SPYSHOTS: BMW Z5 does winter trials with Supra twin

It’s been a year since the BMW Z5 development mule was first spotted, and in these images captured in Sweden, our spy photographers have managed to catch the upcoming Z5 driving with its fabric roof stowed, giving us an idea of what it will look like in al fresco configuration.

Here, the Z5 still wears camouflage which conceals the true shapes applied to its front, hence it remains to be seen how details such as the signature BMW kidney grilles have been developed for the upcoming rag-top. Speaking of the fabric roof which has been stowed in these pictures, behind the Z5’s seats are a pair of roll hoops which appear to be of a shape similar to those on the outgoing E89 Z4.

Also drawn as inspiration from the Z4 are the tail lights, as seen in a previous sighting. Further down the Z5’s rump, the dual exhaust pipes are capped with trapezoidal finishers, as compared with the Supra’s round items, though both the BMW and Toyota have been tipped to share a common powertrain.

Seen below, the upcoming Supra appears to use a row of circular tail lights, harking back to the JZA80 Supra of the ’90s, while the Japanese car’s bootlid appears to use a higher-set opening. In their most powerful guises, both the BMW Z5 and the Toyota Supra (also pictured here) are said to use a BMW straight-six aided by electric motors fed by supercapacitors, for an all-wheel powertrain.

Inside, no newer detail can be gleaned from these images, though we know from before that the duo also share certain aspects of the interior – though not final, the earlier Supra mule was seen with a BMW steering wheel, along with some BMW design cues on the dashboard.

Whether or not both cars will be further differentiated on interior-wise remains to be seen. As both the BMW Z5 and upcoming Toyota Supra are seen testing together, as well as seen separately albeit at similar times, it is possible that both cars could have their debuts timed close together, if not set simultaneously.