Date: August 4-7, 2023
Distance: 1,185 km
Up front: I’ve ridden in a friend’s Volvo S60 before and I didn’t think seats could get more comfortable—but they do. The seats in the latest generation 5-Series have pillowy headrests, adjusts a million ways and the sensatec plastic leather kept me frosty even when Texas heat exceeded 40C degrees. The only thing missing is a separate shoulder recline adjustment that was present in the E39 5-Series of 25 years ago.
The open pore wood, Nappa leather-wrapped steering wheel and footlong accelerator are treats to touch, but the piano black plastic and cheap headliner material feel like they come from a Korean budget car. The sun visor lacks a sunglasses clip on the outside and doesn’t extend to cover the sun from either the front or the side. The large sunroof opens all the way, but the thin cloth shade doesn’t do much to insulate the cabin from the sun’s heat.
In the back: The 3-Series has grown so much that the 5-Series is hardly larger. It’s a lot wider and rear legroom has grown, but front legroom is lacking compared to the 1990s-era E39 5-Series. Two passengers in the back are fine, but the middle seat is raised and middle of the roof is depressed with a lighting unit. The headrests don’t fold down to enhance rear visibility and I wish the rear seats had the same elegant cross stitching of the front seats.
The 12 kWh battery takes up space in both the boot floor where the hidden compartment and spare tire usually lies and eats up 25 litres of fuel tank capacity. The real-world range I tested with the air conditioner on full blast in mixed driving reached about 320 miles, close to the advertised 340 miles combined fuel and battery range, but remember the regular 530i can go 500 miles without stopping. I managed to fit a bicycle into the back of a petrol 3-Series, that’s a non starter for the hybrid 5-Series even if it’s longer—I could only fit a carry-on laid down flat.
Driving: It’s as composed and mature as previous 5-Series. It’s quick to pick up in sport mode and efficient in hybrid mode. The premium harmon/kardon sound system lacks a boomy base, but the rear air suspension and excellent noise insulation make it a relaxing space to inhabit. The driver can also customize each driving assistance feature’s response so it doesn’t intrude into the driving experience—you’re the boss.
The petrol four-cylinder only has an anemic 181 hp, but the electric motor helps it along with another 107 ponies. However, you only get 248 combined horsepower because the electric and petrol motors deliver peak power at different rpms, the additional 40 hp is available with xtraboost for up to 10 seconds at a time. Acceleration is a brisk 5.9 seconds to 100 km/h in the decidedly rear-wheel biased car even in the all-wheel drive model. There’s sufficient passing power on the highway, but my test on a Texas drag strip showed that it’s reluctant to pull from 160 km/h to its top speed of 226 km/h.
Hybrid: The battery charges relatively quickly, it goes from 0 to 75% charge in 45 minutes on the highway, which extends range by around 20 kilometers. On a two-hour 230km journey, the hybrid drive helps beat the expected range by about 30 to 40 kilometers depending on terrain and air conditioner settings. However, I found that the best strategy is to force the battery to charge to near full before you get to the city so the car putts around town in silent electric mode.
One-pedal driving is almost possible with the exception of a slight roll when I lift my foot off the brake pedal. It’s intuitive: regenerative braking intensifies when you brake lightly and the friction brakes don’t kick in until you press the brake pedal down about a third of the way. I like what they did with the pedal feel and it’s a lot less jumpy compared to the X Series.
However, there are drawbacks.The regenerative braking unit makes a whining solenoid noise and the large rims mean intrusive road noise. Although weight distribution is at a BMW-standard of near 50-50, the hybrid is 400kg heavier than the regular all-wheel-drive model and it shows when trying to turn corners at speed. The hybrid sedan is as heavy as the petrol estate version of the car. In addition, the plug only works with slow charging so it’ll take three hours to get up to nearly full. I couldn’t find anywhere to plug it in because it only takes J1772, not CCS.
