Very good review, brought on a nice, relaxing method. I hate the hyperkinetic, click bait videos and yours is definitely not like that! Keep up testing new EV,, will be checking out your videos :) Are you going to test the new A6 etron Avant and maybe do a comparison with this i5 touring? That might be interesting in my opinion
I live in China (British expat), where these are sold. Often at 50% or more discount over their official recommended RRP. Yet BMW are still struggling to sell these, along with the rest of their EV's.And the 5 and I5 series were deisnged mostly for the Chinese market. Even the I3, which can be had for as little has 180,000 RMB (22k Euro,) is struggling to sell. BMW dropped the ball with th I5. The 5 series may sell okay in Europe. The I5 however uses a traction system and battery whose technology are one and a half generation behind its competition (at least its china. The 81.2KWh battery is too small for its price and market segment. And it has the worst efficiency in its class. It doesn't have a single competitive advantage in its segment other than its brand image. I would pick a Nio E5T, Zeekr 001 (the version with almost 800hp is half the price of the M60, which itself is half the price of its european RRP in the Chinese market). Both of them offer better interiors, far more features and technology, drives better (esp the new Nios) better customer support, and eithe battery swap (Nio) or rapid charging (Zeekr)
The 5/i5 certainly were not designed mostly for the Chinese market. As with all 5-series since the dawn of time, they are the favorite cars of wealthy middle-aged executives in the EU and you can be very certain that BMW would not do anything to annoy that customer segment. This is why the design is relatively conservative, compared to (say) the iX or the i4. It's also why it, unsurprisingly, will sell well over here. The fact that every car review channel is lauding it as the best thing to hit EVs since sliced bread will probably help, too. I'm not sure what you're on about with your Zeekr 001 comparison (I'm less familiar with the E5T). There isn't a "generational" difference. The 001 does have a bigger battery, so range is slightly longer, and has a slightly higher peak charging speed, but it's a marketing gimmick, look at the charge curve and you'll see it barely spends any time there. Both are 400 volt architectures. AC charging is the same, of course. Now, I haven't tested them side by side (and I'm pretty sure you haven't either) and which one you prefer to drive is always a matter of preference to a degree, but read the reviews - the thing is plagued by software issues and has the same horrible "driver alert system" as other SEA platform cars. That alone would make it a hard pass from me.
Nice one. Fair review. We felt roughly the same. Ours gets delivered in a few weeks!
Nice review my friend! Best of luck.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Very good review, brought on a nice, relaxing method.
I hate the hyperkinetic, click bait videos and yours is definitely not like that!
Keep up testing new EV,, will be checking out your videos :)
Are you going to test the new A6 etron Avant and maybe do a comparison with this i5 touring? That might be interesting in my opinion
Thanks Bram! Great to get that feedback! Definitely getting in the A6 etron as soon as I can!
I live in China (British expat), where these are sold. Often at 50% or more discount over their official recommended RRP. Yet BMW are still struggling to sell these, along with the rest of their EV's.And the 5 and I5 series were deisnged mostly for the Chinese market.
Even the I3, which can be had for as little has 180,000 RMB (22k Euro,) is struggling to sell.
BMW dropped the ball with th I5. The 5 series may sell okay in Europe. The I5 however uses a traction system and battery whose technology are one and a half generation behind its competition (at least its china. The 81.2KWh battery is too small for its price and market segment. And it has the worst efficiency in its class.
It doesn't have a single competitive advantage in its segment other than its brand image.
I would pick a Nio E5T, Zeekr 001 (the version with almost 800hp is half the price of the M60, which itself is half the price of its european RRP in the Chinese market). Both of them offer better interiors, far more features and technology, drives better (esp the new Nios) better customer support, and eithe battery swap (Nio) or rapid charging (Zeekr)
Why not show us with a review
China's economy is collapsing. Please don't compare such trash cars with BMW; they are just industrial trash.
The 5/i5 certainly were not designed mostly for the Chinese market. As with all 5-series since the dawn of time, they are the favorite cars of wealthy middle-aged executives in the EU and you can be very certain that BMW would not do anything to annoy that customer segment. This is why the design is relatively conservative, compared to (say) the iX or the i4. It's also why it, unsurprisingly, will sell well over here. The fact that every car review channel is lauding it as the best thing to hit EVs since sliced bread will probably help, too.
I'm not sure what you're on about with your Zeekr 001 comparison (I'm less familiar with the E5T). There isn't a "generational" difference. The 001 does have a bigger battery, so range is slightly longer, and has a slightly higher peak charging speed, but it's a marketing gimmick, look at the charge curve and you'll see it barely spends any time there. Both are 400 volt architectures. AC charging is the same, of course.
Now, I haven't tested them side by side (and I'm pretty sure you haven't either) and which one you prefer to drive is always a matter of preference to a degree, but read the reviews - the thing is plagued by software issues and has the same horrible "driver alert system" as other SEA platform cars. That alone would make it a hard pass from me.
Until the A6 eTron avant.
Ohhhh, I can't wait to test the A6. Will be interesting!