BMW’s move toward larger grilles hasn’t won over everyone, yet, and the large, garish kidney beans likely aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, either. The recently refreshed BMW 5 Series has a larger grille, and when BMW revamps the fourth-generation X5, its grille will likely grow, too. To preview the inevitable, TheSketchMonkey YouTube channel decided to imagine the popular SUV with BMW’s larger grille, pairing it with a redesigned front face and other touches, too.

TheSketchMonkey started with a current-gen X5 BMW introduced a few years ago, and slowly reshaped the front end, adding the larger kidney grille, and tweaking the lower fascia. He used the BMW i4 Concept EV the automaker introduced in early March, which looks a bit more production-ready than that BMW Concept 4 from last September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. You can judge the result for yourself in the video above.

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Making room for the larger grille pushes the front end’s other styling elements to the edges. This gives the lower fascia grille inserts a new, less angular appearance. The BMW receives new, thinner headlights, and a sleeker side profile. The design line that once sat below the door handles before arching over the rear wheels now cuts through the door handles. In the rendering, the design line extends from the front bumper, down the side, and into the rear taillights, which is where it ended before, too.

Gallery: BMW X5 Rendering

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BMW introduced the fourth-generation X5 with the model going on sale in late 2018 with the performance variants following in 2019. We’re still a few years away from an all-new X5, though a mid-cycle refresh could see the grille grow a bit before a complete redesign upends the styling. When BMW begins developing the refreshed version, and the next-gen model, you can bet we’ll be looking at the grille to measure how much larger it got.

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