The current G30 generation of the BMW 5 Series is arguably one of the finest cars in the Munich automaker's range. Not only does it brilliantly maintain the balance between comfort and performance, but it also looks fantastic. And although the G60 replacement you see below is taking on more of BMW's contemporary styling language, it appears that the luxury sedan will once again be the looker of the family. We admit, there is a lot of camouflage here, but there's considerably less than on previous prototypes we've spotted and we now have a clearer look at the car's finer details.

The test mule you see here is still wearing riveted sheet metal on parts of the body, which we think exists only to hide the concave and convex surfaces of the design. Regardless, we've now got a decent view of the new headlights and taillights, and although they are still partially obscured by extra sheet metal and vinyl, it seems that our hasty virtual imagining of their overall shape won't be too far off. At the rear, there isn't much to see as the taillights are even more comprehensively covered up and are still wearing frosted lenses to disguise their new graphics.

BMW seems determined to withhold the final design from us for as long as possible, as those little sheets of metal appear at the C-pillar, where one would expect to find the traditional Hofmeister kink, but as we saw when the G20 BMW 3 Series debuted, this treasured design feature may evolve (or devolve, depending on your feelings on the matter). However, the engineers have removed the vinyl from the roof, and we can't decipher why this was obscured in the first place. In any case, it's promising that more of the car is being revealed, which indicates that we could see the new model before this time next year.

There are no pictures of the interior here, but we already know that iDrive 8, with its large, curved, dual-screen setup, will make its way into the cabin. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: BMW, please fix iDrive 8 and make it as intuitive as its predecessor. The user experience is a big part of the reason the 5 Series is so good.

As for performance, we can expect class-leading handling and a diverse range of powertrains. Plug-in hybrid and full-electric models are guaranteed, and the rumor mill says we can expect one last outing of the pure combustion engine, but we'd hold our breath on that one. We'll bring you more details as they become available.