Refreshed BMW 5 Series plug-in spied testing on the street

The new BMW 5 Series is still fresh in our minds from its recent redesign, but there’s always something new on the way. Today, we bring you spy shots of a slightly revised and electrified version of the 5 Series. We only just got the 530e in America this year, so don’t expect the car you see here to be hot on its heels.

BMW places the charging port flap on the side of the car not seen in the shots here, but the “Hybrid Test Vehicle” sticker gives it away rather easily. We can also see the taped over “eDrive” badge on the rear-most pillar, just like the current plug-in 5 Series has. This particular tester appears to have BMW’s Dynamic Handling package (or some form of that), as we can see the large blue M brake calipers hiding underneath the larger wheels. There’s also an M badge seen taped over, signaling that this BMW may be even hotter than the current electrified sedan out there.

We’re clearly not meant to be able to tell what’s going on with the front end design. If BMW kidney grilles of late are anything to go on, we can expect the grille to grow — we happen to like it the way it is now, though. A new LED DRL signature is visible through the camouflage, mimicking that of the new 3 Series. It looks good on that car, so we’re certainly not disappointed to see it in play on the 5 Series, too. As for the rear lights, they appear to be going through minor changes, but nothing drastic.

We’ll be interested to learn if BMW is making any strides in its battery technology for the updated electrified 5 Series. It’s able to go up to 31 miles on pure electric power now. BMW rates the total system output at 248 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque.

Expect to see this mid-cycle refresh hit the U.S. market in a year or so for the regular gas-only 5 Series, and then the electrified version should follow closely after that.