It was March 2022 when BMW introduced the long-wheelbase X5 in China where the model is built with the same wheelbase as the X7’s. The stretched SUV debuted with the design of the pre-facelifted model, including the previous-generation iDrive. Now that the standard-wheelbase X5 has received its Life Cycle Impulse, the automaker wants to align the Chinese version to the global model.
The 2024 X5 Li wasn’t unveiled at Auto Shanghai last month but the official reveal should take place later this year. We’re making this assumption based on the fact revealing images of the updated luxury SUV have been published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as part of the vehicle’s homologation process. You can see the photos at the source links below.
The versions shown on the MIIT website are the xDrive30Li and xDrive40Li featuring just about the same design updates we saw earlier this year on the internationally available X5 LCI. Both SUVs have the M Sport Package but some of their exterior trim pieces have a silver finish more suitable on an xLine. It appears that BMW combined the two iterations of the midsize premium SUV for the revised CN-spec X5.
As a refresher, the elongated X5 is built at the Shenyang plant by BMW’s joint venture with Brilliance. The SUV is 130 mm (5.1 inches) longer between the axles than the standard model, so its wheelbase measures a gargantuan 3,105 mm (122 inches) to match not just the X7’s wheelbase we mentioned earlier but also the XM’s.
In China, BMW also makes a long-wheelbase X1, which recently transitioned to the next generation that brought along with it a fully electric iX1. We saw both at Auto Shanghai last month. These are sold alongside the stretched 3 Series and 5 Series sedans, with the former also available as a fully electric i3.
