BMW 5-series – MPG and running costs
The 5-series is impressively efficient in ICE and hybrid forms
The B48 and B58 engines are both relatively efficient if you’re not greedy with the throttle. Even the heavier hybrid 530e will get 40mpg from its combustion engine on a level motorway cruise, while the B58 in the 550e will deliver over 30mpg if you give it plenty of high speed miles at a steady pace.
Swap between petrol and electric power with a flick of the drive selector and the angular rev counter on the BMW curved display will turn into a simpler energy dial. It’s useful to be able to switch between the two, when pulling into a town or village, as traffic develops, or any other scenario where you trade ICE-friendly consistent cruising speeds for stop-start trundling.
What would be nice is a bit more control of the hybrid system – the ability to instruct the car to charge the batteries on the move, on the motorway, say, when electric power is of the least use.
The electric range is a curious one. It’s claimed the 550e will go for up to 57 miles on a charge. In our testing, it was giving around 40 miles, though that was in cold conditions. That’s still enough for a solid commute if you’re charging the car overnight. The 530e is rated slightly higher, at a maximum of 64 miles, likely thanks to its lower weight. In practice, it was good for up to 45 miles or so.
Being a bit less slippery, the touring versions will return marginally fewer miles both on fuel and electricity. With the right box at home, both the 530e and 550e will charge at 11kW in under three hours. What would be nice is if the hybrid system were a bit more proactive in charging the battery when on the move. The M5 is quite good at building up charge on a long run but we didn’t find either PHEV 5-series to be as proficient.
The 81.2kWh battery in the floor of the i5 is claimed to allow for 315 miles of driving in the top-end M60 model. The reality we found was quite a way short of that, the i5 managing 235 miles, albeit in the biting cold, with plenty of EV-unfriendly motorways. It’s good for 205kW of charging, so can jump from 10-80 per cent in just 30 minutes. Range for the eDrive40 is claimed to be 361 miles, so a still useful 280-300 miles in real driving is more likely.
