The BMW i5 eDrive 40 is just another electric car

If I asked you to guess what car BMW makes the most profit from, you might logically say an SUV, or the 3 Series. But in fact, it’s the 5 Series. That means a new one is a really big deal to BMW and its customers. 2024 brings the BMW i5 eDrive 40, an all-electric version (you can still get a four- and six-cylinder, don’t worry), and I was able to grab one to find out if this new 5 is headed in the right direction, electric or not.

It isn’t, but not for the reason you might think.

2024 BMW i5 eDrive 40 Quick Take

Get one:

Still a 5 Series, so it’s comfy. Super smooth acceleration. Decent daily if you fit the demographic.

Don’t get one:

Slovenly handling. Where the hell is everything inside? Cheap unpainted bits on a $70k car. Charging is a chore.

Soul Score: 5

I fear the end is near for the Ultimate part of that tag line.

The 2024 BMW i5 eDrive 40 overview

During the Cold War, the Russian Air Force were coming up with some scary planes. Things like the MiG-25 looked forbidding, and were rumored to posses incredible capabilities. Aircraft like this forced the US to develop the Teen fighters, a group of jets that had no equal for the remainder of the era.

This story is an analogy, in case you were wondering. Tesla is the Russian Air Force, and BMW is the US. No, not good guys and bad (although Elon qualifies) – it’s the cars. Tesla has forced mainstream automakers to try new things, and this 5 Series is among the first to see the fruits of their labor.

When you sit inside here, you recognize…nothing. Is this a BMW, or a Kia EV6? The air vents work differently. Even the way the seats motor forward and back – nothing is like before. This is both disconcerting and welcome – BMW has remained staid for decades.

But it’s important to change the right things, as you’ll soon discover.

Performance: 5. Sail away

I might surprise you with this, but if you want a basic 5 Series, I’d have this electric version over the four-cylinder. This car is all over the place, so you might as well enjoy its only redeeming quality of smooth acceleration. It’s really big, and makes an F10 5 Series feel go-kart like by comparison.

Motor

BMW’s B48 four-cylinder engine is fine, but an uninspiring piece of metal. In the i5, we swap it for an 81.2-kWh lithium-ion battery. The eDrive 40 has a single rear motor spinning out 335 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque normally, or 317 lb-ft when Sport Boost or launch control functions are activated. The difference is minimal, so you might as well save the charge. Other drive modes are just for show and provide an “art” display in the ambient lighting and screens.

This is a rear-wheel drive car – xDrive is available for 2025. There’s also the beefy M60 version, meaning the only 5 Series with a V-8 will be the upcoming M5.

I found the i5 pretty enjoyable to drive from a speed standpoint. Acceleration is super creamy and smooth, and I can tell BMW has been working on EV refinement because this felt much better than the i4. It’s not a fast car, clocking in for work at 60 in over 5 seconds, but it isn’t meant to be. There’s plenty of juice here for everyday occurrences.

Sound, right. Hans Zimmer, the Hollywood music composer, designed the “rev song” this thing makes, and it’s fun. The harmony rises as you step on the throttle with intent. I find it incredible BMW sells an S58-powered M2 next to this in the showroom, but again, I don’t mind the lack of an engine note. Have you heard a turbocharged four-cylinder?

Transmission

This is a single speed automatic transmission, and it works quite well. There are no fake paddle shifters, nor anything else to remind you that you could still get a 5 Series with a manual transmission less than a decade ago.

Start the car by pressing the button next to the shifter, then toggle like any other BMW – forward engages reverse. Works like the 4 Series. There is a bit of a delay when you put the car in drive, making it a bad choice for your next getaway car after the big heist.

Steering and chassis

Let’s start with weight. With me aboard, it’s over 5,000 pounds. I do love pizza, but in this case, it’s safe to say the 5 Series is the one that’s put on some pounds. I’m tired of making excuses for electric cars – weight is bad, more is worse. It ruins every aspect of a car, including economy.

But it’s how BMW controls the weight that’s the issue. This car is a floater, rising and bounding over road undulations, with a back end that never feels fully planted. Driving it around curvy roads feels suspiciously like work as each corner of the car tries to figure out what it wants to do. The composed body control from 5 Series of yore is nowhere to be found, and resembles the five Ds of Dodgeball on wheels – dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.

Steering is as the same as always. In the i5, there’s a clear buildup of effort as you turn the wheel, but I wonder if this choice is to help increase the range of the car as BMW pinches for every mile. It’s certainly not the way to provide feedback. The wheel itself is a nice shape, but awkward with only two arms. Select the M Sport Package to give yourself a more traditionally-shaped M wheel.

It’s not all bad. That comfy, serene ride of the 5 is here, and that’s a nice feature too for a car like this. I just wish it would dance if I asked it to.

Brakes

Pretty cool tech here. The i5 has brake regeneration, allowing for one-pedal driving most of the time. The i5 has a mode called “Adaptive regeneration”, and it allows the car to decide when to apply regen braking more aggressively.

Take your foot off the gas on an empty straight road, and the car won’t slow down at all, simply coasting. If you’re in light traffic and the car detects someone in front of you, it will apply regen more to stop you in time. You still need the brakes, but I’d say 70% of the time, the car will slow enough to avoid the left pedal.

Almost every EV has this feature, but many are much too aggressive and make you look like you’re living your best teenage life. The i5 just lets you be smooth.

Overall this is a good EV, but an average BMW, to drive. The disconnected body control really dulls any fun you might want to have. In an EV Toyota Camry it would be acceptable. But this is the Ultimate Driving Machine.

Or it was.

Utility: 8. As good as sedans get

This is a large car in every regard, but it’s also a useful one.

Hop into the front seat and be embraced by the familiar shape of basic 5 Series goodness. These are cushy and comfy while holding you in all the right spots when partaking in extra circular activity. Engage Sport mode, and the side bolsters hug you. Aww.

The back seat offers plenty of room for two, though three is a bit tight with the center tunnel in the way. An upright shape gives plenty of headroom all over, even with a sunroof in place. The car feels more padded (in a good way) than a G30, and though BMW has distanced the 7 Series from the 5 in style, there’s still plenty of luxury in here.

The batteries lift the trunk floor up, so you don’t get as much room as the gas-powered version. But there’s a benefit – you can just slide your goodies in as oppose to leaning over the lip, sort of like loading an SUV. My 6’1 height and 40-year old back approve.

Electric range: 7. Inconvenience store

I’m not going to rate fuel economy on these things as it’s a totally arbitrary number. Instead, let’s talk about range and convenience.

The i5 is pretty good – a full charge gets you 300 miles. But I noticed that the first half of the battery charge from 100% to 50 drops significantly faster than the 50 to 0 portion. There’s a display that tells you range that’s separated into what you might get if you’re frugal, speedy, and the average of the two.

The M60 variant will get less range. Seems a billion horsepower isn’t good for the environment whether it’s oil or electric.

Perhaps it’s different where you live, but by me, there are no convenient Fast chargers. The Level II chargers around me take forever to fill the car, making the i5 a poor choice if you can’t install your own plug somewhere.

Again, how much longer will we make excuses for the car because of infrastructure? I don’t see them digging to install new power lines, Tesla chargers won’t take the 5, and lines at Fast chargers can sometimes be hours long. All of this for a car that is essentially an appliance. My wife just wants to get to work in peace.

The future isn’t here yet, not even close.

Features and Comfort: 5. Here comes grumpy Mike

I really want you to know that I’m all for innovation and trying new things. But all these haptic buttons have already proven to be a bad idea, which is why VW took them out of the GTI after only a few years.

Bad things outside too. Is BMW really selling me a $70,000 car with unpainted side skirts just to save a few production dollars?

There is no i in Mercedes

So much to go through, let’s be nice first. The afore mentioned seats are great, and the leather is typical soft BMW. I love the shape of the steering wheel, with its flat top and bottom.

But there’s more bad than good. The trim can best be described as leftover Titanium Shadow from an E9X, and it’s not a good look. The Ambient Light is covered by plastic, giving it a Tonka feel. Doesn’t continue into the rear seat either. Lots of gloss black too, which smudges and scratches easily.

Even the door locks – no more buttons. Hold the icon on the door and after a second it unlocks, but this results in a delay that will probably be unacceptable to your partner who’s tugging on the door handle because it’s 30 degrees outside.

iDrive has become difficult and cumbersome to use, with iPhone apps and BMW apps mixed together into one screen. It’s all controlled with no physical buttons whatsoever, making everything really difficult to use while on the move. The iDrive controller is still here, but its days are numbered.

And the HVAC. Elon drove his engineers nuts trying to redesign a dashboard without separate vents (it wasn’t easy), and BMW has followed suit with one long vent in the middle. It is a cleaner look, but the adjustment knobs are so tiny. If it seems like a small issue, remember you must live with this car every day. The only buttons for climate on the dash are the defogger access quickly for safety. Why can’t I just access all the HVAC quickly?

Have a seat in an equivalent Mercedes and the difference is easily apparent.

Black and white

On the i5, you get a mix of black unpainted plastic, fake polished vents, gloss black bits – wow. Everything should be body color, and the look would be much cleaner.

This is a big, tall car with a high belt line that makes the hood feel like it’s up by your shoulders. I see lots of E60, and very little F10 or G30. It’s not a bad-looking 5 Series, but you’re not going to be staring at it from the office window.

This being the base model, you get 19-inch wheels that sound big but look lilliputian, no fancy laser headlights, or giant sunroof. Do be careful when ordering, as BMW puts most options together in packages as opposed to the typical a la cart.

2024 BMW i5 eDrive 40 is a good electric car, but a mediocre 5 Series

To round out my Cold Ward point, in 1976, Viktor Belenko landed his MiG-25 in Japan and defected to the west. Of course the US dissected the plane, and to their surprise found things like vacuum tubes and other ancient technology. The Foxbat wasn’t so scary after all. It could barely stay in the air.

It’s a good analogy for the i5. No doubt, BMW has taken apart a Tesla – where else would they get the inspiration for things like the air vents? But Teslas are built like crap, with gigantic panel gaps and the joys of randomly catching fire. Yet instead of improving on the things a Tesla does well, BMW simply settled for changing how they typically do things on a BMW. There’s a difference.

Don’t think the average score here is because of it being electric – the i5 is a 5 Series at the end of the day, and that’s how I’ve graded it. If you have a way to easily charge the car, and don’t mind the lack of buttons or average performance, you’ll like the i5.

For the rest of us, there’s always the RS 6.

2024 BMW i5 eDrive 40 Specifications

Vehicle Type: Single motor, rear-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger sedan.

PRICE

Base: $66,800
As tested: $71,295

POWERTRAIN

One current-excited synchronous AC
Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 81.2 kWh
335 @ 8,000
295 @ 5000
Direct-drive one-speed transmission

DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 117.9 in
Length: 199.2 in
Width: 74.8 in
Height: 59.6 in
Curb Weight: 4,916 lbs

RANGE

Up to 300 miles on full charge
Onboard Charger: 11.0 kW
Peak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 205 kW

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