[Auto]BMW i5

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Before we delve into the various strengths and weaknesses of the BMW i5, let’s rewind. After all, executive saloons have over previous decades gained a reputation for conservatism that, while hard to shake, is now entirely unjustified.

Twenty-five years ago, company car buyers wanted efficient diesel engines in packages priced and equipped just so. They didn’t want expensive powertrain technology. They didn’t even want riskier shades of paint.

At the time, BMW played to that brief spectacularly well. But now the executive car market has changed out of sight, under the pressure of CO2-based tax regimes.

And how the BMW 5 Series has changed along with it. The eighth generation of this mid-sized four-door is taking another bold step into the future. Incorporating updated versions of the mild- and plug-in hybrid powertrains of its predecessor, but casting out their diesel engines entirely, it is the first 5 Series to be offered as an all-electric model.

The zero-emissions i5 – the subject of this test – will be available in both saloon and Touring guises, and with a choice of single- or dual-motor powertrains.

Two years ago, Autocar had never road tested a fully electric BMW saloon, but now the i5 becomes the third, following the BMW i4 and BMW i7, with the likes of the iX, iX3 and iX1 already playing in their own niches. It has been a rapid expansion into the zero-emissions world for the brand. But what does it mean for the longest-lived BMW showroom model of them all?

Shorn of its predecessors’ diesel engines, the eighth-generation 5 Series range consists of two plug-in hybrids, two electric i5s and the entry-level 520i mild-hybrid petrol.

There are three de facto trims for UK buyers: M Sport, M Sport Pro and M Performance (as represented by the range-topping i5 M60). The last two are distinguished by exterior styling elements (illuminated grille etc) and gain extra interior kit.

In 2024, BMW also launched the i5 Touring, which is available in exactly the same specifications as its saloon counterpart, albeit with a small premium to pay. 

 

 

BMW updated the CLAR model platform of the previous 5 Series to serve under the new one, so there’s no EV-specific chassis for the electric version of this car.

The car has grown significantly. This G60-generation car is the first 5 Series to breach the 5.0m barrier on overall length, and the first through 1.5m in height. It’s wider in the body than the previous one (although, thanks to narrower door mirrors, only 15mm wider at its widest) and 20mm longer in the wheelbase. So it certainly begins to test the limits of what we might universally agree amounts to a mid-sized saloon.

Gloss black sills and lower body trims are an attempt to reduce the visible body mass. Even so, there’s a clear sense of chunkiness about this car that not all testers found appealing. Helping to redeem it, however, are more traditional, classic-BMW primary features than seen on the i4 or i7: a ‘kidney’ grille of fairly normal proportions and a neat interpretation of the Hofmeister kink at the C-pillar.

Under the skin, the new 5 Series range starts with a 520i Miller-cycle turbo petrol-engined model that, thanks to mild-hybrid assistance, now makes a little over 200bhp. Above that, while other global markets are still offered a 520d, 530i and even a 540i, the UK jumps straight to the plug-in options. The 530e teams a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with an enlarged and enhanced hybrid system for 295bhp in all and up to 63 miles of electric range.

There’s also a 550e xDrive, which combines a turbo straight six with that PHEV tech for 483bhp.

 

Then there are the electric options. Go for the i5 eDrive40 (tested here) and you will get a single, rear-mounted motor with 335bhp at peak. Plump for the i5 M60 instead and there’s an additional 257bhp motor for the front axle. Both cars use the same nickel-manganese-cobalt drive battery of 81.2kWh of usable capacity – less than some key rivals offer, though a class-competitive figure.

Combustion-engined 5 Series use double-wishbone front suspension with multiple links at the rear; and since the UK market range is based around M Sport trim, most cars will run on lowered, steel-coil sport suspension with passive stroke-dependent dampers. However, all i5s get specific axle modifications and come with self-levelling air suspension at the rear to cope with the weight of their rear-mounted motors, very much like the 5 Series Touring typically has over the years.

Adaptive dampers can be fitted to mid-range models and i5s as part of BMW’s Adaptive Suspension Professional package, though, which also adds active four-wheel steering. (Our test car had neither.) Those technologies both appear on the upper-end i5 M60 as standard, in addition to ride-enhancing active anti-roll bars.

Our i5 eDrive40 M Sport Pro weighed 2213kg as tested: a little over 170kg lighter than the Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ we tested in 2022, though only a whisker lighter than the tri-motor Tesla Model S Plaid we tested earlier in 2023. By bigger EV standards, not bad, but clearly not exceptional.

 

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