BMW has an all-new electric 5 Series, and we’ve driven it: The 2024 BMW i5

LISBON, Portugal—Electric vehicles are becoming normalized. Take BMW, for instance. When the electric i3 went on sale a decade ago, it looked—and still looks, in fact—like nothing else on the road. Fast forward to 2023 and we’ve reached the point where you’d have to be very observant to spot the differences between the fully electric and internal combustion versions of the new BMW 5 Series. In fact, it’s a testament to the importance of the fully electric version that the 2024 BMW i5 is the one the company chose to offer up to the world’s journalists for a first drive.

The eighth-generation 5 Series—internal BMW code G60, for those who keep track—broke cover this past May. It has a more restrained look than other electric BMWs we’ve driven recently.

Back when its range was mostly just 3, 5, and 7, they all wore roughly similar kidney grilles. But in the 21st century, BMW has series going from 1 to 8, not to mention SUVs, with almost as many variations of that famous grille among them. Here, it’s a horizontal design, and it’s technically not a grille if we’re being literal—there’s no grate or mesh covering a big air inlet. Behind the plastic exterior live some of the car’s forward-looking sensors. And for those who think the design is maybe too restrained, you can opt for an illuminated surround.

The i5’s interior includes a backlit crystal “interaction bar” that can change color and also houses some of the climate controls. It’s pleasant to touch, but sunlight can glint off it.

Credit: BMW

The 5 Series makes use of the same CLAR modular platform as we’ve seen in other recent BMWs. Short for cluster architecture, it was designed from the ground up to accommodate a battery electric powertrain; the volume under the cabin occupied by the battery in the all-electric i5 is used to package drivetrain components and the fuel tank in the gasoline-powered i5s, and that plus a battery pack for the plug-in hybrid version. The North American market will see a 48 V mild hybrid and a plug-in hybrid 5 Series with engines, but today is just about the EV.

RWD for efficiency, AWD for speed

First, there are a pair of electric powertrain options to pick from. The $66,800 i5 eDrive40 is the base model and features just a single electrically excited synchronous motor that drives the rear wheels. BMW is proud of the fact that its motors use no rare earths, and one benefit of this design is that there’s no drag from the motor when it’s not being powered, which makes coasting easy and efficient. The motor generates 355 hp (265 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque, with short bursts of up to 317 lb-ft (430 Nm) when using the boost mode.

There’s a suitably low drag coefficient that helps efficiency, too, such that BMW says the larger i5 is actually fractionally better than the smaller i4 eDrive40 on the European WLTP test cycle. The height of the battery pack has been cut by a little less than an inch (20 mm) compared to the pack in the larger BMW i7. There are four 72-cell modules and another three 12-cell modules above them along the centerline of the pack, with the battery-management system fitted in a strip above that. There’s a useable 81.2 kWh, which BMW thinks should achieve an EPA range of 295 miles (475 km) on a single charge.

The new 5 Series is about two percent larger than the car it replaces.

Credit: BMW

With a relatively short amount of seat time in the car and a route that did not end where we started, I’m not able to provide a real-world efficiency number, but with the drive mode in D, it glides so effortlessly that you don’t need to touch the throttle pedal if the road has any downhill gradient. Even on a level stretch of road, it takes the air plenty of time to slow the car by even a few miles per hour.

The company says it cares about more than just the car’s efficiency on the road, and it has published a vehicle carbon footprint report. This includes information on the recycled content in the car, energy and water use during construction, and so on. BMW says that the i5 is delivered to customers with a carbon footprint of 17 tons of CO₂ equivalent.

The other powertrain option is the go-fast one, the $84,100 i5 M60 xDrive. As the xDrive name suggests, this variant has an all-wheel-drive layout, with the addition of a front drive unit rated at 255 hp (190 kW) and 269 lb-ft (365 Nm). There’s the same 81.2 kWh battery pack, which sets the combined total power and torque output—593 hp (442 kW) and 549 lb-ft (805 Nm), going up to 605 lb-ft (820 Nm). The added oomph of the second motor means this i5 is much quicker—3.7 seconds to 60 mph (98 km/h) rather than the eDrive40’s 5.7 seconds, and the top speed is 10 mph (16 km/h) faster, at 130 mph (209 km/h).

The M60 xDrive feels noticeably more powerful on the road, and while the sentiment isn’t universal, I rather enjoy the Hanz Zimmer-crafted sound it makes in Sport mode (the cheaper, slower version has this option, too). The adaptive suspension is 0.3 inches (8 mm) lower than the base model, and there are bigger brakes and the option for an active antiroll bar.

The i5 M50 xDrive trades chrome for black.

Jonathan Gitlin

The i5 M50 xDrive trades chrome for black. Jonathan Gitlin

The eDrive40’s vertical strakes are an obvious reference to BMWs of old.

Jonathan Gitlin

The eDrive40’s vertical strakes are an obvious reference to BMWs of old. Jonathan Gitlin

The i5 M50 xDrive trades chrome for black. Jonathan Gitlin

The eDrive40’s vertical strakes are an obvious reference to BMWs of old. Jonathan Gitlin

Extroverts might like an illuminated surround.

Jonathan Gitlin

Extroverts might like an illuminated surround. Jonathan Gitlin

Or you could throw your wallet at a lot of carbon fiber accessories.

Jonathan Gitlin

Or you could throw your wallet at a lot of carbon fiber accessories. Jonathan Gitlin

Extroverts might like an illuminated surround. Jonathan Gitlin

Or you could throw your wallet at a lot of carbon fiber accessories. Jonathan Gitlin

Since the i5 M60 xDrive has the same amount of useable energy but more power and torque than the i5 eDrive40, it can’t go quite as far on a single charge; BMW says the more expensive car should get 265 miles (430 km) between charges. You can tell it from the cheaper, more efficient model by the M-Sport front grille, which trades vertical strakes for shiny black.

The i5 can AC charge at up to 11 kW, but it has a new party trick for DC charging. BMW has worked on the charging curve, going from what it called “multi-step constant current charging” for the iX to “max performance charging,” which peaks at 205 kW and can maintain higher levels of power for a longer duration. The new control strategy also allows the i5’s battery pack to charge at higher power levels even when starting from a relatively high state of charge (say, 50 percent) already.

When fast-charged from a higher starting SoC, many EVs will draw less power and take the same overall time, but BMW says this new approach means it can shorten charge times instead. A 10–80 percent charge should take 30 minutes, and BMW says the car can add 29.5 kWh in just 10 minutes, which is almost as much as an 800 V Porsche can add.

There are other improvements to the charging experience, including better battery preconditioning for fast charging, in part using waste heat from the electric motor(s) to warm the battery pack. This happens automatically if you set a charger as the destination in the navigation system, but it’s also possible to manually turn on (or off) preconditioning via the infotainment. And if you have an i4, i7, or iX and are feeling left out reading about these charging features, good news: They’ll be rolling out to BMW’s other EVs via software updates, although we don’t have a date for when that’s happening.

Look left to accept the lane change request.

Credit: BMW

There’s an optional Highway Assistant that combines geofences and gaze-tracking to enforce an operation design domain, which means it only works on restricted access highways that have been premapped, similar to General Motors’ Super Cruise. For the i5, BMW has added a new feature that uses gaze-tracking as an alternative confirmation to using the multifunction steering.

If the system thinks you should change lanes—due to a slowing car ahead or an upcoming exit or junction—it prompts you via the main instrument display, head-up display, or both, helpfully in augmented reality if you want it. Looking at the side mirror on that side of the car tells it “yes,” and the car will change lanes.

I spent about 20 minutes with the system active as a BMW engineer sat beside me (since the system remains unhomologated for use in Portugal). The lane-change confirmation works well enough if you’re comfortable with the idea of your car changing lanes for you, but these days, the more partially automated driving systems I use, the more I prefer to keep full control of my steering while driving.