2017 BMW 5 Series Touring Prototype Spied in the Cold

The second body style of the 2017 5 Series range has been featured on our website before in the form of spyshots, but this time, we have a video of the prototype being driven in winter conditions somewhere in Sweden.

The video was provided to us by our friends at SB-Medien, who have also supplied us with a set of spyshots of the same prototype.

The upcoming 5 Series will be based on a new platform, dubbed 35up by the guys at BMW. It will feature more CFRP parts, just like the ongoing 7 Series. Eventually, the 35up platform will come to the 3 Series as well. The benefits of the new architecture include improved body rigidity and lower weight.

Some company insiders have previously revealed that the 5 Series will lose up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) thanks to the new platform. The improvement will lower fuel consumption and emissions, while also enhancing handling.

Naturally, BMW will also work on the suspension, steering, and drivetrain of the 5 Series. A hybrid version could also come to the Touring body style, while the sedan will surely receive one.

The 2017 BMW 5 Series will have four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines, in both gasoline and diesel versions. Like the previous prototypes spotted by spy photographers, the car you can see in the video below features a layer of camouflage. The intricate pattern used by BMW makes it hard to see the lines of the body, as the design of a new vehicle is one of the elements a carmaker tries to conceal for as long as possible.

The vehicle in the clip below is not driven hard, as engineers are driving on public roads and cannot push these cars to the limit. Furthermore, the snow on Swedish roads in this period makes driving fast even more challenging. After all, these engineers must bring the prototypes back in one piece and fully functional for their colleagues to perform other tests on them.