BMW 5 Series review

Driving position

There are few cars as adept at crunching the motorway miles as the BMW 5 Series – it has long been the de facto choice for company car drivers up and down the UK for its superior comfort.

The driver’s seat offers plenty of adjustment for a comfortable fit, even for taller drivers. The seats include electric power adjustment for tilt and lumbar support, but you’ll need to manually slide it forwards and backwards and extend the thigh support. In an executive saloon like this, we’d expect full electric adjustment.

All-round visibility is excellent thanks to an expansive rear windscreen and large door mirrors. As with other BMWs, the left mirror dips when you’re reversing to give you a better view of the kerb.

It’s all very well put together – from the height of the central armrest and door armrest to the space in the footwell, driving the 5 Series is effortless.

At 5,060mm long, there’s no hiding the size of this car – it’s not far off the size of a 7 Series from 10 years ago – but the way you sit and the design of the cockpit makes it feel considerably more manageable than you might expect.

Tech and features

The interior of the BMW 5 Series is understated and built to a high standard – the 12.3-inch customisable digital instrument cluster sits next to a high-resolution 14.9-inch infotainment display.

It runs an updated version of BMW’s highly praised iDrive operating system (version 8.5), and has a layout similar to your smartphone, so navigating through the endless menus is very simple.

It’s set up to be a touchscreen unit, which is handy for operating wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but there’s still the option of using the rotary control dial on the centre console which we really like.

Using that and the gesture controls for the media system means it’s easy to focus on the road when you’re driving.

The new ‘Interaction Bar’ also features on all versions of the 5 Series – there are shortcut controls for windscreen demisting and climate control air distribution, and it flashes orange when you put your hazard lights on.

As standard, you get a 12-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system, but an optional 18-speaker Bowers & Wilkins upgrade is a worthwhile investment for audiophiles.

M Sport cars already have things like heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, adaptive LED headlights and a reversing camera, but we’d recommend adding the Technology Pack.

This upgrade gets you a very high-quality, easy-to-use 360-degree parking camera, self-parking aids and a clever Reversing Assistant which can backtrack up to 50 metres of your most recent driving to get you out of sticky situations.

Our M Sport Pro car also had upgraded 20-inch alloys and the Iconic Glow treatment – the fancy illuminated grille that stands out day or night.

Engines and power

We never thought we’d be saying this, but diesel power has left the 5 Series lineup – a car that has long been the go-to motorway cruiser.

We understand that petrol power’s cleaner emissions make it more attractive, but in cars like this that would benefit from a diesel’s superior fuel economy, we would still like to see at least one option, such as the now-discontinued 520d.

Petrol power is also limited to just the 520i. It’s the usual 190hp 2.0-litre engine, but the total system output jumps to 208hp thanks to the mild hybrid assistance.

Many buyers will end up buying one of the two plug-in hybrids. The 530e carries over from the previous generation with some welcome updates, and the 550e replaces the outgoing 545e.

System output stands at 299hp for the 530e, which uses the 520i’s 190hp 2.0-litre petrol engine and a 19.4kWh battery to power the electric motor.

The only 3.0-litre engine you can get in the eighth-generation 5 Series is the 550e plug-in hybrid (PHEV) – it pairs a 313hp straight-six petrol engine with a powerful electric motor.

It’s the quickest fossil fuel-powered 5 Series, with a 0-62mph time of 4.3 seconds. The 530e will get there in 6.3 seconds, and the slowest, the 520i, still does it in a decent 7.5 seconds.

Electric variants, badged i5, are also available. They feel almost identical, but they’re worthy of their own test drive given the totally different power options.

Handling and ride comfort

Two words sum up driving the 5 Series – refined and effortless.

The first thing we noticed when we got behind the wheel of our 530e on test was just how silent the cabin was at any speed, regardless of whether the engine was on or off.

Its power delivery feels effortless, and almost Rolls-Royce-like. It’s brisk, but not aggressive

The transition between petrol and electric power is virtually undetectable, especially given how well-insulated the cabin is.

We’ve also driven the 208hp ‘20i’ engine in the X3 SUV – it’s far from laboured and makes light work of the X3, which weighs about 130kg more than the 5 Series, so we think it’ll feel just as good in this saloon.

Although it has an engaging rear-wheel drive setup, we think the 5 Series is best geared for motorway miles.

Boot space

In terms of boot capacity, the 5 Series has a large 530-litre space regardless of whether it has the mild hybrid or plug-in hybrid petrol option ticked.

The electric i5, considered a slightly separate car, has a smaller 490-litre space to account for the extra batteries.

It’s only a touch below the Mercedes E-Class’s 540-litre boot, but PHEV versions of the 5 Series stand out for their unchanged boot capacity. A PHEV E-Class has a much smaller 370-litre space.

It’s worth noting that the boot consists of a long, narrow channel and two raised sections on either side near where the rear wheels would be. It makes loading bulky items like suitcases a little bit more challenging.

The estate version, badged Touring, doesn’t have this awkwardly shaped boot floor, and it benefits from a more practical wide-opening hatchback-style boot lid, so if accessibility is important to you, consider the 5 Series Touring.

Rear seats

Space in the rear seats is above average, with excellent legroom and headroom. However, while the space is wide enough for three passengers, fitting the middle passenger’s feet around the large central hump in the floor can be a challenge.

This is a common trait of many executive saloons, especially rear-wheel drive ones, so it’s worth thinking about whether this is an acceptable trade-off – what do you want more of? A fun-to-drive premium saloon or space for a fifth passenger?

Storage solutions

There are plenty of storage solutions around the 5 Series, but none stand out in particular. For example, the usual twin cupholders sit ahead of the front armrest and in the rear armrest, and there’s a reasonably sized glovebox.

Space under the front split-opening armrest is quite limited, but to counter that, there are well-proportioned door bins with sculpted bottle holders in each of the four doors.

Similarly, there are no seatback pockets for rear-seat passengers, but there are USB-C ports in each of the back seats for charging on the go. Shame you only get this with the £1,700 Comfort Pack, which includes keyless entry, a powered boot lid and a heated steering wheel.

Up front, there’s another pair of USB-C ports and a wireless charging tray for your smartphone. In our testing, it charged quickly and didn’t overheat, which can sometimes be a problem with wireless phone chargers.

Towing

The 5 Series can tow between 1,500kg and 2,000kg with the optional electrically deployable towbar, which is good news for caravan owners.

It’s a £1,200 option from the factory, which is roughly in line with what you’d expect to pay for this type of car.

Safety

Euro NCAP awarded the BMW 5 Series five stars in its 2023 independent safety ratings – its key rival, the Mercedes E-Class, also got the full rating, but scored slightly higher in individual tests.

The 5 Series slightly outperformed in terms of pedestrian protection, but the reality is that the safety systems in this highly desirable saloon (or estate) will do a good job of protecting all road users in the event of an accident.

Fuel economy

We spent a week with the 530e – the least powerful and most popular of the two hybrids. It uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine, rather than the 550e’s thirstier 3.0-litre petrol engine.

Both have a 19.4kWh battery, good for around 50-60 miles of electric-only range in real-world testing, so you can do many of your trips without even turning the engine on.

Longer trips are where plug-in hybrids can be less efficient because the petrol engine needs to pull around the extra weight of the batteries.

We got diesel-like fuel economy figures of 50-60mpg on three separate long-distance motorway trips, long after the batteries had died.

We think it’s a real shame that BMW no longer sells diesel versions of this iconic motorway cruiser, but at least those fuel economy figures are still achievable.

The only other engine option, the 520i mild hybrid petrol, should do around 45mpg according to BMW’s figures.

The type of driving you do will influence how efficient it is, but the mild hybrid system helps improve this somewhat at slower speeds.

Reliability

Although eighth-generation 5 Series reliability is yet to be observed long-term, BMW has been building its executive saloons since 1972, so the formula is very much perfected.

The three-year warranty is industry-average, but there’s no mileage limit, so even if you’re buying a nearly new car with lots of miles on the clock, it’ll still be covered.

Insurance groups

Insurance groups depend on the trim level and engine option – expect your BMW 5 Series to be in the mid-30s to the mid-40s.

The 520i will be the cheapest to insure, with the 550i and i5 M60 costing the most.

That stacks up well against the Mercedes E-Class – those saloons are in the 40s, with some even reaching group 50.