SPY PICS: BMW X5 adopts tougher style

Camera shutters are clicking furiously all over wintry Europe as BMW wheels out ever-more exposed prototypes of its upcoming new-generation X5.

These latest photos succeed the pics featured in 2016 to show more details of the new BMW X5, including the massive, evolved kidney grille and a noticeably different rear end with cleaner, more-uniform taillight arrays sitting nicely within an also more cleanly-sculpted rear end.

The BMW X5's enlarged grille appears to acknowledge the bigger-is-better trend followed by most car makers today, occupying a larger piece of the frontal real estate to clearly confirm its identity. And drawing a closer association with the smaller BMW X3, the side window lines sweep upwards in the lower edges of the C-pillar windows. There are also hints in the photos that the profiling of the doors could be more rounded than the current model's, with creasing above the front and rear wheel arches providing a beefier look.

It's believed the BMW X5 will retain dimensions closely equating those of the current model to allow breathing space for the expected seven-passenger X7 model that will be based on the same "Cluster Architecture" CLAR platform.

Word is that the next-gen BMW X5 will build on the same range of four and six-cylinder diesels and four and eight-cylinder petrol engines seen in the current models, with appropriate upgrades to make full use of the expected weight reductions to come with the new platform. A plug-in hybrid is certain to feature also, as will almost certainly an X5 M, timed for a bit further down the track.

When? Although speculation some time ago suggested an earlier introduction date, it seems likely the new BMW X5 will make its debut either later this year, or early in 2019. The latter would seem probable for Australia.