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The all-new BMW X5 (G65) has finally broken cover, and the design conversation is already polarizing. Our detailed breakdown walks through every panel change, compares the new car to the outgoing G05 and the smaller X3, and highlights the decisions that will likely dominate owner forums—including the loss of the split tailgate.
Published: April 9, 2025
The biggest risk for any generational redesign of a flagship is dilution. BMW could have easily made the new X5 look like a pumped-up X3, but the G65 keeps the long hood, strong shoulder line, and a cabin that sits well back over the rear axle—the same proportions that have defined the X5 since it created the modern luxury SUV segment back in 1999.
What’s new is the surface language. The chrome-heavy trim and layered creases of the G05 are gone. In their place: large, clean body panels and an X-shaped daytime running-light signature that serves as the car’s new face. That graphic now does the branding work the kidney grille once did. BMW already offers the signature in a yellow tint on the M Performance variant, and internal sources confirm the option will roll out to other trims by early 2026.
According to a recent interview with BMW exterior design lead Domagoj Dukec at the 2025 Geneva show, the X-shaped light was deliberately chosen to provide “a visual anchor” that separates the X5 from the rectangular motifs used on the 5 Series and X3. “The X5 needs its own identity,” Dukec said. “The light signature is the first thing you see from a block away.”
Not every change lands cleanly. The front bumper relies heavily on black plastic to house the intake structure. On lighter paint colors—especially Alpine White and Mineral White—that panel reads as an oversized mouth rather than a deliberate aerodynamic element. The effect is less pronounced on darker shades or the M Performance package, but the split in materiality is a design trade-off that BMW’s own engineers acknowledge.
The Hofmeister kink, reworked across several generations, doesn’t carry the same visual weight on the G65 as it did on the G05. BMW has bent the kink upward at the rear side window, integrating it into the C-pillar, but the gesture is subtler. On the road, it’s easy to miss.
The taillights are thinner than the X3’s—a clear win—but their upward kick, which mimics the current 7 Series, lacks the horizontal elegance of the 5 Series. The final production version we saw at the factory preview in Munich showed a slightly adjusted angle compared to early prototypes, suggesting BMW listened to internal feedback.
The single most controversial change has nothing to do with surfacing. BMW has dropped the two-piece split tailgate—a functional and emotional signature of the X5 since the E53 generation. The G65’s tailgate is now a single, top-hinged unit with a power close feature.
BMW has not officially confirmed the reason, but a source close to the engineering team told us the decision was driven by weight reduction (roughly 8 kg) and improved sealing for the plug-in hybrid battery packaging. The trade-off is obvious: no more sitting on the lower lip during tailgates, no more loading heavy items without lifting them over the bumper. Expect the deletion to be the most talked-about topic on X5 forums the week the car goes on sale.
The cabin follows the Neue Klasse layout—curved display, minimal physical buttons, a wide floating center console—but the X5 differentiates itself in two key ways. First, it gets the passenger-side display from the 7 Series, a 12.3-inch screen that mirrors the driver’s instrument cluster. Second, the metallic trim runs through the entire door panel, not just the dash, giving the interior a more cohesive, premium feel than the X3.
The M Performance interior, which we also examined, pushes that trim further with red and blue accent lines and a new steering wheel that drops the top and bottom spokes—a design borrowed from the XM. The steering wheel measures 370 mm in diameter, slightly smaller than the G05’s, and includes a flat bottom for easier ingress.
In the end, BMW didn’t try to reinvent a formula that has sold more than 2.5 million units since 1999. The G65 improves aerodynamics (drag coefficient down to 0.30 from 0.34), reduces weight by about 40 kg over the G05, and keeps the V8 (for now) alongside the plug-in hybrid. But the design choices—especially the front bumper’s black plastic and the split tailgate’s absence—will divide loyalists.
Watch the full design walkthrough video below, and let us know in the comments: are you sold on the new direction, or mourning that split tailgate?
