BMW i5

[PSRG]

Anyone taken delivery of one of these? I ordered one via our salary sacrifice scheme at work last month, and it was delivered yesterday. A slightly spur of the moment order; we’ve had a PHEV before but not a full EV. It’s a rather dodgy colour - Brooklyn Grey - but as a pipeline car there was limited choice (white, black, blue, various greys). I wanted the panoramic roof, which reduced the choice to 1. Other than that it’s a standard M Sport (not Pro) model, with no other options. Arrived on the back of trailer, fully charged but dirty. Clearly gone straight from Thorne to the dealer by transporter and got covered in spray, then from the dealer to me without being cleaned. Pretty poor effort from the dealer I think. But, relatively speaking, it’s not costing a huge amount.

I’ve driven an i4 briefly, but didn’t test drive the i5. I’ve also driven a few Teslas, both S and 3 over the years. The i4 felt like a BMW to drive, as does the i5. Only done 70 miles in it so not much more to add…it’s comfortable, has enough equipment for me and is quite large. The last 5 series I had was an F10. This definitely feels bigger. Other first thoughts…didn’t expect to be able to lock/unlock drive it using my phone as a key - I assumed that’d be an extra in a pack I didn’t have. The HK sound system is OK, but no more. The standard system in my old 212 merc has a nice sound, though I have only spent a few seconds playing with the settings in the BMW.

[paradigital]

Have you got a ballpark for how much this is on your scheme? I’ve looked on our scheme and these are all ridiculous!

[Mahalo]

I was going to order an i5M60 as the replacement for my first i4M50 but the price is way over the top. Had a chat with the dealer principal when I picked up my replacement i4M50 and he agreed the price for both the i540 and i5M60 was too high. I see BMW is now beginning to do deals on them.

[SDK]

The i5 looks a great car and I can’t wait to see the Touring version.

[PSRG]

paradigital said:

Have you got a ballpark for how much this is on your scheme? I’ve looked on our scheme and these are all ridiculous!

For 15k a year / 3 years the gross cost is something like £1.200 a month…but am in the nasty £100-£125k 62% tax/NI bracket after maxing pensions, so I am pretending that the 62% tax relief applies to the car not the pension, so in my head it’s costing just over £520 a month.

Otherise at 45% plus 2% NI saving itt was around £680. Foolishly when I set up the scheme I did it so that the employer got their NI benefit - otherwise it’d have been another £140 a month less. But I didn’t think it appropriate to change it just for me after the event…

Those costs are on a par with the equivalent Mercedes EQE and, while I love the interior of that car I just could not live with the exterior!

[thecremeegg]

Nice one, I have the i4 and it's fantastic, so I'm sure the i5 is the same but even plusher!
That said, I couldn't afford to stump up £1200 a month on it, my i4 costs me £38 a month fully maintained as a company car

[PSRG]

Haha no, I wouldn’t spend that much on one either, though on a no deposit fully maintained and insured basis it would still probably be a relatively cost effective way of running a near £80k car for 3 years /45k miles. On a net cost to me basis it’s broadly equivalent to the post tax car allowance I receive, if I use man-maths and assume the marginal tax rate on the car allowance is 47% but for the salary sacrifice it’s 62%

Todays entertainment has been the Hans Zimmer created sounds played when accelerating in ‘expressive’ and ‘sport’ modes

[TheDeuce]

I also went for the i4, it's the same power for the M50 I think!?

I always used to want a 5 series but I reckon over the years the 3&4 have pretty much swelled to be about the same size as the previous gen 5 series so it's 'enough'.


Does the new 5 have a hatch? I don't think I'd want to lose that practicality now.

[PSRG]

It’s not a hatch, but does have standard split fold rear seats. There’s a touring version going on sale next year, but even the saloon is a big car - it’s over 5m long

[SDK]

PSRG said:

Todays entertainment has been the Hans Zimmer created sounds played when accelerating in ‘expressive’ and ‘sport’ modes

My son loves those in my iX - he’s constantly changing the modes and asking me to accelerate

[TheDeuce]

SDK said:

PSRG said:

Todays entertainment has been the Hans Zimmer created sounds played when accelerating in ‘expressive’ and ‘sport’ modes

My son loves those in my iX - he’s constantly changing the modes and asking me to accelerate

I've learnt to like the sounds too. It's quite clever in sport, gives the same feeling of building power as an engine note without trying to sound like an engine - which would be tacky.

Nice to have the option of silent or fun.

[kryten22uk]

Been looking at the business lease deals on the i5 and they're pretty stonking good value presently.

6+23 deal, so £2644 upfront and £440pcm. All figures +VAT
So a total cost over 24mth term of £12780+VAT.

Its cheaper (slightly) than the base i4.

The thing is, I've always had hatchbacks and/or SUVs, so I'm reticent to go for a saloon with the restricted boot. Anyone else thought similar. Just seems a bit crazy to pay more for an i4 over an i5 to get the hatchback, when the i5 is a £20k more expensive bit of kit.

[PSRG]

kryten22uk said:

Been looking at the business lease deals on the i5 and they're pretty stonking good value presently.

6+23 deal, so £2644 upfront and £440pcm. All figures +VAT
So a total cost over 24mth term of £12780+VAT.

Its cheaper (slightly) than the base i4.

The thing is, I've always had hatchbacks and/or SUVs, so I'm reticent to go for a saloon with the restricted boot. Anyone else thought similar. Just seems a bit crazy to pay more for an i4 over an i5 to get the hatchback, when the i5 is a £20k more expensive bit of kit.

Not a bad price at all - that works out at £638 a month including VAT, amortised over 24 months I think? I still reckon the salary sacrifice deal is a reasonable deal as it’s an all-in price for 15k miles a year.

The i5 is noticeably bigger than an i4 or Model 3, but does still feel like a 5 series to drive. And, if it helps, it has standard split / fold rear seats

[TheDeuce]

kryten22uk said:

Been looking at the business lease deals on the i5 and they're pretty stonking good value presently.

6+23 deal, so £2644 upfront and £440pcm. All figures +VAT
So a total cost over 24mth term of £12780+VAT.

Its cheaper (slightly) than the base i4.

The thing is, I've always had hatchbacks and/or SUVs, so I'm reticent to go for a saloon with the restricted boot. Anyone else thought similar. Just seems a bit crazy to pay more for an i4 over an i5 to get the hatchback, when the i5 is a £20k more expensive bit of kit.

That's how leasing prices work - the cars they need to shift (for a multitude of reasons) are discounted so heavily that they very often become cheaper than considerably cheaper cars at RRP. But RRP value and depreciation are of no interest to you as a leaser, you just have to chose the car you like most for the price you can afford.

However, I struggle to see a big list of pro's for the 5 series these days. The 3&4 series have grown in size over the years to be, imo, a perfectly reasonable family car. The interiors and tech are very similar too now. I think you have identified the biggest real world difference between the i4 and i5, the i5 doesn't have a hatch which is bound to be the thing that frustrates you most often - it would be at least! I suspect the i4 will also offer the most fun drive out of the two, although I haven't actually driven an i5. I doubt very much it's setup to offer the same sort of dynamics as the i4, which is after all a sports coupe.

[kryten22uk]

The i5 is a definite step up interior-wise, which is certainly drawing me. I think it also has the edge visually, as the i4 front end is a bit marmite.

[TheDeuce]

kryten22uk said:

The i5 is a definite step up interior-wise, which is certainly drawing me. I think it also has the edge visually, as the i4 front end is a bit marmite.

Definitely a marmite front end - although most owners seem to end up liking it after a while! It's easy for me to like it as I can contrast it against my business partners car, she has an iX...

Yes the i5 is step up in interior but not a huge one. The i4 is a similar step up in performance. It really depends what you value I guess.

There's a couple of quirks though - I think the i5 is two zone AC with an option to upgrade to 4 zone, whereas the i4 is 3 zone (air controls in the rear) which is of course nice to have and I don't know why the i5 doesn't have it by default too. The option packs are also a little more on the i5 so that will bring the gap down a fair bit in terms of monthlies. You really do want the tech pack to get surround view and HUD etc. The surround view in particular is important as no matter how good you are at parking, these increasingly fat EV's are a bugger to 'sight' with the mirrors alone. The addition of self driving systems via tech pack is also arguably the greatest luxury on a long motorway drive, even more so than interior quality! I didn't used to think that way but the systems are crazy good now.

Frankly, they're both very nice cars!

I don't suppose you can get an i4 M50 for similar money?

[kryten22uk]

TheDeuce said:

There's a couple of quirks though - I think the i5 is two zone AC with an option to upgrade to 4 zone, whereas the i4 is 3 zone (air controls in the rear) which is of course nice to have and I don't know why the i5 doesn't have it by default too. The option packs are also a little more on the i5 so that will bring the gap down a fair bit in terms of monthlies. You really do want the tech pack to get surround view and HUD etc. The surround view in particular is important as no matter how good you are at parking, these increasingly fat EV's are a bugger to 'sight' with the mirrors alone.

Yeah, definitely want the 360deg cameras. In the i4 its available either within the £3990 tech+ pack, or as a standalone £715 option. Unfortunately on the i5 its not a standalone option and you have to pay £2000 for the basic tech pack to get it. Bit annoying.

The only other option quirk for me is that the i4 doesnt have rear heated seats at all. Big negative. The i5 has them but no other way of getting other than the super expensive £5000 Comfort+ pack.

TheDeuce said:

I don't suppose you can get an i4 M50 for similar money?

You can get the i4 M50 for an extra £7k total over the 2yrs. Its still a good deal in its own right, but for me not worth the extra over the 40edrive. The i5 M60 is around another £7k (2yrs) over the M50.

[TheDeuce]

kryten22uk said:

TheDeuce said:

There's a couple of quirks though - I think the i5 is two zone AC with an option to upgrade to 4 zone, whereas the i4 is 3 zone (air controls in the rear) which is of course nice to have and I don't know why the i5 doesn't have it by default too. The option packs are also a little more on the i5 so that will bring the gap down a fair bit in terms of monthlies. You really do want the tech pack to get surround view and HUD etc. The surround view in particular is important as no matter how good you are at parking, these increasingly fat EV's are a bugger to 'sight' with the mirrors alone.

Yeah, definitely want the 360deg cameras. In the i4 its available either within the £3990 tech+ pack, or as a standalone £715 option. Unfortunately on the i5 its not a standalone option and you have to pay £2000 for the basic tech pack to get it. Bit annoying.

The only other option quirk for me is that the i4 doesnt have rear heated seats at all. Big negative. The i5 has them but no other way of getting other than the super expensive £5000 Comfort+ pack.

TheDeuce said:

I don't suppose you can get an i4 M50 for similar money?

You can get the i4 M50 for an extra £7k total over the 2yrs. Its still a good deal in its own right, but for me not worth the extra over the 40edrive. The i5 M60 is around another £7k (2yrs) over the M50.

On my i4 M50 the tech+ pack was only 1900 - I think because the M50 already has a load of extra stuff. It also had air suspension on the rear and adaptive damping which really enhance the car.

It does sound however like the i5 is one to go for this time, sensible head on... Sometimes it's impossible to ignore the value proposition. Albeit it sounds like you're stuck with the £2k tech pack to get basic stuff like surround camera - typical BMW...

Regards heated rear seats, temped to say don't worry about it. Both cars heat up very rapidly and there's a button on the remote you can tap (or app) to trigger pre-heating. 5 mins tops and the entire car including the leather will be perfectly comfortable even on a cold morning. I had heated rear seats in my last EV and genuinely never needed them, although on hot summer days I did use them to irritate my mother in law

[PSRG]

I'm not sure I would go for the tech pack just for the surround camera - the car won't let you drive into anything anyway. Which is annoying when you are used to 'brushing' a hedge for ease of access / exit from a parking space. The car just slams the brakes on The tech plus pack, while £3,300 vs £2,000, at least gives you more useful driver assistance stuff and so I think if I was ordering again I would go with either nothing or tech plus pack. I also wouldn't bother with the panoramic roof that mine has. The comfort/comfort plus packs are also very expensive for what you get in my opinion.

Worth noting that the basic low powered MB EQE is currently very cheap on a 2 year deal with Tusker, if you are lookin for a big executive-ish slaoon car

[plfrench]

PSRG said:

I'm not sure I would go for the tech pack just for the surround camera - the car won't let you drive into anything anyway. Which is annoying when you are used to 'brushing' a hedge for ease of access / exit from a parking space. The car just slams the brakes on The tech plus pack, while £3,300 vs £2,000, at least gives you more useful driver assistance stuff and so I think if I was ordering again I would go with either nothing or tech plus pack. I also wouldn't bother with the panoramic roof that mine has. The comfort/comfort plus packs are also very expensive for what you get in my opinion.

Worth noting that the basic low powered MB EQE is currently very cheap on a 2 year deal with Tusker, if you are lookin for a big executive-ish slaoon car

See this is why I opted back in to our company car scheme - our sal sac rates are awful now (they used to be really good a couple of years ago).

I couldn't see the Sport Edition EQE on there, but base motor AMG Line on 2 years 10k is coming out as £1290 per month gross - that's not far off double what you've got quoted through Tusker