BMW i5
Welcome to a BMW presentation in 2023. Look in vain for any mention of steering, suspension or handling. The ultimate driving machine is a sepia-toned memory. Marvel instead at the new 5-Series’ software integration, chuckle at the presence of an app that streams the Bundesliga, and embrace the arrival of AirConsole which turns the car’s Curved Display into a smartphone-enabled games console.
You might need this as a distraction while charging your new i5. Although a 520i petrol is incoming, the focus today is on the first fully electric 5-Series. It’s fitted with BMW’s fifth generation e-Drive technology, and touts all the radar, sensors and cameras that constitute a car these days. Two versions are available now: the single motor 335bhp eDrive40 or the 593bhp M60 xDrive, with 530e and 550e PHEVs to follow soon. There is a diesel, but not for the UK. Prices start at £49,850 for the entry level 520, rising to £73,200 for the i5 eDrive40 and £96,840 for the i5 M60 xDrive.
Both i5s use BMW’s 81.2kWh (usable) lithium-ion battery, with 11kW charging functionality as standard. This can be increased to 22kW if the optional onboard charger is fitted. The i5 can handle a maximum DC charge of 205kW, which can take the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes. Preheating is also taken care of either manually or automatically. When the navigation system is active, the battery is automatically preconditioned before a planned charging stop.
The new 5 pauses BMW’s adventures in design polarisation but is impressively aerodynamic; the drag coefficient is 0.22–0.23 across the range, aided by an air flap control that opens intakes in the grille to add up to 16 miles to the range, and an air curtain that tidies up frontal air flow. Lightweight ‘air performance’ wheels and flush doorhandles help, too. The kidney grille gets the Iconic Glow illumination as standard on M Sport Pro and visually punchier M60 xDrive models. Bigger and heavier than the E65 7-Series, the new 5-Series is five metres long.
This car might be software critical but BMW’s chassis hardware remains world class. The 5-Series uses BMW’s modular Cluster Architecture (CLAR), which underpins all the bigger BMWs, but the double wishbone front axle and five-link rear axle have been revised here to deliver improved refinement. The i5’s vibration damping and acoustic properties are uncanny, and clever structural reinforcement enhances its composure. M Sport suspension is standard, so the passive springs, dampers and anti-roll bars
