A fully camouflaged 2028 BMW M5 Touring was caught hammering around the Nürburgring this week, and the prototype reveals two things BMW can’t hide: a reshaped face and a distinctly nastier exhaust note. The G99 wagon isn’t due until next year, but the seventh-generation M5 is already getting a significant mid-life overhaul to align it with BMW’s Neue Klasse design language.
This isn’t your typical LCI nip-and-tuck. Through the swirly camouflage, the front fascia is clearly redesigned, with slimmer headlights and what appears to be a smaller kidney grille. BMW is grafting Neue Klasse styling cues onto the existing body, much like it’s doing with the 2027 7 Series refresh.
The result looks more modern, more resolved, though calling it a complete redesign would be generous. The profile appears largely unchanged, which makes sense — you don’t reengineer a wagon’s greenhouse for a facelift. At the rear, the taillights are different, dropping the current model’s two-line motif for something closer to the new i3 sedan’s lighting signature.
The quad exhaust tips remain, a privilege BMW is now reserving exclusively for M Performance and full M models going forward. Then there’s the sound. The prototype’s V8 bark is noticeably more aggressive than the current M5’s, which has always felt slightly muffled for a car of its caliber.
Whether BMW has genuinely retuned the S68 twin-turbo 4.4-liter or simply stripped the gasoline particulate filter from this test mule remains an open question. European-spec cars require the GPF, and its absence alone would explain the extra volume. But enthusiasts will be hoping for real mechanical changes.
The engine situation is worth understanding. Euro 7 regulations recently cost the S68 forty-one horsepower in European markets. BMW compensated by boosting the electric motor’s output, keeping the combined system total at 717 hp.
The M5 remains a plug-in hybrid — the charging port on the driver-side front fender confirms that much — and in non-EU markets, the original power split between combustion and electric stays intact. Inside, the changes will be dramatic. The facelifted M5 will adopt BMW’s iDrive X infotainment system, which means a completely new dashboard architecture.
The rotary controller, a BMW signature for two decades, is gone. A pillar-to-pillar windshield projection display comes standard. Whether BMW adds a dedicated passenger screen, as it did with the 7 Series facelift, is unclear.
The speed of this cycle tells you something about where BMW’s head is. The current M5 still feels new on dealer lots, yet Nürburgring test mules are already wearing next year’s face. BMW needs its lineup to look cohesive as Neue Klasse models roll out, and a 717-horsepower super wagon wearing last season’s design language doesn’t fit the narrative.
Expect the M5 Touring LCI to arrive alongside or shortly after the standard 5 Series facelift in 2027. The wagon has always been the enthusiast’s choice in the M5 range, the car that says you need 717 horsepower and a cargo bay. BMW appears to be giving it the visual and technological update it needs to stay relevant against an increasingly aggressive field from Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.
Whether the angrier exhaust note survives to production or dies on the GPF altar of emissions compliance will say a lot about BMW’s priorities. The look is getting sharper. The real question is whether the character follows.
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