2024 BMW i5 Touring in UK next spring
Electric executive estate will join the i5 saloon and new Touring combustion models in 2024
BMW i5 Touring Electric exec estate in UK for 2024
The much-touted BMW i5 Touring will arrive in spring next year as the first all-electric executive estate on the market. The EV was confirmed for production by BMW chairman Oliver Zipse during the car maker’s annual conference last week.
“This is our unique selling point in this segment,” said Zipse. Before it arrives, its BMW 5 Series and i5 saloon siblings will be launched in October this year, with European, Korean and US markets taking deliveries first. Along with the i5 Touring’s pure-electric powertrain, the 5 Series estate, like the saloon, will be available with petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid options – the PHEV destined for both bodystyles later in 2024.
The saloon will also get an electric M Performance variant in the vein of the i4 M50, Zipse told reporters. That also raises the prospect of a hotter Touring version, although such a model hasn’t been confirmed.
“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 model from BMW M will also be included in the new BMW 5 Series sedan [saloon] line-up.” More details will be released before the car’s debut (“still a few months away”) but the new Touring is expected to be available with at least a similar level of practicality to the current model’s.
Although BMW did not comment on boot space, the new estate is expected to improve slightly on the existing car’s 560 litres (with the seats raised) in a bid to close some of the gap to the 640 litres offered by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate.
BMW has still to confirm if the 5 Series Touring will share its underpinnings with other models. However, the current car shares the same CLAR architecture as the new BMW 4 Series (and electric i4), so its larger sibling could offer a similar powertrain line-up if it uses the same platform.
As such, the standard i5 Touring could be offered in rear- and four-wheel-drive guises with outputs ranging from 335bhp to 536bhp, which would essentially create an all-electric M5 Touring.
The i4 uses an 80.7kWh battery pack that charges at up to 210kW and its maximum official range is between 255 and 367 miles. Similar could be achieved by the i5.
The new 5 Series will get a refreshed design, with recent spy shots revealing sleeker headlights and smaller kidney grilles. Blanked-off grilles will be fitted to i5 models.
New i5 Touring is likely to draw on the i4’s tech make-up