BMW i5 review

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.

Multimedia system

We are now onto BMW’s iDrive Operating System 8.5 infotainment generation. Just as it does in the BMW iX and i7, the system incorporates the heater controls, seat adjustment controls, interior lighting controls, headlight settings and many other functions you might expect to find physical switchgear for.

BMW tries to provide shortcut functions around the margins of the screen to make it easier to reach particular controls quickly, but they are small and fiddly to hit while driving. 

The system’s saving grace for drivers is that there’s still an iDrive-style cursor controller on the centre console. However, there’s no cursor controller on the steering wheel (like Mercedes provides) and going through the main menu screen to find a particular function to adjust can be slow and distracting.

The navigation system is easy to program via voice command and it routes sensibly and is easy to follow. Our car had the £1250 Bowers & Wilkins surround audio system, which sounded powerful, detailed and crisp in a car of quite low ambient cruising noise.

But while this is clearly a large and heavy car, there is some sporting purpose here: a more natural, less heavy-handed sort of dynamism than you get from a bigger Tesla, and a clearer tautness, poise and precision than many softer, heavier-feeling EVs have.

One last note on weight, as it can add up quickly. At 2130kg, the basic i5 eDrive40 saloon is already a fantastically heavy beast, and the estate adds another 50kg. Choosing the flagship i5 Touring M60 xDrive brings a second motor (and hence four- wheel drive), rear-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars. Loaded up with the family plus luggage, you’re looking at around 2700kg, all said and done. No wonder it has 593bhp.

Comfort & Isolation

Our i5 test car had BMW’s updated Comfort front seats, whose wider adjustability was masked somewhat by the simplistic manual controls on the side of the seat base. As with so many other things, you have to dive several menus deep into the infotainment system to find the finer controls for it, but when you do, you can extend the seat cushion, adjust the headrest and generally make for good long-distance driving comfort. Apart from wide-seeming B-pillars causing a big over-shoulder blindspot, all-round visibility is good.

The car’s slightly over-firm ride is the only limiting factor to its cruising comfort. It’s settled enough on the motorway and has the stoutness and wheel travel to deal with sleeping policemen around town particularly well. But it can get restive and fidgety on uneven out-of-town roads and has a tendency towards hyperactivity in the ride just when you want to find those greater reserves of composure. 

For those who would prefer a comfortable EV, however, testing experience of the i5 M60 with BMW’s adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars fitted suggests that it is much more settled, although the latter can’t be had on an i5 eDrive40.