BMW 5 Series (2023 - ) review

On one hand, the 5 Series is basically a large luxury car now, with high list prices and powerful engines across the board. It isn’t going to be cheap. On the other, BMW has done all kinds of things to make it as cost-effective to run as possible… apart from doing a diesel one. RIP. Still, even the ‘basic’ 520i petrol does around 50mpg, thanks partly to its little electric motor and what's known in the jargon as mild hybrid assistance. And if you’re a company car driver (which statistically you probably are if you're looking at one of these), either one of the 530e or 550e plug-in hybrids will give you an astounding BiK tax break. Ignore the fuel claims – the 530e returns 470mpg on paper, LOL – but as ever with a plug-in hybrid, keep the battery charged up and it’ll do most of its miles using electricity alone. Click here for an explanation of all the types of hybrid.

BMW’s general reliability rating isn’t quite as flawless as you might assume – it tends to place mid-table in owner satisfaction surveys these days. The outgoing 5 Series was broadly reliable, though, with electrical issues most common, and diesel faring worse than petrol. No diesel this time around solves the latter issue, although as this 5 Series stuffed full of tech and heavily reliant on software, there’s more to go wrong. Time will tell. The manufacturer warranty is on the short side, too, at three years. Albeit, mileage is unlimited during that time.

The 5 Series is safe. Very safe. Five-star rated by Euro NCAP, with high individual crash test scores across the board, and a massive suite of safety systems included as standard. The usual stuff demanded by safety legislation is present – automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assistant, etc – but beyond that, BMW's touch-screen menus are very easy to navigate. That means that, unlike so many equivalent systems, it’s rarely a distraction on the move. Some of the safety tech feels a bit magic, too, like how the car can drive itself out of a parking space remotely, controlled using your smartphone. Not life-saving stuff, but impressive all the same.

A unique blend of comfort and driving fun has always been central to the BMW 5 Series experience. From generation to generation (there’s been eight of them since the early 70s) it’s always been in the sweet spot. Basically, “proper fun to drive, but also proper comfy on a long journey.” For this 5 Series, the balance has shifted towards comfort, to the extent that it has the feel of a limo. It glides softly across the road, the low-speed steering is super light, and the sense of quiet refinement is lowkey stunning. It has lost some of its edge as a “driving machine” but overall it’s a wonderfully comfy and spacious car. Right down to having a hugely adjustable driving position and some of the most comfy-yet-supportive chairs in the…erm…car chairs game. It's worth mentioning that as standard the 5 Series comes on ‘sport’ suspension – quite low and stiff, that is – so for the best ride, you’ll need to pay a couple of grand extra for adaptive suspension. Pah. Space wise, there’s loads of it. Huge rear legroom – about as much as 2019’s 7 Series had – and in the saloon a boot big enough to swallow 530 litres of stuff. Choose the Touring (the estate, that is) and you get a 570-litre boot space. On paper that’s not a huge uplift, but the Touring has a much more flexible loadspace because it’s a big oblong with a huge hole in the back.

The interior of the 5 Series is truly mesmerising. The antithesis of the “nothing plus a screen” vibe in a Tesla, say, it’s a majestic cocoon of rainbow LED splendour. The interior lighting is configurable in various colours, but it also interacts with you and the car in fascinating ways. Put your 5 Series in Sport mode, and the lights closest to you will glow red, like an LED cockpit; choose one of the car’s ‘moods’ and the lights will be coloured and animated accordingly; adjust the temperature, same thing. Beyond that, the 5 Series is, of course, a well-specified car. Realising that EVERYONE wants their BMW to be an M Sport BMW, BMW has made every 5 Series an M Sport BMW. That means all of them get fancy wheels and ‘M’ dotted around the place, on top of a standard kit list that includes multi-zone climate control, properly integrated smartphone mirroring (Google maps will show on the head-up display if you’re using it, for instance), and adaptive LED headlamps. You can obviously spend a small fortune on optional extras like stereo upgrades and an automatic tailgate and things, but we’ll leave that between you and the configurator.

A basic BMW 520i is all the BMW 5 Series you could really require. It’s a 50mpg car with a silky smooth engine and even smoother automatic gearbox, and it feels simple in the most positive way. The £10K premium you’ll pay for the lesser of the two plug-in hybrids (530e) won’t be worth it if you’re a private buyer, and, as impressive as it is, it’s also a very complex, heavy setup that actually harms fuel economy over long distances. That said, as a company car, its (ridiculous) 470.8mpg efficiency rating makes it very tax-friendly. The other plug-in hybrid, the 550e, is an astonishing achievement. Combining a 3.0-litre turbo petrol engine with 197 horsepower electric motor, it’s very nearly as quick as a BMW M5 (also a hybrid these days) but it can do about 50 miles in electric-only mode. Sometimes it feels over-complex and a little clumsy, a bit hesitant on the throttle while the drivetrain switches between power sources, but the general refinement is staggering. Again, its efficiency in the real world will vary WILDLY depending on how you use it. Keep it charged up and only do short trips, and you’ll rarely need a fuel station. But long-haul motorway journeys will deplete the battery and the fuel tank rapidly. Click here for our review of the electric BMW 5 Series, the i5