It’s just a complete aesthetic mess IMO. Lots of gloss black of the exterior (why?!) looks awful. It’s lost its soul IMO. Interior looks like a cheap nightclub. Wheels look like the kind of thing you used to buy aftermarket from a brand you never heard of. Honestly I really dislike this modern BMW era. They used to make beautiful subtle luxury cars with a nod towards the driver. Now it looks like an expensive mess.

They need to put this power train in the 3 series and make an M350e

Stevie wonder working magic in that BMW design department

The seats look like they’re from a base 1-series

You nailed it with the comment about soul. Electric cars, while fast and fun to drive depending on the model, they lack that special something. Like that feeling that you get when you meet someone and they have something about them. That special something is the engine. It gives life to the car. It gives them personality.

Joe, I think you need to call out the pricing more on some of these new cars. The new 5 just doesn’t have the quality of material or design to justify an £80k price tag. Of course they’ll be bought on finance but even the monthlies are going to be off the scale.

The 5 series chassis does a great job of hiding its weight. I rented a 530i xdrive for a road trip in the US not long ago. Given the size and weight, the car is really good on a twisty road. It feels light on its feet, the body motion is very well controlled and the suspension is also smooth and compliant. I guess BMW engineered the chassis to accommodate the heavy hybrid setup. So the car feels so effortless when there is only a four cylinder.

m550i 2023 was the last of the best -no electric BS- luxury sedan.

I agree 100%, a 530D would be awesome.

Visually this gen is just a mess IMO

The interior is such a downgrade from previous 5ers. Where's the full leather, ergonomic seats, premium audio upgrade, soft close, massaging seats, etc etc?? No reason to get a 5er over a 3er these days.

I've got a BMW G12 hybrid with a 2 litre petrol engine. I love the car but what I do find is once lithium ion batteries are flat you are left with an underpowered petrol engine down over 100hp on the claimed figure. For general cruising it's fine but if you need that burst of power it won't be there, so the better option would be to have the 3 litre engine.

I wished BMW would put leather (or a vegan alternative) on the steering wheels airbag like they did with the previous generation and the new M5. This would give the interior such a "glow up" ^^ Thank you for the video :D

It seems their more focused on Asian markets in terms of design. I will always miss the pure German bmw era

The gloss black exterior skirts are hideous and the new seats look way cheaper then a y previous models.

Nice review Joe, i can’t believe how much it costs! 2019 you get a great 520d sub 40k, pay 45k for a 530. How can a manufacturer like BMW become more efficient and charge between 50 and 100% more. It’s madness, i fear for legacy auto makers futures. How much did you pay for your last 7 series which was filled with ultimate luxury?

Hi joe, they did the 540d, which is the old 530d, 292hp 3 liter diesel, best five series for sure

Looks like they were inspired by the design of a Prius

I drove this car at a similar even there a few weeks ago. Maybe I had it in the wrong settings, but it did feel a bit ponderous and heavy. Interior was also nothing special. Never felt like an £80K car, never mind £100k.... Buy a second hand M5 CS. You will have a far better time and save yourself a fortune in depreciation.

If you want a big comfortable performance saloon be it for personal or business use then I believe this is a winner. Better this than any fully electric saloon if only for the B58 reminding us that cars can still have a souk and be relatively economical 👍

It surprises me to hear that the comfort seats aren´t that good, other people stated these seats are quit good. For a person like me, that have problems with the back, the sport seats are usually too hard and rigid. I hope to have a 5 series one day, love the G30 and G60 :D

Nice review. The new E class is still available with a (brand new) six cylinder diesel engine. See if you can get hold of an E450d and compare it with this car and the old 530d. Maybe that is the new best car of its type. Not that Merc will be keen on selling many of them, which is presumably why there is not a single review of this car anywhere to date.

Thank You Joe for this review, it's potentially my next car after M340d touring ( not fully convinced yet as I don't like this downgrade of interior quality compared to predecessor ). Btw. Love your disgusted face once You are talking about 60i 😁😁 .

I’ve got a g31 530e currently. Will be changed next year as its company car. Really want the 550e but still very undecided on the looks of the new car. For me it’s a wheel size thing smaller wheels ie the 19s look tiny. Which is crazy to think

I have driven now more than 10000 miles with my 550e and agree completely with your review. It is a fantastic car overall and very frugal (3,5l/100 km considering I drive 2/3 electric). The 550e doesn’t come near the driving pleasure of my alpina D3 biturbo f31 rwd+lsd, which is a car I have difficulty to part with. Being a purist, the nose heavyness ruins it a bit for me in the 550e. I suppose the 530e rwd should be the more dynamic car. You also should option the sports tires or get Ps4s on the 550e. Overall the 5 is a fenomenal comfortable car, certainly with the 2+ autonomous driving option. My advice would be, buy a 530e and spare yourself the money for a fun sportscar like a miata.

So it’s slower and less powerful than 2023 550i xdrive and it looks like it just came out of a China shop… Used bm s will start selling like crazy

Is it the camera or the reflections or is the entire screen setup moving while driving?

This car looks so good in photo. But when I actually saw this on the street, I just thought it does not look good at all It seems that the hood is out of proportion so long. Even the previous one does not look so long on the hood. And then they make it a platform for both ICE and EV. Which means the EV version looses out on interior space and higher in weight than necessary. A car of this size should have more interior space. And those seat looks horrible.

Why do the new generation of BMW’s 7 series, 5 series, X3 ,only have a fixed roof not sliding anymore?

The comfort seats used to be exceptional as well, are you sure these aren't the base seats?

Still prefer my 535d

There’s a fantastic option if this is too expensive for you. I have a 545e which is 400bhp combined and very quick with great economy.

Keep hear the blipping telling you travelling over the limit, cars are going backwards and price is sky rocketing 😌

STUNNING LOOKING, I TOTALLY ENJOYED THE VIRTUAL DRIVE WOW, LOVE THIS VIDEO REVIEW, WELL DONE, JOE.

In previous generations of 5, the Comfort seats gave you multi adjustable seats with things like split backrest and adjustable side bolsters. The best seats in any car. Looks like BMW have ditched them if these are the new offering. More cost cutting?

It would be good if you could run one of these for a few days to give us a fuller verdict or preferably the 550e touring

they have fairly ruined the 5 series. i have been smaller boats. cant get over the weight of it either.

why don't car channels review cars that most people can afford £80.000.00 for a car ffs

2.2t that is crazy

F10 was the last good looking 5 series. Whats with the mercedes paint ? Tail lights ? Why does every model need to look like a sportscar?

Was really looking forward to the 550e. Would still like to have one after the M3. But seeing the new M5 has got me not even wanting the 550e 😂😂 M5 is just 😍😍😍

If you don’t option the Comfort plus pack you don’t get electric MEMORY seats. Check with BMW should the options have changed. Great one take video JA.

Go for the 530e. In normal driving there's no difference at all for that extra 20k

There is going to be a 540d. So it will be interesting to see how that stack up.

Vile Design, Looks like a Hyundai/ Toyota had a baby Great Video Joe

£80k base price. Prices have gone nuts.

Thanks a lot for the review! How does this compare to the old 545e?

Nice video - was looking at the new range at Goodwood FOS. The massive weight and enormous size gains just put me off. OK for Dubai, US and other large road/countries but too big and heavy for UK roads...... I3 starting at approx. 2.6 tons before weighty options, the & series being pretty much 3 tons if you option anything...... Price wise tis all becoming unobtanium....... I know this is as much regulation as BMW - all cars are going this way Back to horse and carriages then..........

You've driven also the G90 M5 (at leas somewhat). How does the 550e compare to that? What would be the main difference in feeling? This is very interesting to me because I happen to own 550e, but I'm actually dreaming on purchasing G90 or G99...

I am not a hater but scrolling through it looked like a face lifted 2 series GC

Way buy the M5 for 120k Whan you can get the M550 For 80k ? And 300kg lighter ?

Has a soul and has some character, but that doesn’t justify the 135k my dealer here is asking for one of these.

As far as i know, the 530d will come. At least in Main Land Europe

Going to keep my M5 won’t be selling it to get A 550e they have no massage seats and interior looks worse than the old M550i . Germans have to keep up with Asian manufacturers

😬 I wouldn’t want that thing for free

Same B58, weight and only 90hp more than the 545e, but £90k !!!! Go get the 545e, 0-60 in 4.6s, smooth and easy to drive. Second hand for £45k Also the 545e has the G30 LCi Facelift and it's much better looking and non of the crystal awful button stuff in the cab.

This is better than new M5 that is much overweight

How long will the tyres last in a van weighing 2.2 tons? What happens if you crash in something like this , at a loss why cars now weight so much when a family saloon weighed 1200kg , high power high weight era

How can they justify a £80k price tag, crazy!!!

Can they please make a 540d touring and then I’ll trade in my X5 until then I’ll just drive my X5 for the next 5 years. 😂

what do you mean best 5 series yet? We know you're bmw biased but this is absolutely ridiculous

Did this car have the (expensive) M adaptive suspension with anti roll? It an option which only seems to be available on the 550e. Looking for this car as a touring, already did a testdrive months ago on the limo; very impressive powertrain! Value for money is pretty good in the Netherlands since there is almost no co2 tax on it. An full optioned 550e is about €20.000 cheaper than the old G30 540i. Price differance between 530e and 550e is around 10k and €8k with same adaptive suspension (standard on 550e).

Looks like an octavia from the front

The only one that thinks this thing looks terrible !? The previous shape far more pretty .

Needs to be a wagon / touring to be the full package

5 series were good looking cars what the hell happened? Even the e60 started to look good after a while

looks awful, interior looks beyond bland and boring. the seats looks cheap... exactly what i would expect from a modern bmw.

Well, it's a fast BMW. Not my choice though.

Keep up the good work, Joe, you're keeping trolls beating on their keyboards rather than their kids.

People need to boycott bmw and send them a message. From retuned engines to plastic interiors to cheap design.

b58 can easily make 500 whp in other cars, this car can easily become a sleeper.

The design keeps growing on me and that’s a lovely colour

The look and style is just awful

Wow previous gen G30 looks so amazing compared to this new turd..

Does not do it for me. It is like everybody that is trying to say that that new giant nose on some BMWs is not that bad. It is absolutely horrible. BMW is losing it on the design front in my opinion

I'm confused as to what the comfort seat vs what the sports seats are? From what I can tell on the website (I'm in the US) and there is a luxury seating package option which is available on real or fake leather seats .

Im disappointed in BMW, the first time in 39 years and for me that's saying a lot. Not only is the styling disappointing, the V8 missing is tragic in my mind. Screw the New Green Deal, it's nothing short of a scam

Why does it look like a Skoda?

No...

At first I thought it was Serie 1.

Is 550e xdrive touring coming? Who knows?

What a disaster of a design and weight

What's the point

Look at the people who aren’t even the target audience hate on something they’ve never seen or been in😂

Definitely a car that piques my interest

Its clearly not the best one yet, but money from BMW have to flow

What are they smoking for a 20k difference between the two?

There will be a 540d which actually is a 530d under the hood

Speed limit of 55 🤣🤣🤣

I am not taken with the exterior design but would need to see one in person to make an honest assessment. What I cannot get past is the ugly screen on the dash that BMW is using nowadays - to me, it is ugly, cheap and lazy of BMW to offer up something like that in what is supposed to be an upmarket product. Compare that dash to a VW Touareg for example and the BMW looks like some cheap Chinese or Korean knockoff product. BMW needs to do better to win me back.

BMW are so far away from their roots they might as well be Audi. But then again, the market is being driven by people who don’t like cars. So we get cars designed for people who want their dashboard to be an iPad rather than actual functionality that makes the car better at being a car.

1:24 B58 without a visible exhaust is a crime.

An EV sounds soo stupid, boring and rubbish. But this BMW is half EV, en half ICE... AND IT STILL SOUNDS COOL!!! (That glorious I-6 sounds are legendary and just epic)

I don't like it and as i don't want to spend that amount I dont have to worry ...

All the miserables in the comments who have never owned a premium car have a lot to say,while BMW breaks record sales. They are leading in sales in Europe & US so clearly they are listening to consumers not random trolls on YT who arent their target market.

Disgusting 😮. Are they trying to compete with Lexus 🤔

BMW being clowns 😂 Theyve taken the ugly stick to ALL their cars and stuck a whale somewhere in there 🤡 ultimate dud machines

BMW design department are making -really fucking gay ugly- masterpieces these days

Monstrosity.

Can we all agree to not buy this piece of crap so that BMW might fire their designers for once? Stop pandering to the chinese, now even they seem to be better at making european style understated luxury compared to us..