MUNICH: An electric BMW 5 Series is coming when the eighth generation of the 5 Series makes its global debut in October.
The first-ever i5 Sedan will be followed by the i5 Touring (wagon) in 2024 as BMW ramps up its all-electric offering. The Touring variant would cater to mainly European customers.
According to BMW, the 5 Series line-up is more dynamic and more comfortable than ever and boasts a fresh interpretation of its signature elegantly sporting design, not to mention BMW Operating System 8.5 with BMW Curved Display and innovative digital services.
The flexible powertrain architecture means the new 5 Series Sedan can be offered in all-electric and plug-in hybrid variants as well as powered by highly efficient petrol and diesel engines with 48V mild hybrid technology.
The 5 Series Sedan would also be made available as an all-electric M Performance model.
“The all-electric BMW i4 M50 shows how BMW blends dynamic performance and electric mobility to perfection,” said BMW CEO Oliver Zipse at the BMW Group Annual Conference 2023.
“It was the best-selling BMW M model worldwide in 2022. A fully electric Performance model from BMW M GmbH will also be included in the new BMW 5 Series Sedan line-up.”
The BMW Group already has all-electric cars and two-wheelers in the vast majority of the market segments it serves with the BMW, BMW Motorrad, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands.
More than 10 million 5 Series have been produced from 1972 to early 2023.
Over the past 50 years and seven model generations, the 5 Series has established itself as the most successful business sedan in the world.
The new 5 Series Sedan will be built exclusively at BMW Group Plant Dingolfing. The facility in Lower Bavaria is the company’s largest manufacturing site in Europe. Production of the new BMW 5 Series will start in the same year the plant marks 50 years of manufacturing BMW models.
The brand’s cars have been rolling off the production lines in Dingolfing since 1973, with its current portfolio including the 7 Series and 8 Series luxury models and the all-electric iX.
BMW Group Plant Dingolfing is also home to the company’s competence centre for electric drive system production, whose tasks include manufacturing both the electric motors and the high-voltage batteries for the i5 directly on site.
