Yahoo Autos BMW i5 EV: The camo comes off next month, but we got to drive it now
MIRAMAS, France – The car might be camouflaged, and we won’t be seeing it sans vinyl wrappings until May 24, but this is the first official drive of the 2024 BMW 5 Series. More specifically, the all-new, all-electric BMW i5. And it was a perfect sequence of driving, too: an hour to test the autonomous driving functions on the highway; then a spirited drive on back roads, followed by a hardcore handling circuit. I wrapped it up with a technological “deep dive” and a thorough discussion with some of the engineers behind the car.
The 2024 5 Series represents the eighth generation of a brand icon, also known as the G60. Still lightly camouflaged to disguise the details of the window frames, the head- and taillights and the cladding, the 5 Series cannot hide its sheer size. It will just crack the 5-meter barrier, which equals 16.4 feet and used to be the traditional marker of a European luxury car. In fact, it is longer than the beloved E38 7 Series of the 1990s. It has grown over the decades, just like its main competitors, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Audi A6/A7.
While Mercedes-Benz is building entirely different cars for its gas-powered and fully electric powertrains, however, BMW is following its own path: The G60 range is designed to accommodate all powertrains. Fitted with diesel, gasoline and plug-in hybrid propulsion systems, the car will keep its traditional 5 Series nomenclature. The fully electric versions are called i5.
There are two versions of the i5, which I got to sample in different stints of that aforementioned sequence: The 335-horsepower i5 eDrive40 for the back road drive, and the all-wheel-drive, 590-horsepower i5 M60 xDrive for the handling course and the assistance system drive. BMW’s ability to engineer perfectly sporty, responsive and comfortable internal combustion cars is undisputed; they have served as industry benchmarks for decades. It’s the electric models that must really prove their worth.
As far as straight-line performance goes, there is no doubt they do. Even the entry-level eDrive40 takes off with a vengeance and serves up plenty of torque on the way to triple-digit velocities. The M60 model is downright furious. It never ran out of excessive power, and unless you plan to travel at autobahn speeds, the entry-level i5 is more than sufficient.
The i5 models are fitted with the same double-wishbone front and five-link rear axle architecture as the conventionally powered 5 Series, but there are extra stiffening plates up front, rear torsions struts and an active roll stabilization system at both ends. Rear axle air suspension is standard, too. Batteries are packed below the floor, inside the center tunnel and under the rear seats – a scattered positioning that keeps passengers as low in the car as possible with negligible loss of passenger space.
