Review: BMW i5 2023

The i3 and i8 were prescient precursors. The i4, iX and i7 moved the idea of an all-electric BMW center stage. Now things get real, for the numbers don’t lie. The i5 replaces one of the Bavarian behemoth’s heartland cars, the 5 series, a 10-million-plus bestseller across seven previous generations since 1972.

This is arguably the definitive BMW, a classy but entertaining European sports sedan aspired to by pretty much anyone with a hint of petrol in their veins. Now that fuel is changing—and much else besides.

We’re in the basement parking garage of a building in Lisbon, home to up to 2,000 software engineers employed exclusively by BMW (making it the biggest software employer in Portugal). The erstwhile purveyor of the “ultimate driving machine” now wishes to be seen as a far-sighted tech powerhouse that just happens to build cars. But can a company hard-wired to provide driver interaction truly manage the transition? Frank Weber, BMW’s head of total vehicle development, reckons the company has been on this path for decades.

“Every BMW engineer has a digital side to them,” Weber tells WIRED. “People ask about mechanical components, but there is nothing that is not digital. The software guys here are an integral part of our organization. We learned the hard way with the E65 7 series [in 2002], which was a nightmare and turned the whole organization upside down in the 12 months before its launch. But we established how to match hardware and software integration [on that car], and we now have a mature organization. The process has evolved. But, even so, software cannot compensate for hardware weaknesses.”

The i5 ramps up the new-age BMW offer significantly, not least in the way it’s pitched. As Weber hands over to colleagues, we learn little about the new car’s chassis or powertrain, but a lot about the arrival of AirConsole, which introduces in-car gaming to the 5 series.

Scan a QR code and your smartphone becomes a games controller hooked up to the 14.9-inch Curved Glass display (as premiered on the iX in 2021). BMW offers 20 built-in games at launch, with more to come, thankfully, as these launch titles aren't exactly stellar (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Go Kart Go, Golazo, and Overcooked are symbolic of the questionable quality on the list. If you're thinking Fortnite, Call of Duty: Mobile or Among Us, think again). Surprisingly, and somewhat oddly, this wasn't set up on the review cars, so we can't tell you how well it works.

Still, it’s another way of passing the time while you wait for your i5 to charge, as BMW admits. Then there’s the car’s streaming capability, including YouTube or TiVo, depending on which country you’re in. A Bundesliga in-car App is available from launch.

There is still a car in here somewhere, though. The i5 is the first fully electric 5 series, fitted with BMW’s fifth generation e-Drive technology and laden with all the radar, sensors, cameras, and driver assistance systems that are essential equipment these days.

At launch, the electric i5 is available in two guises. The eDrive40 is rear-drive only, and it’s fitted with a rear-mounted electric motor that’s good for 335 bhp and 317 lb-ft of torque. The claimed range is up to 362 miles. It’ll do 62 mph in 6.0 seconds and its top speed is limited to 120 mph.

The all-wheel drive M60 xDrive adds a front-mounted motor worth an additional 256 bhp for a total system output of 593 bhp and 605 lb-ft of torque. It’ll do 62 mph in 3.8 seconds, 143 mph all out, and has a claimed max range of 321 miles.

Real-world range is less than these figures, of course. Expect to get about 295 miles on the eDrive 40. I managed around 3.3 miles per kWh on the brand-hosted media drive, but in WIRED's experience, BMW is very accurate in its range projection.

This isn’t a total electric lock-out: An entry-level petrol 520 is also available from launch, powered by a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, with a pair of plug-in hybrids due to follow next year, and a wild new M5. A Touring is also incoming, the first to be available as a battery EV, as well as a plug-in hybrid or internal congestion engine. Indeed, the 5 series range has never been so expansive, but this eighth generation was designed from the ground up to be electric, so that’s where the focus lies.

Both EV iterations use BMW’s 81.2-kWh (useable) lithium-ion battery, with 11-kW charging as standard. This can be increased to 22 kW if the optional onboard charger is fitted. The i5 can handle a maximum DC charge of 205 kW, 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. New charging software also adjusts the charging power for optimum results, and waste heat from the battery is used to control the temperature. In Efficient mode, the range can be extended by up to 25 percent, apparently. There’s also an emergency Max Range mode should that charging point you were banking on be mysteriously inoperative.

The new 5 series has apparently paused the BMW design department’s mission to polarize as many people as possible. This is a chiseled, handsome sedan, if rather generic looking, particularly from the rear three-quarters. At 5 meters long, and with a wheelbase 5 mm shy of 3 meters, it’s also bigger and heavier than that 7 series of yore decried by Weber.

It’s impressively aerodynamic, though; 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, while an air curtain tidies up the air flow past the front wheels. Lightweight “air performance” wheels with inserts also help incrementally reduce emissions and enhance range, as do flush door handles. M Sport Pro and M60 xDrive models are visually punchier, with black elements to distract the eye.

But BMW’s biggest design achievements are now vested in its cars’ interiors. The Curved Glass setup consists of a 12.3-inch main instrument display behind the steering wheel, which merges seamlessly into a 14.9-inch main screen. BMW has now reached v8.5 of its proprietary operating system, with new graphics, a clear start screen and something called QuickSelect, which highlights the most oft-used features—but you'll still default to CarPlay or Android Auto.

New to the 5 series is the Interaction Bar that first appeared on the 7 series. It consists of a backlit crystalline unit running the width of the dashboard with aluminum or with a more technical carbon-fiber effect. The Bar conceals the touch-sensitive control panels for the air “seam vents” and climate control. This minimalism is aided by surprisingly effective haptics. Go for the Comfort Plus Pack and you level up to a four-zone air-con system with a solar sensor to regulate the rear temperature. The Bar illuminates should you receive a phone call, if the media playback stopping and ringing noise is somehow insufficient, and its functionality can be personalized (but only to a degree).

There’s a 5 series-specific center console control panel with the iDrive controller—although the touchscreen is surely the primary interface—a new drive selector switch, stop/start button, the My Modes button (Personal, Sport, Efficient), parking brake, and, praise be, a physical volume control switch.

Wireless charging is standard across the range. Harman Kardon supplies the audio, with a 205-watt amplifier; a more powerful Bowers & Wilkins system is an option. There are four USB-C ports in the car, with the option of adding more. The 5 series is also the first BMW to go vegan, a leather-like material called Veganza replacing leather as the default interior trim. It’s not quite as tactile, but certainly good enough.

As with the i7, the i5 is another BMW that genuinely surpasses the equivalent combustion model. Given BMW’s mastery of old-school engine hardware, that’s quite an achievement. The 5 series uses the company’s modular Cluster Architecture (CLAR), which underpins all the bigger BMWs, but with revised suspension and a renewed focus on refinement and structural rigidity. Electronically controlled dampers are an option, but the regular setup is superb. An active rear axle is an option, turning against the front wheels or in the same direction by up to 2.5 degrees.

The eDrive40 is swift, smooth, and unruffled. Pull a paddleshifter labeled Boost and you get a 10 percent/10 second energy kick. The brakes and regen are better harmonized than on rival Audi, Jaguar, or Mercedes cars. With almost 600 bhp, the M60 xDrive is a highly convincing super sedan, never mind that a hybridized M5—which will combine BMW’s fabulous 4.4-liter V8 with a 25.7-kWh battery—is about a year away.

As well as running the adaptive damping as standard, the all-wheel-drive M60 also gets active anti-roll bars with 48-volt electric motors, and has remarkable fluidity and agility for a car this size and mass. The traction control is integrated into the main ECU, reducing the signal paths for interventions that BMW claims are 10 times faster than before.

But the i5 will also drive itself. “Driving Assistant Professional” harnesses distance control, stop and go functionality, and steering and lane-control assist for Level 2 automation. Sadly, unlike on the iX, the i5 does not have Level 3 hands-free freeway driving tech built-in for future activation. Some may feel this is a big omission for a car practically made for motorway miles.

In the meantime, there is Highway Assistant (though not in the UK), which combines adaptive cruise, speed limit assist, and active lane-keeping and lane-change assist. The car prompts an overtake, which you confirm merely by glancing in the corresponding door mirror. Cool idea, but we just can’t imagine using it on a typically nightmarish freeway—not without serious heart palpitations, anyway. Driving remains too improvisational and, frankly, combative for it to work.

Needless to say, the new 5 series is fitted with most possible forms of assistance, including Evasion Assistant and Crossroads Warning with brake intervention. You can also park the car using your smartphone. Maneuver Assistant uses GPS and trajectory data stores and replays complex parking maneuvers.

And there's yet more tech in the i5. BMW’s Proactive Care uses AI to do predictive maintenance, identifying issues and offering solutions before you even realize there is a problem. Ultra Wideband (UWB) is used once again so that your smartphone or Apple Watch can be turned into a car key.

The i5 is also the first BMW to benefit from the new Plug & Charge function. Digital authentication via app or charging card is no longer needed, because the car authenticates itself independently. Owners can digitally store up to five Plug & Charge-enabled contracts from different providers in the car.

In short, the i5 is the best electric BMW yet from a company that has already proven itself the most fleet-footed legacy car maker as the world pivots away from internal combustion. Perhaps it’s trying too much in some areas, but old habits die hard, and at heart this remains a highly seductive driving machine. Those 2,000 software engineers haven’t quite taken over yet.