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Our Cars: BMW i5 M60 Touring
1 year ago
The only 5 Series that has more power is the M5
I’m also aware of just what a first-world problem this is. My biggest fear is that I might have to loiter for a few more minutes when I pull into a service station, conveniently forgetting the fact that, because I’ll always leave home with the electric equivalent of a full tank, that’ll be far less often than in my 911 days. At least I hope so. I fear too the appalling mental trauma of turning up at a station and finding all the charge points are taken, or that some don’t work so that might cost me a few more minutes. I really should get over myself. Particularly when my mate Ben has been running all over the country, clocking up vast mileages in his i4 and says that he’s had to queue just once in many thousands of miles and then only for a few minutes. We’ll see.
But for now there it is, looking as sinister in its Carbon Black metallic paint (no cost option) as a family wagon can. Actually I quite like its appearance and with so many weird-looking BMWs around I feel I have somewhat dodged a bullet in that regard.
It’s not cheap, however. Would it surprise you that at £99,995 basic, it’s actually a fraction more expensive than a 911 Carrera? Perhaps it shouldn’t because it’s got vastly more stuff in it, but it did me. A hundred grand for an electric 5 Series wagon. Goodness.
"It has 584bhp and for all those who rage about the weight of EVs, it’s actually 125kg lighter than the M5 Touring which tells a tale all by itself. Not that, at 2350kg, it’s anything other than bloody heavy"
Then again this is the M60 model and if you want a more powerful Five, you’ll need to go the whole hog and get the M5. It has 584bhp and for all those who rage about the weight of EVs, it’s actually 125kg lighter than the M5 Touring which tells a tale all by itself. Not that, at 2350kg, it’s anything other than bloody heavy.
As for the spec, by far the most consequential box ticked is that marked ‘M Adaptive Suspension Pro’. It costs four grand but includes not just a 4mm suspension drop, active damping and a broader range of response from Comfort to Sport settings, but four-wheel steering too. Given that the turning circle is now only reasonable, one wonders what it would be like without.
I’ll never open the £1600 sunroof, and the fact the iDrive controller has polished crystal elements (£600) is an irrelevance to me, as is ‘M Carbon Exterior Styling’ which provides carbon finishes for the wing mirrors and rear spoiler for £920.
There’s a £3300 ‘Technology Plus Pack’ which comes with all sorts of driver aids, a head-up display, self-parking, an interior camera allowing you to film the inside of the car – why? – and gesture control which, for example, allows you to turn up the volume just by describing a clockwise circle with your finger in the air. Finally it has the ‘Comfort Plus Pack’ too for £3350 which includes front and rear heated seats, ventilated in the front, a heated steering wheel, multi-way adjustable ‘comfort’ front seats and an automatic tailgate. All in with delivery charges and so on it comes to £114,670. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just over a grand more than the basic price of a new M5 Touring.
“Official figures say it will do ‘up to’ 310 miles on a charge but after its first full charge the range said 232 miles. And that’s before you add in the fact it’s winter, which EV batteries hate, that most of my miles are on the motorway where EVs are at their least efficient”
So it’s not unreasonable to expect great things of it. But I already know one aspect that’s not going to be great and that’s its range. Official figures say it will do ‘up to’ 310 miles on a charge but after its first full charge the range said 232 miles. And that’s before you add in the fact it’s winter, which EV batteries hate, that most of my miles are on the motorway where EVs are at their least efficient and that not even I’m quite stupid enough to run it down to zero in the hope it might just get me home. So at this time of year I think I’m looking at 200 gently driven miles on a charge, but I’ll start to get twitchy at around 160 miles which means perhaps 2.5 hours of driving before my attention needs to turn to where I’m going to charge it. My self-imposed rule – that I’d never run an EV until I could have one that could get me to Heathrow and back without stopping (250 miles) in all weathers has already gone out of the window.
At least when I do charge it, it looks like being a fairly rapid experience. On the brilliant www.ev-database.org website it says it can charge at up to 206kW, with an average 137kW when charging from 10-80 per cent, and that it will take 26 minutes to turn a range of 26 miles into 208 miles. Given that I’m hoping on almost all journeys I’ll only be buying the bare minimum to get me home, I shouldn’t often be stationary for anything like that long.
As an aside, and if you’re interested in the effect of cold weather and driving environment on EV range, it says the i5 M60 Touring will do as little as 185 miles of highway driving in cold weather and as much as 365 miles when driving in the city when its warm – close to double. Even comparing like with like, the cold to warm highway difference is 55 miles, though ‘cold’ is -10 deg C and ‘warm’ 23 deg C.
So I’m already worried about how well it’s going to fit into my life. But there’s a really important point here too: this is not my car, and it’s not my money being spent on it. Were that the case it would not be here now, and it is important to remember that whether it’s right for me – a person who lives in the absolute middle of nowhere – matters far less than whether it is right for someone else. And that’s what the next few months will be about finding out.
For now then, a few first impressions. The ride quality is absolutely outstanding – S-Class Benz level at least. I’m so glad no one optioned in the 21in rims. The app by which so much of the car’s functionality can be remotely monitored and controlled looks simple enough for even this idiot to understand, and when you put hoof to the floor what happens next is very impressive indeed.
That’s about it. But there is a specific plan for this car – half way through the loan period it’s going to be swapped for another 5 Series estate, but this one with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. I look forward to finding out which does its job best.
