BMW X5 borrows a trick from the Mustang Mach-E — and no one saw it coming

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BMW is getting the new X5 ready for its premiere and has already shown off a detail that’s hard to miss even under camouflage. The crossover no longer has the familiar door handles on its flanks — they’re built into the beltline as small “winglets”.

A similar solution can be found on the Ford Mustang Mach-E, but for BMW this will be the first series-production car with such a setup. Hidden handles had already appeared on the limited Skytop and Speedtop built on the M8, but those were rare machines: 50 and 70 units respectively.

BMW may have several reasons for the move. The new Neue Klasse design language is all about clean surfaces, and tucked-away handles strip extra elements from the profile. There’s an aerodynamic logic too, especially for the electric iX5: it will get the largest battery in any BMW — 141 kWh of usable capacity in Europe and 144 kWh in the US. For an EV like this, even minor drag details matter.

Next up with the same setup will be the new X7 in 2027, followed, most likely, by the X6 in 2028. All the big X models will be offered as fully electric versions for the first time.

The X5 itself, in its G65 generation, will become the first BMW to offer five powertrain types at once: petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid, electric iX5, and the hydrogen-powered iX5 Hydrogen, which arrives in 2028 with Toyota’s involvement.

The big question now isn’t whether buyers will notice the new handles. The question is this: will they prove more convenient than the usual ones, or just another pretty detail you have to get used to every day.