With surface contouring that creates a clearly defined athletic build and dynamically stretched lines, the exterior design of the new BMW 5-Series Touring clearly expresses the blend of driving pleasure and versatility for which this model is renowned. The vehicle’s tail section has an individual design language that symbolises the increased amount of space on offer in this model variant and its functional, flexible usability.
The new BMW 5-Series Touring is 36 millimeters longer than the outgoing model (at 4,943 millimeters), eight millimeters wider (1,868 millimeters) and ten millimeters taller (1,498 millimeters). Plus, the wheelbase has been extended by seven millimetres to 2,975 millimetres, helping to further increase the room available for both occupants and luggage.
The styling of the car’s front end instantly projects the sporty essence of the new BMW 5-Series Touring. The headlights extend as far as the BMW kidney grille, thereby forming a continuous strip that gives added impact to the car’s width while also combining with the lower air intake to emphasise its powerful stature.
The new BMW 5-Series Touring is equipped as standard with LED headlights that also employ LED units as the light source for the daytime driving lights. The design of the optional Adaptive LED Headlights provides an even more expressive take on the focused gaze of the trademark BMW light rings that are “cut off” at the top and flattened at the bottom. A horizontal bar joining the inner daytime driving light ring with the BMW kidney grille accentuates the front end’s sense of width and dynamism. BMW Selective Beam anti-dazzle high beam with a range of up to 500 metres is available as a further option in conjunction with the Adaptive LED Headlights.
When viewed from the side, the vehicle’s individual geometry and harmonious proportions clearly stand out. The sporty aura of the new BMW 5-Series Touring is further intensified by the long roof line, which flows into heavily raked D-pillars. The elongated silhouette brings a new element of the surface styling to the fore: the distinctive swage line turns up as it heads rearwards, thereby passing from shadow to light. Its upper branch merges into the contour that encircles the sweeping “flick” in the side window outline – the Hofmeister kink – while the lower line tapers off into the rear light unit.
The highly expressive rear end of the new BMW 5-Series Touring is a picture of power. The rear window is bordered by a roof spoiler with integral auxiliary brake light at the top and air deflectors at the sides. In the lower section, a series of prominent horizontal lines and the L-shaped rear lights – with their flat-design tail-light bars reaching deep into the car’s flanks – accentuate the body’s width. All engine variants of the new BMW 5-Series Touring have exhaust tailpipes on both sides at the rear. Depending on the power unit and specification, the tailpipes will be circular, trapezoidal or rectangular in design.
Details that serve to enhance the car’s aerodynamic qualities are visible from every angle. The BMW kidney grille now comes with active air flap control, as does the lower air intake in the front apron, meaning that the flaps remain closed when little cooling air is required. In the closed position, additional vertical kidney grille bars become visible that lend the front end an even more imposing appearance. The Air Curtains (apertures in the front apron) effectively direct the onrushing air into the wheel arches, where it is channelled along the wheels before escaping again through the Air Breathers built into the car’s flanks. As a consequence, far less turbulence occurs in the wheel arches. Besides this, improvements have also been made to the airflow at the rear of the car and along its underbody.
Thanks to these measures, the drag coefficient (Cd) of the new BMW 5-Series Touring has been cut to as little as 0.27, depending on the engine variant. There has been a reduction in the degree of lift too, resulting in a better aerodynamic balance and therefore superior driving dynamics.
