BMW i5 Review 2023

The BMW i5 is a car that shows us just how serious the German firm is about its electric future. It’s not a city car like the old BMW i3, nor an experimental sports car like the BMW i8, nor an opulent luxury model like the BMW i7, but an electric version of one of BMW’s core models, and a car with some tough rivals – from the Audi e-Tron GT to the (now left-hand-drive only) Tesla Model S. Read on for our full BMW i5 review to see if the company has crafted a winner.

While there will still be combustion versions of the new BMW 5 Series, the BMW i5 feels more representative of the model’s future, and on these impressions, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.

It blends the luxury we saw in the BMW i7 with more traditional BMW dynamics, and while it doesn’t offer the kind of driver interaction you’d find in a classic BMW 5 Series or one of BMW’s M models, it’s still very impressive, with a sharp and agile feel you’d not expect from a car of its size and weight.

It’s more spacious than the outgoing BMW 5 Series too (smaller boot aside) and while the high-tech cabin may take some getting used to for BMW traditionalists, it’s a joy to interact with and incredibly refined and comfortable too.

Equipment levels are high across the range and all the technology offered feels like it has a purpose.

It’s not cheap, with the eDrive40’s £74,000 price tag putting it £23,000 above the BMW 520i that will open the new BMW 5 Series range. However, such pricing isn’t unusual for the BMW i5’s class, and both the range and performance go a long way to justifying it too.

While the styling won’t be to all tastes, it shouldn’t leave onlookers aghast – and the Touring estate version arriving in 2024 will surely look even better.

The rear seat isn’t usually the first place you’d investigate in a new BMW 5 Series, but the BMW i5 has grown in every direction compared to its predecessor and the main beneficiary has been those in the back.

The BMW i5 is now a five-metre long car, having grown by 97mm to 5060mm, while width is up to 1900mm and it’s 36mm taller at 1515mm.

In all that growth, though, it’s the 20mm longer wheelbase, now 2995mm, which has given rear-seat passengers a touch more legroom, and true enough there’s space to stretch in the back, if not to BMW i7 levels of decadence.

Those in the front were never squeezed in the old BMW 5 Series but the new car does feel more open, and BMW hasn’t scrimped on seat adjustability.

The BMW i5 gets a 490-litre boot, only 30 litres down on petrol models, but 40 litres down on the outgoing car. That’s probably not enough to notice from a usability perspective but with a BMW i5 Touring on the way next year, the saloon’s not the load-lugger of the batch anyway.

Recent BMWs have struck a balance between the quality you’d expect from Audi and the ‘surprise and delight’ you might get from a modern Mercedes, and the BMW i5 follows suit.

It’s more welcoming than an Audi A6 and less creaky than some recent Mercedes.

The crystal-like dashboard inlays won’t be for everyone (nor will their mood lighting) but viewed as a whole it’s a pretty special environment, plush where it matters and advanced where it needs to be – and you’ll listen or poke in vain for any kind of rattle or flimsy material.

The seats, vegan leather on some models, are wonderful too – another leaf taken from the BMW i7’s book.

iDrive is back once again, now using generation 8.5 of BMW’s operating system. The rotary controller (another crystal-like part) will be familiar to most BMW owners since the first generation and for the handful of functions we’ve tried so far, remains intuitive enough.

That being said, the sheer number of apps and functions now buried within the dashboard screen (a 14.9-inch display nestled within the same curved pane as the 12.3-inch driver display) means most owners will probably spend months getting to grips with it all.

With a SIM card and a data plan, you can even now watch YouTube, provided you’re stationary.

Still, you’ll probably end up using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for most functions, and both are standard. Climate controls, meanwhile, are split between the screen (fairly easy to tap without too much distraction), and a touch-sensitive bar underneath.

At the time of writing, the petrol BMW 5 Series begins at £51,000, but the BMW i5 starts at £74,105 in eDrive40 form and the M60 xDrive at £97,745.

That’s squarely in Porsche Taycan or Audi e-Tron GT territory (a basic Taycan is just over £79,000, the Audi just under £88,000),

While the BMW doesn’t have their visual drama, it’s far more accommodating, goes further on a charge in any guise, and isn’t far behind dynamically either. More pertinently, it’s in the same ballpark as a Mercedes EQE yet comfortably outperforms the Mercedes at a given price point – even if the EQE does claim more miles on a charge.

BMW has kept the range structure simple; the eDrive40 is offered only in M Sport trim while the M60 is a kind of ‘M junior’ to the firm’s real performance models.

On top you get a range of exterior colours and wheels on each car, a selection of interior trim options, and a range of packs bundling together equipment, with a few of the options also available individually.

Both BMW i5s are comprehensively equipped from the off, though.

Both BMW i5s get a battery pack of just under 84kWh, around 81kWh of which is usable. From that, the eDrive40 extracts an official range of up to 354 miles – with energy consumption equating to 3.8 miles per kWh – and the M60’s range drops to 315 miles and 3.4mi/kWh (broadly 115mpg).

Reasonably enthusiastic use of the eDrive40’s 340PS returned a figure of around 3mi/kWh (101mpg) so in gentler commuting or at a steady cruise, neither official figure seems unfeasible.

Additionally, a ‘Max Range’ function in the driving mode selection is claimed to boost range by around 25%, if you can live with the car’s softened responses, lower power and a slightly less icy blast of air-conditioning.

The BMW i5 supports DC fast charging of up to 205kW, good for a 10-80% boost in around half an hour (or just under 100 miles in ten minutes, if the battery is nearly empty), while the waste heat from the electric motors is actually used to help precondition the battery for charging.

If the BMW i5 initially tricks you into thinking it’s like a shrunken BMW 7 Series, then it doesn’t take long into a drive to realise it’s still a sports saloon at heart.

Where the BMW i7 is more like a Rolls-Royce in its driving behaviour, the BMW i5 feels sharper and more agile. You sit lower for a start, which immediately puts you in the mood, but the steering responds keenly and the body stays flat even in fairly enthusiastic cornering.

The steering filters out anything you might consider feedback, but it’s always accurate and there’s so much grip to lean on that you’ll trust the BMW i5 very quickly, particularly with what feels like limitless traction.

It doesn’t feel especially rear-driven, at least with all the electronics turned on, but the balanced feel is present and correct.

eDrive40 models get a fixed spring and damper set-up with self-levelling rear suspension, and even in M Sport specification and on the M Sport Pro’s 20-inch wheels, it does a good job of isolating you from pretty poor surfaces.

It’s firm enough to be sporty, with only an occasional thump over really rough bits to let you know it’s not as plush as it could be if it was offered in less sporty trim options.

The adaptive set-up on the M60 actually feels very similar, cleverly decoupling its anti-roll bars in a straight line to improve ride quality, but feels sharper in quick corners.

Separate from combustion versions of the new BMW 5 Series, the BMW i5 comes in two guises, eDrive40 and M60 xDrive.

The former is rear-wheel drive only, with a single 340PS electric motor at the rear axle, offering a torque boost from 400Nm to 430Nm with the pull of a steering wheel paddle. 0-62mph takes six seconds flat, and top speed is limited to 120mph.

The M60 xDrive keeps the same rear motor, but throws in a 261PS motor up front too, for a 601PS total and up to 820Nm of torque, again with the pull of a paddle. The extra traction drops the 0-62mph time down to 3.8 seconds, with a 142mph top speed.

High-performance EV owners may now be jaded by really brisk acceleration, but the M60 will still have you peppering the air with expletives the first few times you mash the pedal into the carpet, accompanied by spacey sounds developed by movie composer Hans Zimmer.

You’ll also marvel at how it pulls notably harder when you tweak the paddle behind the left-hand spoke on the steering wheel. The eDrive 40 isn’t quite so exciting, but few will find it lacking in anytime-you-want-it overtaking power – it never feels anything less than worthy of the BMW badge.

Euro NCAP hasn’t yet launched the new BMW i5 into a deformable barrier, but it’s unlikely to score anything less than a top result. The old BMW 5 Series, admittedly tested back in 2017, achieved five stars at the time with strong results across the board.

And the BMW i5 is packed with the latest iteration of many of BMW’s safety systems, from more advanced collision warning abilities (better at spotting pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic when pulling out of junctions), to an active lane return function to steer you away from oncoming traffic that could cause a collision risk.

The BMW i5 eDrive40 can pull up to 1,500 kg, and the M60 xDrive can tow 2,000 kg. These are respectable figures in the EV arena, but other BMWs may be a more obvious choice if towing is a priority.

The range starts with the BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport, with a standard equipment list that includes Veganza artificial leather trim, a rear lip spoiler, ambient lighting, wireless phone charging, sports seats, air-conditioning with pre-heating and a Harman Kardon audio.

There’s also M Sport suspension with rear self-levelling, 19-inch alloy wheels, parking and reverse assistants, BMW Live Cockpit Plus augmented reality for the sat-nav and smartphone integration.

The BMW i5 eDrive40 M Sport Pro gets BMW’s ‘Iconic Glow’ with a lit outline for the kidney grille, black-tinted headlight housings, black exterior details, M seatbelts, and 20-inch alloy wheels as standard.

The BMW i5 M60 xDrive has Iconic Glow as standard, an even more dramatic interpretation of the kidney grille, a red centre marker for the steering wheel, Adaptive M Suspension Professional with Active Roll Stabilisation, a Bowers & Wilkins audio, red brake calipers, optional 22kW AC charging, memory seats and privacy glass.