Dec 13

Dec 13 BMW i5 Premiere Event @ Sharpe BMW

I would like to start with a giant thank you to the team at Sharpe BMW for inviting me to their BMW i5 premiere event! It was a great time! And while I didn’t win any prizes, I did get to drive both versions of the new BMW i5. The i5 is the all-electric version of the new 5-Series Sedan. It starts around $66,000 USD, and has a EPA-rated range of up to 295 miles per charge. I think that it is quite a good-looking car. The interior was very comfortable, and every surface that I touched felt high quality. The interior technology was excellent, with a smooth and responsive touch screen in the center of the dash, a dazzling driver information screen, and a crisp and attractive heads-up display. I spent about 15 minutes in each version, which gave me time to find a few really stand out features. The expressive led trim panel across the dash and doors changes colors based on the mode you are in. “Sport” lights up red, “Relaxation” is a cool blue. My favorite, dubbed “Digital Art”, illuminated purple. If you choose to enable the faux-engine noises, they are different for each of the modes as well. It might sound gimmicky, but in practice it was actually quite fun.

We drove the BMW i5 eDrive 40 first. It is rear-wheel drive, with a claimed 0-60MPH time of 5.7 seconds. It felt faster than that. Steering is responsive, sightlines are great, seats are incredibly comfortable, and the power delivery is very smooth. Stepping out of the i5 eDrive 40, it’s hard to imagine needing more power. Which brings us to the all-wheel drive i5 M60, and it’s 2 seconds faster 0-60 MPH time of 3.7 seconds. Even with all the extra oomph, it still felt incredibly smooth. It had me grinning from ear to ear. I see the appeal to the extra performance, but would have a hard time not exploiting it all the time. Power isn’t the only differentiator in how the two demo vehicles were optioned up, the mix was a great call on the part of the dealership. The all glass roof is wonderful. Unless you really crave the ability to open the smaller sunroof, skip it and stick with the glass top panel, it makes the i5 feel much more airy.

Despite being behind the wheel less than 30 minutes combined between the two cars, I came away very impressed with both models. I think BMW has a hit on their hands with the i5. Please check out my photos from the event below, enjoy!