BMW i5 LWB

BMW i5, the all-electric version of the BMW 5 Series, was recently launched in India in its LWB (long wheelbase) version, and this version of the sedan promises a few things. It promises more space, a great chauffeur-driven experience, and the exciting performance we expect from that badge.

However, after driving it and spending some time in the rear seat, I realised that not all promises have been kept. There is a difference between what’s on paper and what’s in front of you, and you can read about that difference in this detailed review.

For some context, the BMW i5 LWB is a rival to the Lexus ES500e, and it can also be considered as an electric alternative to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Audi A6.

From the outside, the BMW i5 looks identical to the ICE (internal combustion engine) version. Save for the alloy wheels, there are no differences, and that’s okay. The i5 is not trying to stand out by adding EV-specific design elements; instead, it chooses to stay the same as its ICE counterpart, which is good enough. Upfront, you get BMW’s signature kidney grille design, finished in piano black with vertical chrome slats.

This grille is also illuminated, which looks distinct at night, and it also houses the ADAS radar neatly. 

Next to the grille, you see sleek LED headlamps with LED DRLs. You get a slim bumper that highlights the sportiness, and you get air dams on either side. To top off the design, you get a sculpted bonnet, which enhances the sportiness even further.

On the side, you realise how long the i5 really is, because this long-wheelbase version sits at 5.1 metres in length.

In terms of design, the only difference compared to the standard 5 Series is the design of the alloy wheels, because it gets a different set of 20-inch alloys, and honestly, they look much better than the standard version. 

The rest of the design remains the same, including the flap-type door handles, chrome surrounds on the windows, a “5” badge on the C-pillar, and a small shark-fin antenna.

At the back, it comes with wraparound LED tail lamps which protrude inwards. The boot has a very small integrated spoiler, and you get a piano black bumper with some brushed aluminium inserts.

As a personal preference, I do like the use of piano black elements on the bumpers because it does make the car look more premium. But these elements tend to attract a lot of dust and can get damaged easily.

As for exterior colours, you get four options: Mineral White, Oxide Grey, Carbon Black, and Phytonic Blue. My preference would be the Phytonic Blue as this colour stands out very easily, but you can also go for the Carbon Black shade for a more bossy look.

Design and Quality

Getting inside the i5 LWB will take some effort if you have back issues. For most young people, ingress and egress will be no hassle, but you’ll still have to bend your back a little to get inside, which can be difficult for the elders in your family. Once inside, you are greeted with a sporty-looking cabin, a lot different from the minimalistic designs you get in other luxury sedans.

It comes in a grey and brown theme, which adds richness to the cabin, and there are some piano-black elements which add more contrast. A highlight of this cabin is the central AC vents, which have been placed so neatly that you can’t even see where they are.

But what catches most attention is the crystal-like glass strip on the dashboard, which serves two purposes. First is ambient lighting. You can customise the colours as you like, and it is so bright that you can see the colours clearly in broad daylight. Second is controls for the AC vents (how much air you want), and controls for hazard lights and defoggers.

Lastly, to add a bit more sophistication to the design, the dashboard also has wooden inserts, and you get silver inserts on the door pads as well.

As far as quality is concerned, there is nothing to complain about. All the major touch points are covered in soft-touch leatherette padding. Every single button inside the cabin feels sturdy and solid. Lastly, the wooden and the crystal-like elements have a smooth finish, and their designs also make them look and feel distinct.

Front Seat Space

For the driver and the co-passenger, there is ample space. You have more than enough headroom, the seats have great side support, and you can also adjust your under-thigh support electrically for a better seating position.

Not only that, you can electrically adjust the height, recline, slide, and the lumbar support as well.

The driver can electrically adjust the tilt and telescopic steering wheel and save the position in the memory function, so that they don’t have to make adjustments every time you sit inside.

Rear Seat Space

But if you are buying the i5, you’d want to spend more time in the back, and for that, I feel there is room for improvement. Don’t get me wrong, the space here is actually good, because the long wheelbase provides excellent knee room and legroom, so much so that you can stretch your legs and you still won’t hit the front seat. 

The side support is very prominent, so it hugs you tightly and locks you in place, and the headroom is more than enough for tall people as well. But there are some misses here. The under-thigh support is just average, and you don’t have the option to adjust it as you get in the front. 

The seats also do not get any electric adjustment, nor do they get massage or ventilation, which is what you might expect for the price. Lastly, there are no sunblinds here either, which does feel like an unnecessary miss. For the price you are paying, you do get good space for two adults for a chauffeur-driven experience, but when it comes to comfort and convenience amenities, the i5 does not offer much.

Storage & Practicality

To keep things inside the i5, you have ample storage space. All four doors have bottle holders; there are two cupholders in the front, a decent-sized glovebox, and a large storage area under the centre armrest.

Rear passengers get seat-back pockets, and once you fold down the centre armrest, you get two cupholders, a slot for your phone, a tray to keep your phone, which doubles as a wireless phone charger, and a small cubby inside the armrest.

Charging Options

For charging options, you get a wireless phone charger in the front along with two USB Type-C ports in the centre armrest.

The rear seat passengers get USB Type-C ports mounted behind the front seats, and there is a wireless phone charger placed on the central armrest.

Boot Space

The i5 LWB gets a boot loading capacity of 490 litres, which, as the number suggests, is more than enough. You get a powered tailgate, which makes things easier, and once it opens, you get a long and wide boot with a flat floor.

Since it is so long, you can easily slide in a large suitcase and still have space left for two small ones. But since you can’t stack suitcases on top of one another, I suggest you use small cabin-sized trolleys to best utilise this space. 

Also, there is small storage under the floor as well, which has enough space to keep your charger along with a few packets of chips and a few cans of cold drinks.

For everyday usage, the i5 LWB gets everything. You get push-button start/stop, four-zone climate control, all power windows with one-touch up/down and anti-pinch, powered and ventilated front seats, an electrically adjustable tilt and telescopic steering wheel, two wireless phone chargers, and a massive glass roof with ambient lighting.

When it comes to infotainment, you get a 14.9-inch touchscreen which runs smoothly and can be controlled using the crystal dial placed on the centre console. It supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, both of which run smoothly, and you can customise the screen based on your drive mode.

This screen is paired with a 17-speaker Bowers and Wilkins music system, which offers a surround sound experience, something audiophiles will really enjoy.

Next to the touchscreen is a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, which shows all the drive information in a neat manner. You have a certain level of customisation, and you can change the theme based on the drive modes. 

There are no major misses here; you get all you need for your daily commutes, and the infotainment package fits the price. But the one thing I do not like is the execution of climate control. There are no physical buttons for temperature or fan speed, and while the temperature controls are fixed at the bottom of the touchscreen, you do need to open the AC settings if you need to change anything else.

The controls for the AC vents need a learning curve as well. The touch-sensitive slider on the glass panel is for adjusting how much air you want, regardless of the fan speed, and the physical slider placed underneath is to adjust the direction. 

All of this could have been in one place, instead of being scattered across the dashboard and touchscreen.

For passenger safety, the i5 LWB gets 8 airbags, electronic stability control (ESC), hill hold assist, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), electronic parking brake with auto-hold, reverse parking assist, front and rear parking sensors, ISOFIX child seat anchors, and a 360-degree camera.

It also comes with Level 2 ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert, and autonomous emergency braking.

While the i5 LWB has not been crash-tested yet, the standard i5 and the 5 Series do have a 5-star crash test safety rating from Euro NCAP. So we can expect a similar rating for the long wheelbase version as well.

Battery and Performance

The i5 LWB is offered with an 81.6 kWh battery pack, which is paired with a single electric motor that powers the rear wheels. You can see all details of this powertrain in the table below.

City Performance

When driving in the city, the BMW i5 LWB feels just like any other electric sedan, but the calibration of the power delivery has been done very well. While you do have a lot of power and a lot of torque at hand, you do not get any sudden surge of power that can take you by surprise, and this helps when you're driving inside the city. 

The acceleration remains linear; you gradually pick up speed, but because you have so much power, you can easily overtake anybody without thinking twice about it. Your city drive experience remains mostly relaxed, and this is good, especially if you're shifting from a petrol or diesel vehicle, because it means that there is no learning curve. 

However, when you want to make a quick overtake or when you just want to have a little fun, BMW has got you covered. 

Highway Performance

This is where you can unleash the power which you are holding back inside the city. Getting to triple-digit speeds will take no time, and you will not have to hesitate before overtaking anybody on the road. 

The acceleration is quick; you feel the instant torque, and if you want to have a little bit more fun, if you want to have an even more exciting driving experience, you can put the car in sports mode. 

The i5 genuinely feels like a fun-to-drive car, but it does not feel as raw as a BMW should be. The driving experience here is very polished, and while that is going to be good for most people, for an enthusiast who wants to be pushed back into the seat, the performance will feel inadequate. 

Ride Comfort

But the i5 makes up for it when you experience the ride comfort and its handling. It comes with adaptive suspension, which adjusts the ride height automatically, and it can also change the level of stiffness. 

This means that you can have the stiffness slightly on the firmer side if you're driving on the highways for more stability. Or, you can have it on the softer side so it's easier for you to drive over potholes. 

The i5’s suspension setup makes sure that you remain comfortable wherever you are driving, and it tries to limit the movement inside the cabin as much as it can. You will still hear a thud if you go into a deep pothole, and you’ll have to be careful around large speedbreakers to avoid scraping the floor, but the overall ride quality remains consistently comfortable.

Handling

This is where you feel that you’re driving a BMW. The i5 feels agile; it is quick to respond to your commands, and feels like an extension of your body. Take it around a corner and see how sharply it turns; the steering has just the right amount of weight (which you can change as well) and it feels precise.

It hugs the corner when you go around it at high speeds, and it doesn’t make you feel underconfident even a bit. Even on straights, you can keep speeds of 100-120 kmph, and it remains planted. What you lack in terms of pure performance, the i5 makes up for it in terms of driving dynamics.

The BMW i5 LWB is available in a single variant: eDrive35L M Sport. You can also get it in the limited run “First Edition”, which is available in only 99 units, and costs the same as the standard version.

“A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”. This saying applies perfectly to the BMW i5 LWB. It has a neat-looking design, good features, good space, and a driving experience that does not disappoint. But at the same time, the chauffeur-driven experience is not that great, and the performance is not exceptional.

It does not amaze you, it does not give you the best comfort, and if you want great performance or a great rear-seat experience, you have other options at a similar price. But if you want a car which can give you a good balance between performance and space, which you can enjoy from both the driver’s and the rear seat, then the BMW i5 LWB makes sense.

It does not excel in any particular aspect, but you get a well-rounded package of performance, space, and tech, which is sufficient for most people.

Other Options To Consider

Lexus ES500e

Reasons To Consider

• Better rear seat experience

• More powerful powertrain

Reasons To Ignore

• More expensive

• Lacks the brand image