Next-Gen BMW 5 Series Previewed in Hugely Divisive Rendering

The reality is a lot more tedious and involves countless back-and-forths between the design department and the company's engineers, a process that can (and usually does) take years. So, what that means is that by the time the public can react to a new design language that has just debuted on a new car, a few other upcoming models have already passed the point of no return; they'll be sporting similar visual traits, and there is no way to prevent that.

That's why the decisions to bring important changes to a manufacturer's lineup aren't taken lightly. They have focus groups, they talk to current owners, they do everything they can to minimize the risks and, ultimately, maximize the profits. Yet, even so, accidents still happen.

People (us included) rushed to call the new 4 Series just that, an accident. Nearly one year later, the giant elephant kidney grille lost some of its initial repulsiveness, with some serious help from the wonderful M4 Competition model. It's still a questionable choice, but at least it's something we can live with.

The iX electric SAV, on the other hand, will be a lot more difficult to explain. The fact it even features the divisive grille, even though it doesn't need one being an EV, makes it all the more ridiculous. It's like painting a zit on your face even if you don't suffer from acne. Who does that? And then the iX goes on to double on that by featuring the new narrow headlight design, essentially making the grille look even larger.

Now, the good people at Auto Bild have come up with a rendering of the upcoming 5 Series, and it looks like the nightmare of everyone who likes a beautiful car. It mixes the two—big grille, very slender headlights—together for a new brand identity that seems to be the direction BMW is headed to if we're to look at the X8 spy shots.

The progress in lighting technology to LED (and even LASER) has left designers with a lot of room on the vehicle's front end to fill with something. It looks as though BMW's solution was to enlarge the grille and, at least in the case of this imaginary 5 Series, apply the double-layered headlight treatment.

The result is a look that kind of reminds us of the old 8 Series (E31) from the early '90s, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, it also resembles a Hyundai Kona, to some degree. Now, even though there's nothing wrong with the South Korean sub-compact crossover, it's probably not the look BMW is aspiring to.

The new 5 Series should still be a few good years away from launch, so it's too early to make any clear-cut predictions. BMW previously said the 4 Series grille design would not necessarily spread across the range, but that doesn't guarantee complete safety to any future model. With that in mind, the 5 Series might very well end up looking dangerously close to what you can see in the clip below and the main picture at the top. Is that a scary thought, or are you OK with it (a.k.a. Mercedes-Benz fan)?