BMW Already Has M Performance Parts for the New X5 and iX5 – Including 23-Inch Wheels

Apparently buying a brand-new BMW X5 isn’t enough. Before the fifth-generation SUV has even had time to become a familiar sight on the road, BMW already has a catalogue of M Performance parts ready for it.

The same applies to the iX5, the first fully electric member of the X5 family.

BMW revealed the accessories on September 14, and this isn’t a handful of badges and different floor mats. The catalogue includes carbon-fiber exterior parts, rear diffusers, roof spoilers and wheels measuring up to 23 inches.

Some of it is exactly what you’d expect from the M Performance catalogue.

The front end can receive carbon-fiber trim around the redesigned illuminated kidney grille, while additional front attachments make an already substantial SUV look considerably more aggressive.

Move around the back and things become more interesting. There’ s an aramid-fiber rear diffuser, a carbon-fiber rear bumper trim and, for combustion-powered X5 models, a rather conspicuous Gold Bronze tailpipe finisher.

Subtle it isn’t. But perhaps subtlety stopped being the objective somewhere around the point when 23-inch wheels became a factory-backed accessory for a family SUV.

BMW offers complete summer and winter wheel sets ranging from 21 to 23 inches. The new 23-inch Y-spoke 1110 M wheel uses a matte Jet Black finish, giving owners another opportunity to make their X5 considerably more noticeable.

The interesting thing is that BMW hasn’t forgotten what people actually use an X5 for. Alongside the cosmetic M Performance catalogue sits a much more practical collection of accessories.

BMW has developed new aerodynamically optimized roof boxes in 350-, 450- and 550-liter sizes. There are bicycle carriers, ski and snowboard holders, all-weather floor mats, luggage-compartment protection and the familiar Travel & Comfort accessories for passengers.

That’s particularly relevant to the iX5, and putting a large box on the roof of an EV isn’t exactly ideal for efficiency, so reducing aerodynamic drag becomes more than a marketing detail when every extra bit of resistance affects range. It also highlights the slightly strange position occupied by modern performance accessories.

Once upon a time, tuning a BMW SUV meant choosing louder exhausts, larger wheels and perhaps suspension modifications.

Now the same accessories catalogue has to work with an electric X5 that doesn’t have exhaust pipes at all. BMW’s answer is essentially to separate appearance from propulsion.

Carbon fiber still looks like carbon fiber whether there’s an engine or battery underneath. Big wheels remain big wheels. And apparently people still want their practical family SUV to look slightly angry while carrying three bicycles.

The new X5 itself is unusually important for BMW because the fifth generation has been designed around several different powertrain technologies. The iX5 adds the first full-electric version to the family, while BMW is also developing hydrogen fuel-cell technology around the platform.

That makes this accessory launch more interesting than it initially appears. BMW isn’t creating one visual identity for the electric version and another for everything else.

Whether someone chooses combustion or electricity, the company still wants to sell them carbon fiber afterwards.

Some things about the automotive industry really don’t change.