In just a few months’ time, the eighth generation of the BMW 5 Series Sedan will make its debut. The new model 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, innovative digital services and, for the first time, a purely electric drive system in the guise of the BMW i5.
The flexible powertrain architecture means the new BMW 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.
At the BMW Group Annual Conference 2023, Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, announced further details of the new BMW 5 Series model range, indicating that the 5 Series Sedan would also be made available as an all-electric BMW M Performance model. “The all-electric BMW i4 M50 shows how BMW blends dynamic performance and electric mobility to perfection,” said Zipse. “It was the best-selling BMW M model worldwide in 2022. A fully electric performance version from BMW M GmbH will also be included in the new BMW 5 Series Sedan line-up.”
Zipse revealed that a new variant would also be added to the familiar choice of engines for the new BMW 5 Series Touring. “The BMW 5 Series Touring is very popular, particularly in Europe,” he remarked. “From spring 2024 it will also come in an all-electric version, giving us a truly unique selling point in this segment.”
The arrival of the BMW i5 Sedan in the premium executive segment, followed by the BMW i5 Touring in 2024, will see the BMW Group continue the systematic expansion of its all-electric offering.
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. Customers can choose from an unrivalled variety of vehicles offering premium mobility with zero local emissions, ranging from the small and compact segments to midsize models and the luxury class.
The worldwide launch of the new BMW 5 Series Sedan will get underway in October 2023.
More than ten million BMW 5 Series produced
Its harmonious balance of sporty driving pleasure and long-distance comfort has made the BMW 5 Series Sedan a worldwide hit. Over the course of 50 years and seven model generations, the 5 Series has established itself as the most successful business sedan in the world thanks to this defining characteristic, ingrained deep in the core of the brand. More than ten million BMW 5 Series were produced from 1972 to early 2023.
The first generation of the BMW 5 Series Sedan arrived on the market in 1972. Its launch also marked the introduction of a new system of model designations that used a combination of three digits to denote the model series and engine variant. One year on from the model’s 50th anniversary, the latest edition is ready to take its traditional place in the brand’s sedan portfolio between the midsize 3 Series and the luxury 7 Series.
The new BMW 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 BMW 7 Series and 8 Series luxury models and the all-electric BMW 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 BMW i5 directly on site.
