► The Touring goes electric
► Still all the car you need?
► The full CAR verdict
Electrification is gradually reaching every conceivable genre, even hypercars and hot hatches. But the estate car was largely ignored in the initial stampede to turn out EV saloons, SUVs, hatchbacks and crossovers, with MG’s 5 and the Sport Turismo and Porsche Cross Turismo Taycans the obvious exceptions.
The i5 Touring, the long-roofed version of BMW’s multi-powertrain, new-generation 5-series (available with engines, e-motors or a combination of the two), adds an old favourite to the mix. BMW’s shifted 1.2 million 5-series Tourings since the first-gen launched in 1991, and reckons the numbers add up on a sixth-gen car.
The Ultimate Driving Machine?
Despite numerous engineering differences on the rear axle, primarily for packaging reasons, the Touring’s been calibrated to feel just like the saloon – and mostly it does. The only noticeable difference is the sense of the car carrying its weight a little higher and, in the eDrive 40 version, the body rolling a smidge more in corners.
That said, the i5s remain an impressive machine in terms of dynamics, comfort and particularly refinement. As with the flagship i7 (and Rolls Spectre) noise, vibration and harshness simply aren’t granted entry to the cockpit, even when you lean on the performance and the composure to cover ground rapidly.
Tricky country roads, paved city streets, tortuous hillside complexes – the i5 M60 monsters then all. In a lesser, combustion-engined car, it’d be all tortured engine, squealing tyres, frantic shifts and ragged effort. In the all-wheel-drive, roll-controlled and impeccably suspended i5 M60 Touring (ride quality and body control have rarely been such brain-twistingly comfortable bedfellows), with its silent but savage twin-motor powertrain (593bhp and a monstrous 586lb ft of twist, virtually twice that of both the single-motor i5 and the hybrid 530e), the mood is somnolent, wanting only for the soothing tinkle of formal-garden fountains and the gentle plucking of a harp.
What are my options?
The platform is as per the i5 saloon, so an 81.2kWh (net) battery driving one motor in the rear axle in the 335bhp, 295lb ft i5 eDrive 40 and twin e-motors in the M60. There’s an awful lot to like about both cars, from the twin-screen digital cockpit through that awesome rolling refinement to the Touring roofline, which delivers both a prettier silhouette and 570 litres of luggage space (1700 litres with the rear seats folded).
The i5 eDrive 40 Touring (not as expensive, not as fast and lacking the M60’s active anti-roll control) is a fine drive in its own right, its normal-car behaviour almost reassuring after the M60’s surreal composure. For most it’ll be the best option, not least for its slightly superior efficiency and range.
Any clever stuff?
The Assisted Driving Plus tech, currently only online and functional in Germany, the US and Canada, is compelling, combining indefinite hands-off-the-wheel intelligent cruise with BMW’s glance-at-a-side-mirror automatic lane-change functionality. It’s more intuitive than it sounds, with an audible prompt to say it’s an option – you then glance at the relevant mirror to confirm you’d like to go ahead.
BMW’s charging route planner is also improved – intuitive and with some nice functions, like being able to block out certain charger locations and filter by charger power, for example.
Perfect, then?
No, not quite. As with the saloon, the weaknesses are inert steering, a real-world range of some 240 miles and punchy pricing, which floats the i5 eDrive 40 into Model 3 Performance-infested waters, even if Elon’s car’s smaller and not an estate. The Touring’s trademark opening tailgate window is also gone, but we can get over that.
Verdict
Elegantly styled and superbly refined, the i5 is an impressive piece of kit and a welcome alternative to the glut of electric family SUVs. Both versions appeal, with the 40’s keener price and slightly better range giving it the edge. But few fast family cars have ever flattered quite like the i5 M60, a car that combines extraordinary performance with remarkable refinement.
(from £69,945 for the eDrive 40)