BMW might want to align existing models sooner rather than later to the fresh design language brought by the reborn NK. Even on this heavily camouflaged prototype, you can see that the redesigned front end takes after the Vision Neue Klasse concept. The taillights will also be changed, presumably to echo the 2023 concept. This prototype had provisional lights in the front and rear, but it’s evident that major changes are coming.
There’s more to the 2027 BMW M5 than just an exterior refresh. The recently spied 5 Series G60 LCI and its M sibling will switch to iDrive X. The side-by-side displays will become a thing of the past. A 14.9-inch central touchscreen will dominate the dashboard. We don’t know whether this test car had the new infotainment system, but it’s coming to the production car. Sadly, the LCI’s arrival will mark the end of the road for the rotary knob.
BMW will pair iDrive X with Panoramic Vision, which is marketing jargon for a projection at the base of the windshield. We saw the technology about a year ago in the Vision Neue Klasse X concept. The electric crossover had three fixed sections in front of the driver, plus six configurable areas on the right side. BMW has also engineered a new 3D head-up display for Neue Klasse, which could also trickle down to gas cars.
It’s unclear whether there will be changes underneath the skin. Given how the new M5 has been fat-shamed so many times, a weight loss would be great. However, that seems highly unlikely.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com