Is This Video a Sneak Peek of the New BMW M5?
New super-sedan may have made a sly cameo on BMW’s Facebook page.
We'll admit it: When we saw that BMW had posted a video on its Facebook page outlining the semi-autonomous driving features of the upcoming 5 Series, we were rather blasé on it. Between the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Tesla Model S, we figured we were more or less up to speed with the state of self-driving luxury sedans. But what the hell, we figured, maybe it'll give us a sneak peek of the new car. Worst case scenario, it's a waste of two minutes of our life.
It wasn't.
In fact, it seems this Facebook video may—emphasis on may—have given us our first undisguised look at the all-new BMW M5.
For most of the 45-second-long video, BMW does its best to cover up the next-gen 5 Series, blurring the car out like TNT censoring a pair of exposed boobs in an R-rated movie. But about 30 seconds in, the camera catches a quick glimpse of the undisguised front-left flank of the car, revealing several distinctive M traits:
—large brakes with the distinctive blue calipers
—a jutting front fascia
—air exhaust vents behind the wheels
—M badges on both the wheel and the side of the car
Those aren't the only signs that the 5 Series seen in this clip could be BMW's next super-sports sedan, though. A few seconds earlier in the clip, there's a quick shot over the driver's shoulder that gives the camera a good look at the car's steering wheel; sure enough, there's another M badge on the bottom spoke of the button-laden tiller. (We stared long and hard to see if we could make out if any of those are any of the customizable M-buttons, but to no avail.)
Obviously, there's a chance this could be some sort of M Sport version, as the folks at BMWBlog suggest, but our collective gut here at The Drive says—or at least hopes—otherwise. Clearly, sneaking those little details into the video was an intentional move the most obvious reason to do that would be to drum up excitment...and nobody assumes M Sport when they see that badge.
