BMW i5: five reasons why we love it... and five why we loathe it

Around twenty years ago, customers wanted their large executive saloons to be powered by efficient petrol and diesel engines, and more recently hybrid powertrains.

But in the last few years those same saloons have gone through a step change - they're all going electric. Cars like the Mercedes-Benz EQS, Audi A6 E-tron and BMW i5 have shown that even the largest brands must take bolder and bolder steps into the future.

And sure, this eighth-generation BMW 5 Series does come with updated versions of mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid petrol and diesel engines, but the i5 is the car BMW really wants you to buy.

The i5 is BMW's newest electric saloon, entering the market alongside its stablemates - the i4 and i7 - as well as various SUV derivatives like the iX, iX3 and iX1, all of which are playing their own part in their respective niches.

But the i5 doesn't really belong to a niche, simply because of how well it performs in the sales charts. As of last year, more than ten million have been produced since it launched in 1972.

But will the new i5 continue this success? Or will it forever be known as the car that tainted the reputation of BMW's longest-lived model? Let's find out.

We LOVE the BMW i5 because...

When the car is specified with M Sport suspension, the car has the sort of body control, rear-drive chassis balance and agility that you expect of a BMW saloon; something hugely impressive given its weight.

This level of agility, combined with progressive and precise steering, means the i5 is quite easy to place on the open road. What's more, if you decide to push the car hard, it remains composed and balanced, which means you can carry plenty of cornering speed.

We LOATHE the BMW i5 because...

That extra space, as well as the weight of the battery, means that even the entry-level eDrive 40 - with its 84.4kWh battery - weighs 2130kg. That makes it just 300kg lighter than even the X5 SUV, and it's the heaviest 5 Series we've ever seen. If you choose an i5 Touring, you can add 50kg to that heft.

Meanwhile, if you choose the flagship i5 Touring M60 xDrive, you get a second motor (and therefore four- wheel drive), rear-wheel steering and active anti-roll bars. Loaded up with the family plus luggage, it weighs around 2700kg. No wonder it has 593bhp.

We LOVE the BMW i5 because...

Given its size, you would expect there to be plenty of room inside the new i5, and indeed there is. Space up front is good, especially for your elbows, shoulders and feet, and the windows are large enough that enough natural light is let in to make it feel airy. In fact, it almost feels as airy as the 7 Series inside.

In the rear, taller adults will not struggle for space to get comfortable, and in both rows the seats are comfortable and supportive. Boot space, meanwhile, is good enough to match its closest competitors, with 490 litres of capacity.

We LOATHE the BMW i5 because...

This latest generation of 5 Series makes use of an updated version of the eighth-generation of iDrive. It's called Operating System 8.5, and sadly it can't match previous systems for outright intuitiveness or navigability. 

Lots of the permanent physical controls such as those for the heated seats and headlights, as well as the menu shortcut buttons have been taken away, leaving the driver with too much to do if they want to find a menu that has now been hidden under a layer of digital menus.

The digital instrumentation, meanwhile, looks to be slightly over-styled to the point where it can be quite hard to read if you're not used to it. If, however, you specify the optional head-up display, that will make up for this issue.

We LOVE the BMW i5 because...

At a cruise, the i5 feels settled, planted and its quiet cabin means it offers 7 Series levels of refinement - for less money. 

What's more, if you specify the Comfort front seats, you will find adjustability for the seat cushion, headrest and bolstering. All of this, combined with the fact that the i5 is as quiet as any electric car should be, means you have a comfortable, calming car that is great for long-distance driving.

We LOATHE the BMW i5 because...

The claimed electric range of the i5 is 376 miles, but when Move Electric's sister title Autocar tested a standard eDrive 40, the car averaged 2.9mpkWh, which suggests a realistic daily range of around 240 miles. 

Given that the i5 costs from around £80,000 and its closest rival, the Mercedes-Benz EQE, managed 280 miles, you would expect it to be able to travel further than that.

We LOVE the BMW i5 because...

The i5's cabin has some very attractive materials and functions that are also very useful. For example, there is a digital 'interaction bar' that spans the dashboard. It feels nearly as expensive as it looks and it can be used to flood the cabin in whichever colour takes your fancy. It will also flash to warn of an incoming phone call or a safety alert.

The air vents, meanwhile, look as though they don't actually exist when you first see the dashboard, but they're actually hidden behind that interaction bar. We find this to be a nice feature, given that it makes the cabin appear more minimalist and draws your attention to the 14.9in central infotainment screen.

We LOATHE the BMW i5 because...

While the i5 Touring, with its estate bodystyle, does offer a handy 570 litres of boot space as well as a taller load space, it is only 50 litres larger than the saloon. 

Not only this, but 570 litres doesn't improve on that of the previous combustion-engined 5 Series Touring, codenamed G31. This is quite a blow given the fact that the car is larger in every respect. 

Another gripe we had was that the rear window no longer opens independently of the boot door itself; a feature that has been a key part of the 5 Series Touring for decades.

We LOVE the BMW i5 because...

Ignoring its near-six-figure asking price, the top specification i5 M60 xDrive is the closest we will come - at the moment - to an electric M5. With 593bhp, it uses two electric motors to catapult this 2380kg executive saloon from 0-62mph in just 3.8sec and onto a top speed of 138mph. It even has a boost paddle behind the steering wheel to give you maximum thrust in bursts of 10 seconds.

What's more, it still has a claimed electric range of up to 311 miles.

We LOATHE the BMW i5 because...

When you're trying to negotiate tight parking spaces in a multi-storey car park or dodging other traffic amidst a complicated junction, the i5 doesn't feel like a mid-sized saloon car anymore. 

Where the previous 5 Series was a well-proportioned car - one which still had a spacious interior but didn't spill beyond a marked parking bay or struggle to fit in its lane - this new i5 feels as cumbersome as its kerb weight would suggest.