2017 BMW 5 Series Touring spotted almost undisguised

The next-generation BMW 5 Series Touring has been spotted testing ahead of its planned arrival in the middle of 2017.

Click here to read our 2017 BMW 540i saloon review

Set to go on sale around three months after the 5 Series saloon arrives in dealerships earlier in the year, the 5 Series Touring will rival the likes of the Audi A6 Avant, Jaguar XF Sportbrake, Volvo V90 and the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate.

2017 BMW 5 Series saloon revealed in full - click here to view it

As with the saloon, this latest Touring test mule shows off an evolution of the current car's design language, characterised by its thinner, wider kidney grille. Styling inspiration has come from the new 7 Series, while influences from 2014's Gran Lusso Coupé concept might also be adopted. At the rear, the Touring features a sloping boot with new tail-light clusters.

As is traditional, BMW is expected to improve on the load space offered by the current 5 Series Touring, which offers 560 litres with the rear seats in place, rising to 1670 litres with them folded away.

Engines for the Touring will be shared with the 5 Series saloon and include a core range of four and six-cylinder powertrains from launch. A family of common 2.0-litre and 3.0-litre petrol and diesel units will feature, as well as a successor to the current triple-turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel. That engine is a new quad-turbocharged six-cylinder unit destined for use in the firm's high-end models and is said to develop well over 400bhp and 590lb ft.

A newly developed V8 engine will also be offered in some markets, although it's not yet known whether that engine will be available in the UK.

Also available will be a BMW 5 Series Touring Hybrid model, pairing a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor, to produce combined outputs of 242bhp and 295lb ft. That set-up has already been driven by Autocar in the 3 Series eDrive.