As the “leader” in the luxury SUV world, the BMW X5 has always been a mobile business card for the wealthy to show off their status, but the appearance of the new generation of X5 makes people wonder: why has the “nostril” shrunk?
Did the designers finally listen to the public’s call, or did BMW secretly undergo a facelift under the wave of new energy? Let me take a closer look at the splendor and embarrassment of this “king of the road”.
The current bmw X5 is the “king of cost-effectiveness” – the suggested price after domestic production has dropped to the 600,000 yuan range, and the terminal offers a discount of more than 100,000 yuan. You can get the blue sky and white cloud logo for just over 500,000 yuan, which is less than 100,000 yuan less than the current new X3. But don’t rush to say “it’s so good”, the new generation of X5 is already eyeing it, and it will be launched in 2026. The current car owners are afraid that they will laugh with tears: once the new car is launched, the old model will immediately become a “faded internet celebrity”, but waiting for the new model? Don’t expect BMW to be soft-hearted – plug-in hybrid version and pure electric version are all on the market, plus the 800V high-voltage platform and the “futures concept” of hydrogen fuel, the price will not rise by 5%-10% if it does not rise. In short, buying the current version at the bottom is the wisest choice now, and chasing the new requires a wallet expansion plan.
Classic Control vs. “Screen Involution“
The current X5’s control is still the dignity of a “road king” — 3.0T+48V mild hybrid, once you step on the accelerator, the push back feeling is more real than the boss’s KPI. But as for the interior, although the Dalian screen is good, it is a bit shabby compared to the new generation of “sci-fi cockpit”. After all, it is also a luxury SUV of 500,000: hidden door handles, 17.9-inch central control screen (big enough to play “The Legend of Zhen Huan”), the dashboard is cancelled and replaced with a “mini information board”, and even the ancestral iDrive knob is killed by the “touch screen hegemony”. The designer seems to be obsessed with “minimalism”, but forgets the obsession of the local tycoons with physical buttons — poking the screen while driving, are you sure it won’t cause “road rage”? Moreover, BMW is famous for its operation, and without buttons, there is a lot less sense of operation.
The appearance is more controversial: the classic “big nose” is flattened into a “NK front face”, the taillights are aligned with the iX3, and the hidden exhaust is as low-key as wearing long johns. Some people say this is an aesthetic evolution, because some people do not like his big nose, and some people complain that “BMW has become Baojun”. But don’t panic, BMW’s ancestral “true fragrance law” – the Chris Bangle design that was scolded back then has become a classic now, right?
As fuel is phased out, can electric vehicles continue their legend?
The most powerful move of the new generation X5 is to use fuel in the left hand and electric power in the right hand – the CLAR platform continues to squeeze out the waste heat of the internal combustion engine, the horsepower of the plug-in hybrid version reaches 600 horsepower, and the pure electric iX5 carries the 800V high voltage banner.
But the embarrassing thing is that the Mercedes-Benz EQ series and Tesla Cybertruck have already played with the “future sense”, but BMW is still jumping around in the “oil-electric dual cultivation”. What is even more confusing is the “pie in the sky” of hydrogen fuel:It may not be implemented until 2028, and it is just a “strategic smoke bomb” at the moment
In the final analysis, the X5’s ambition is to pay both the “sentiment tax” of the fuel era and the “technological tax” of the electric era. But for consumers, this wave of operations is like a buffet restaurant – there are many choices, but it is easy to eat too much. If the pure electric iX5 has poor battery life or charging efficiency in the future, BMW may be reduced from a “road king” to a “charging station regular”.
Conclusion: BMW X5, running wildly in elegance and anxiety
The new generation X5 is like a middle-aged CEO going to the gym – working hard to build muscle (electrification), but also secretly adding technology (design fine-tuning). It is still one of the best solutions for the local tycoons, but facing the siege of new forces, if BMW only relies on brand premium and control metaphysics, it may be difficult to escape the “Nokia-style” crisis. After all, when Tesla car owners are watching TV series in front of the screen, BMW car owners are still struggling with “Is hidden exhaust cool or not” – this is probably the sweet trouble of traditional wealthy families !