Can you name BMW’s most important model? If you answered “3 Series”, you’d be wrong. It’s actually always been the 5 Series. BMW makes more profit per car here than on any other line. It’s the model they most carefully scrutinize, and the one they are most cautious with. A new 5 is a big deal, and here comes the 2024 G60 5 Series.
And this latest model looks like it’s going to be your last chance at one with a good ol’ internal combustion engine in it. I’ll explain.
What is the new 5 Series?
Dubbed “G60”, this 5er will be available starting in October of 2023, and it’s based off of BMW’s current CLAR platform, which underpins everything the company currently makes. The “Neue Klasse” platform won’t be available until 2025 at the earliest, which will lean the next generation 5 in a much more electric direction.
While their are many global variants, the US gets an i5, meaning all-electric, or a regular 530/540i. The 5 Series isn’t available in Europe with conventional power only, a telling sign. This 5 Series is big too – larger than an E38 7 Series.
What gas engines are available in the G60 5 Series?
Rejoice, for the inline-six is still available. You can get:
- The BMW 530i (xDrive is optional) with 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque coming from the B48 four-cylinder.
- A BMW 540i xDrive (no RWD version here) with 375 hp and 384 lb-ft, with the wonderful B58 engine.
- Or the BMW i5 eDrive40 with 335 hp and 295 lb-ft
If you’d like to wait, a hybrid model 530e with 299 horsepower will be available, as well as BMW 550e xDrive with 489 horsepower.
Um, where’s the M550i?
Gone. No more V-8 in a 5 Series (for now). In its place: the i5 M60 xDrive. You get an all-electric M Performance 5 Series with an M Adaptive suspension that’s 8MM lower, M Sport Brakes, M-specific body panels, and 601 horses and 605 lb-ft of torque from dual motors.
Optionally you can have the “Professional” M suspension with active roll stabilization, and summer tires.
If you’re sad about this, don’t be. I’ve always loved the M550i, but for just a littttle bit more money, you could get a car that is many times more capable in the M5.
Wait, where does that leave the G60 M5?
Perhaps a year or so away from debut, the new M5 is already confirmed to have a V-8…and a battery. It’ll be a hybrid, which means a lot of weird complexity in a car that probably doesn’t need it.
My advice here is to snatch up an F90 before they are gone. As the last of the conventional M5s, it’ll go down in history as one of the best. In LCI form, it’s also one of the best-looking.
Anything else cool about the new G60 5 Series?
Allow me to be philosophical for a moment. Do you remember getting your first iPhone? I do, and I was so excited. However, now it’s become a tool, and it’s so well-designed that while Apple might improve it with each generation, there’s hardly enough to get me excited about it anymore. I simply get a new phone when needed and move on with my life.
Compare that to this new 5. It is mini-7 Series inside, beautiful and full of the latest tech. New iDrive 8.5 makes my two-year old M3 feel dated already.
But current iDrive systems already do everything I need, so while new ones looks great, they just distract from the driving experience.
Elsewhere, the new steering wheel is really nice, but buttons are significantly reduced. I suppose that battle is over as far as BMW is concerned.
The G60 5 Series is the death kneel for my favorite BMW
I’ve always loved the way this car hits the sweet spot for the entire lineup. Previously, it’s made the 7 Series feel a bit redundant, although the newest one still has some luxury items this 5 Series will not get.
But while the F10 and G30 were still capable driver’s cars, I’m not sure the weight and added complexity will benefit this new 5. I’m afraid the car we know and love is gone.
And for what? We’re not saving the planet with electric cars. Far from it.
I will shout it from the rooftops now – gobble up those stick-shifting M2s and M3s, because once they are gone, BMW as we know it will be gone as well.
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