BMW i5 (2024-) Review

Introduction

It says a lot about the popularity of electric vehicles, particularly among company car buyers, when the first version of the new 5 Series to hit the market is the all-electric model. In keeping with BMW’s nomenclature, it’s called the i5, and it’s the zero-emission version of the car that we expect to see in business parks everywhere in 12 months’ time. Naturally, petrol and diesel versions will also be offered, as well as hybrid models, but it’s the i5 that’s first on the scene.

With a burgeoning selection of battery-powered rivals from the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Genesis and Tesla, as well as all the usual petrol- and diesel-powered suspects, the 5 Series has its work cut out to remain at the top of the tree. But with more tech under the skin and in the cabin, as well as a modern new look and the option of electric power, will BMW have done enough to stay ahead of the pack?

At a Glance

Unsurprisingly, given the popularity of earlier 5 Series models, BMW hasn’t fiddled with the new version’s styling too much. It’s still unmistakably a BMW, albeit a slightly more modern one, with cleaner sides and a revamped nose. The German company has, thankfully, shied away from oversized grilles this time, but it has modernised the i5 with cleaner flanks and more contemporary lights.

The inside, however, has evolved more dramatically. Taking inspiration from the 7 Series saloon, the new 5 Series models get the massive Curved Display with its two crystal-clear screens, as well as a clever ambient lighting system and a new toggle-style gear selector. It’s stylish, albeit a little more plasticky than some of BMW’s other interiors, but build quality is generally excellent aside from a handful of lowlights.

The cabin is pretty spacious, too, with loads of room in the back for adults and very comfortable seats, as well as a fully vegan interior as standard. There is a catch, though, because the boot space – particularly in electric i5 versions – leaves something to be desired.

But there’s little faulting the driving experience. BMW has made the 5 Series to be one of the best-handling cars in its class, and the i5 has benefitted enormously. Of all the executive electric saloons on the market, this is the most agile and the most exciting, even if it isn’t the comfiest.

And then there’s the powertrains. There’s quite a gulf between the two i5 options – the eDrive40 and the M60 xDrive – but both are powerful and offer reasonable range of well over 200 miles (as long as you drive reasonably carefully). The eDrive40, with 340hp, will be all the car most will ever need, but the M60 xDrive (below) is the more desirable option.

Key Features

The in-car technology is a key selling point for the new i5, and rightly so. It’s an enormously impressive set-up, with the two huge screens that dominate the cabin from one imperious housing that spans more than half the dashboard. It’s called the Curved Display, and it uses BMW’s latest Operating System 8.5 technology, which makes it sharper and more intuitive than ever before. It’s a great system – so good, in fact, that even the touchscreen climate control panel isn’t that bad – and it’s backed up by BMW’s classic iDrive controller, allowing drivers to navigate the system by feel, which is less distracting when you’re on the move.

Naturally, the i5’s other big selling point is its electric powertrain(s). To be brutally honest, the twin-motor M60 xDrive is surplus to requirements – you don’t need anything that powerful – and the single-motor eDrive40 will suit most customers just fine. It has an official range of more than 300 miles, too, which will offer a real-world endurance of around 250 miles. That’s pretty good going and, slightly underwhelming brakes aside, it drives fantastically well.

Range & Batteries

No matter which version of the i5 you choose, you get the same lithium-ion battery pack with 81.2kWh of usable capacity. However, thanks in part to the differences in power output, your chosen version will impact how far you can travel using that battery. The basic eDrive40 model, for example, provides an official range of between 309 and 362 miles, although around 250 miles is probably more realistic. The M60 xDrive version, on the other hand, has an official range of between 282 and 320 miles, although the real-world range is probably something in the region of 220 miles. Both are perfectly useful, but you’ll definitely get a little more mileage from the eDrive40.

Performance & Drive

The reason for the eDrive40’s efficiency compared with the M60 xDrive is simple. Whereas the range-topping M60 xDrive has two motors producing a combined total of 601hp and splitting it between the front and rear wheels, the eDrive40 has just one motor that produces 340hp, then sends it all to the rear. That means the eDrive40 is more efficient, but it offers less performance in return.

Not that the eDrive40 is slow by any means. The sprint from 0-62mph takes six seconds, which makes the i5 remarkably perky, and the top speed of 120mph will be more than enough for anyone outside Germany. But for those who want a bit more performance, the M60 xDrive offers a much more rapid 3.8-second 0-62mph time and a 155mph top speed.

Both cars are quick, then, but both make a strange noise while going about their business, with a fake engine noise piped into the cabin. It can only be described as bovine, and it’s best switched off. But other than that, the i5 drives beautifully. The steering is precise, the balance is remarkable and the body is well controlled, all of which results in a car that feels lighter and more agile than its size and weight would suggest.

Until it comes to braking, that is. The M60 xDrive comes with uprated brakes that are enormously powerful and confidence-inspiring, but the eDrive40 is somewhat less well endowed in that department. As a result, bringing the less powerful BMW to a halt feels less effortless than it does in the M60 xDrive, and that gives you a little less confidence in its abilities.

There is a slight trade-off in the i5 driving experience, though, and that’s the ride comfort. Controlling the body requires some suspension trickery, and while the i5 is hardly uncomfortable, it is a little firmer than, say, a Genesis G80 or a Mercedes-Benz EQE Saloon.

Charging

With a fairly chunky battery under the floor, the i5 needs some pretty speedy charging capabilities, and BMW has obliged. Assuming you can find a charger powerful enough, the i5 will take on power at 205kW DC, which means it’ll charge from 10% to 80% in just half an hour. However, if you can only find a 50kW charger, which is more common in the UK, you won’t be able to charge quite so rapidly. And if you’re on a comparatively slow 11kW charger, such as the ones that might often be found at hotels and the like, the car will take almost eight-and-a-half hours to charge from empty to full. Still, that means using a domestic ‘wallbox’ charger should allow you to fill the battery overnight, and the reasonable range means you shouldn’t need to charge publicly all that often.

Running Costs & Emissions

If you charge at home, you should be able to keep the i5’s running costs to a remarkably low level, especially for something with either 340hp or 601hp. Even charging in public occasionally should work out cheaper than filling an equivalent petrol saloon, but the real savings can be made by charging domestically, especially if you benefit from cheap off-peak energy.

However, for the majority of customers, the real benefit of the i5 will be the company car tax. Yes, the 5 Series is already available in hybrid form, and that keeps tax rates low, but the i5 will be even cheaper to run. With Benefit-in-Kind tax rates of just 2% for the moment, the electric version of the 5 Series gives the BMW a little more appeal to company car drivers.

Interior & Technology

While BMW hasn’t done anything too dramatic with the 5 Series’ exterior design, the interior is a bit more striking. Taking inspiration from the latest-generation 7 Series, the i5 gets a massive curved display that houses the touchscreen and the digital instrument cluster. Ever inventive, BMW calls it the Curved Display. However long it took them to think of that, the result is spectacular. The system is sharp and clear, building on the ergonomic success of BMW’s earlier infotainment systems to create one of the best in the business. And now it uses the German company’s Operating System 8.5 technology, it’s even more user-friendly than any other BMW system yet.

It’s cleverer, too. The displays are pin-sharp and highly configurable, which allows you to set the car up how you want it, and because BMW has retained the iDrive rotary controller, you can still navigate the system using the little wheel on the centre console, making it easier and less distracting to use on the move.

Such is the system’s brilliance that BMW has seen fit to remove all the climate control switchgear, leaving the screen to deal with all that. Normally we’d be set against such a move – touchscreen temperature controls are the devil’s work – but the BMW system works surprisingly well. It isn’t perfect, but it’s readily accessible and easy to use most of the time.

The system is also enormously powerful, which allows it to take on some even more wacky responsibilities. For example, you can even specify the AirConsole gaming system, which allows you to use the screens as a console while charging. Pair your smartphone, use that as the controller, and play away to your heart’s content. The games are more Nintendo than PS5, but that just adds to the fun and helps when you’re trying to keep kids entertained at the charging point.

Obviously, though, there’s more to the i5’s cabin than tech. The screens dominate, and they have allowed BMW to clean up the interior and make it more stylish, with a cool light bar around the waist line and a minimalist design. It looks great, and it’s made with vegan materials as standard, including a leather substitute called Veganza, which is surprisingly supple and tactile.

But there are one or two catches, including one of quality. The new interior feels more plasticky than that of the old 5 Series, and some of the switches on the doors and for the air vents feel surprisingly low-rent. It isn’t terrible by any stretch, and it still feels way more solid than most of the cabins Mercedes-Benz is producing these days, but it isn’t quite up to BMW’s normal standard.

Practicality & Boot Space

In the cabin, the i5 is a very practical thing, with comfortable seats that provide more than enough space for four adults. Admittedly, using the central rear seat isn’t all that much fun, but four six-footers could sit comfortably in the new BMW. Even headroom is more than adequate, and legroom is also ample. And when the five-door Touring estate version arrives on the market, it’ll become even more spacious.

Those who require boot space, rather than cabin space, however, will probably need to hold on for the Touring, which will expand on the 490 litres offered by the i5 saloons. That boot isn’t tiny, but it’s shown up by the Mercedes-Benz EQE Saloon and the Tesla Model S, and even though the conventional, combustion-powered 5 Series models offer a fraction more space, they still don’t impress. On the plus side, there’s no space penalty for choosing the more powerful M60 xDrive over the eDrive40, which will be a reassurance to some customers.

Safety

The i5 has not yet been tested by Euro NCAP, so it’s difficult to draw too many solid safety conclusions. However, its predecessor cruised to a top five-star rating with a particularly impressive 91% score for adult occupant protection. It would be quite the shock if the new 5 Series doesn’t pass in similarly impressive fashion.

Especially given its raft of standard safety features, including autonomous emergency braking that can slow or even stop the car if the driver fails to respond to a hazard. It has lane departure warning, too, and a reversing camera, and it’s offered with highway assistance, which combines the lane-keeping system with adaptive cruise control to act as a safety net in case the driver’s attention wanes while on the motorway. In some markets, BMW has also added a clever lane-change assistance feature, which essentially uses your eye movements and body language to work out when you want to change lane, then performs the operation for you. That isn’t certified for use in the UK just yet, though.

One feature that is used in the UK, is the speed limit warning tech, which alerts you if you stray over the speed limit. And when we say ‘alerts’, we mean it buzzes at you like a phone on vibrate mode. Every time you pass the limit. Naturally, one answer to this is not to speed – seems sensible – but that depends on the car knowing the limit in the first place. Occasionally, though, the traffic sign recognition system messes up, and you can find yourself being ‘alerted’ while driving at a speed you know to be perfectly legal. This happens remarkably often. And while you can turn the system off, it comes back on again next time you start the car.

Options

The i5 range is pretty straightforward. You can have the eDrive40, in which case you get the M Sport trim level, or you can have the M60 xDrive with its own, bespoke specification. The two are discerned primarily by their noses, with the eDrive40 getting a more conventional front end with a kind of wide, black goatee, while the M60 xDrive gets a larger black panel and a sportier grille, as well as a few other sporty accoutrements.

In terms of standard equipment, however, the differences aren’t that great. Both get 19-inch alloy wheels and much the same cabin design, although the eDrive40 gets Alcantara upholstery as standard, with Veganza as a no-cost option, whereas the M60 xDrive gets Veganza as standard, plus a Bowers and Wilkins sound system in place of the standard Harman/Kardon system. Electric seats with memory settings and four-zone climate control are also standard on the more powerful car.

Otherwise, both come with much the same touchscreen system, complete with safety tech and configurable screens, as well as a similar basic dashboard design. But you can add plenty of options packages offering head-up displays, an electric bootlid and other goodies. And, of course, there’s the usual selection of colours, interior trim designs and so on. We’re particular fans of the Phytonic Blue and Fire Red on the M60 xDrive, although the Cape York Green is also worthy of a mention.

Rival Cars

Direct rivals for the i5 are still relatively few in number, but the ranks are swelling all the time. Not only does the BMW have to compete with the rather lovely but somewhat cramped Genesis Electrified G80, but it also has to contend with the Tesla Model S, which has previously proven more popular than pretty much any other electric executive car on the market. Today, however, the Model S has been usurped by its smaller siblings, the Model Y and Model 3, and the Model S is not as easy to find as it once was. Nevertheless, it’s still a cracking long-range electric car.

These days, though, the BMW’s biggest rival comes with the familiar three-pointed star on the nose. It’s called the EQE Saloon, and it’s effectively an electric E-Class, albeit with a more bulbous and supposedly more aerodynamic body. If you want to travel long distances, it’s tough to beat thanks to its massive battery, and it has a cool-looking and roomy cabin.

The BMW is better built than the Tesla (below) and Mercedes, though, despite its handful of flaws, and it’s by far the most pleasing car of the four to drive. And while the Genesis can challenge the BMW in terms of interior design and quality, it can’t match the BMW’s technology or interior space.

Verdict & Next Steps

The i5 is not perfect by any means, and that may leave its position vulnerable to attack from other manufacturers, but the BMW is so good that to beat it, those manufacturers will have to execute their product perfectly. With Audi about to launch its electric executive car, all bets are currently off, but for the time being the BMW i5 is now our favourite electric executive saloon. Its modern design, impressive performance and outstanding tech leave it up there with the very best for the time being. Such is the pace of change in this sector that it could all change in a short space of time, but as things stand, the i5 is one of the cars to beat.

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the BMW i5. 

**Correct as of 16/10/2023. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments or £7,363.80  (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.