► New all-electric BMW i5 saloon revealed
► Up to 361-mile range, M60 performance version, too
► Prices start from £73,200 in the UK
BMW has launched its all-electric 5-series – the i5. The new battery-powered executive car is the biggest leap for the 5er in the brand’s five-decade and 10 million sales-strong history.
Like the i7, it’s been launched in tandem with the new, G60-generation 5-series which you can read about by clicking here. Keep scrolling for all we know about the new i5.
The i5 is a sleeker 5, then…
Only slightly. It’s still an evolutionary design rather than a radical one, particularly given how important the 5-series is to the brand. For the i5, visual differentiation from other 5-series models is less pronounced than with other twinned BMW i models besides the 7/i7 twins. BMW even promises the i5 will benefit from a Touring estate model in 2024.
The i5 has the same footprint as the combustion engine 5-series, meaning it’s grown in every direction – it’s 93mm longer, 35mm wider and 24mm taller with a 20mm stretch in the wheelbase. The i5 also benefits from the aero trickery as the 5 (including optional Air Performance wheels, active kidney-grille control and a smooth underbody), too, meaning a low-drag 0.23Cd coefficient.
What’s the i5’s interior like?
The i5 uses a lot of technology and design inspiration from the larger, and really rather opulent, i7 cockpit. BMW’s Curved Display, which debuted on the i4, returns with familiar 12.3-inch and 14.9-inch screens running back-to-back behind a common glass surface. BMW has also introduced ‘Veganza’ – a vegan, leather-like upholstery that’s standard from launch. Real leather is relegated to the options list.
BMW’s electric exec also gets the reworked 8.5 operating system just like the i7, with a focus on improved usability and eight ‘QuickSelect’ widgets to make the most frequently used features easier to access without dipping into sub-menus. There are also games, courtesy of a tie-up with AirConsole, so you can positively relish those charger queues.
Give me some i5 performance specs!
Two i5 versions are confirmed so far, using a 400-volt architecture. The i5 eDrive40 is a rear-drive model with a single 335bhp electric motor and a likely range of 296-361 miles, good for a 0-62mph sprint in six seconds and a top speed of 120mph.
The i5 M60 xDrive upgrades to four-wheel drive with twin e-motors and its 590bhp is punchy like a Porsche Taycan GTS, dropping the 0-62mph launch time to 3.8 seconds while the top speed rises to 143mph. The M60’s range on the WLTP test cycle is expected to be 282-320 miles.
CAR drives a prototype of the BMW i5
In both cases a model-specific lithium-ion battery pack with a usable 82.3kWh can be charged at up to 205kW, while a Max Range mode offers a limp-home safety net to boost range by 15-25 per cent. Handy when that charger you banked on pulls a sickie.
As you’d expect, though, the i5 is not a light car. The eDrive40 model clocks in at 2130kg, but BMW’s Daniel Mögele says the battery enhances the dynamic experience: ‘We integrate the i5 battery pack as the core of our driving dynamic concept, so we mount the front axle carrier to the battery with shear plates, and the rear axle carrier with a strut system.’ We’ve driven a prototype of the i5 so far, and found it’s a big car with a rigid platform that responds to steering inputs as one connected whole.
The e-motors are familiar BMW fifth-generation hardware, controlled with the same kind of seamlessly integrated slip control logic as the latest 1-series and i4 – clever tech that juggles grip and slip so deftly I can’t feel it working on fast, neat laps in the M60.
The familiar CLAR underpinnings are common to all 5-series, with the i5 benefiting from air suspension as standard. Adaptive M Professional is the most advanced chassis and is fitted to the M60 as standard, combining rear-wheel-steer wizardry with active roll stabilisation (aka active anti-roll bars with 48-volt electric motors). BMW’s used all the tech before, but never before combined them.
Any other clever BMW i5 tech?
Beyond the AirConsole interior entertainment and the latest upgrades to the BMW OS system inside the car, the i5 can be had with thoroughly up to date driving assistance kit.
Automated Lane Change with eye activation is a world-first, for example, but there’s familiar hands-off driving, active cruise with traffic-light recognition and remote-control parking among 40-plus systems from the 7-series.
BMW i5: price and launch date
BMW says the i5 is available to order now, with the first cars being delivered in October 2023. For the eDrive40, prices start at £73,200. If you want the hotter M60 version, the price for entry is £96,840.