BMW Unleashes New 5 Series

Score one for the vanishingly few people who still prefer a sedan over an SUV (read: just about everyone working here). BMW has introduced a new 5 Series sedan, one which will be available either as a gasser or an EV when it goes on sale later this year.

First up are the 530i and 530i xDrive, powered by a 2.0L turbocharged four making 255 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft of torque. An 8-speed automatic is the sole transmission choice, regardless the number of driven wheels, and 60 mph should be yours in a hair under 6 seconds. Those of you seeking a slightly hotter gasoline-fed option will be pointed towards the 540i xDrive – until the inevitable M variants appear – which packs a 3.0L inline-six turbo good for 375 horses and a maximum of 398 lb.-ft of torque. Those are healthy increases (40 and 52, respectively) over the old cars.

Further up the food chain we find a pair of trims which start with the letter i, a vowel which BMW uses to denote its electric wares. Why not e, you ask? Such are the mysteries of Munich. Setting an opening bid for the all-electric fünf is the i5 eDrive40 with an electric motor on the rear wheels belting out 335 ponies and 295 lb.-ft of twist. Not enough? Then check out the i5 M60 xDrive which appends another motor to up front, creating all-wheel drive and 590 horsepower with a roughly like amount of torque.

The lithium-ion battery is the same across both the 40 and 60, with a usable energy content of 84.3 kWh and a maximum charging rate of 205 kW. The latter means it will be able to hoover up fresh electrons from suitably burly fast chargers to the tune of juicing itself from 10 – 80 percent in about half an hour. Interestingly, the more powerful i5 has a staggered tire setup, with 275s in the rear instead of 245s all around. Four-wheel steering is available.

You’ll have noticed the new styling by this time, and we’ll let you draw yer own conclusions. At least BMW restrained itself from any 4 Series or XM grille shenanigans here. In true German form, roughly eleventy billion pages of information is available about the new interior, though the upshot is it mimics much of what is now found in the 7 Series. Enormous curved displays are available, driving and parking active helper abound, ventilation registers are nearly invisible, and a variety of styling options ensure you don’t have the same interior as your neighbours. We’ll point your eyes to That Shifter and infotainment dial, as well.

In 2022, BMW sold 20,589 of the sedans in North America, a sum nearly twice the volume of the 2 Series and roughly a couple thousand units shy of the X4 and X6 combined. King of the Hill is, as you may expect, the X5 which found 82,372 homes on this continent in 2022, comprising nearly one-quarter of all BMWs sold in this neck of the woods last year.

Prices start at $57,900 for the four-banger, $64,900 for the six pot, and $66,800 for the EV. The global market launch of BMW’s new 5 Series will begin in October 2023.

[Images: BMW]

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