Eric's Autos: 2025 BMW 5 Series

Like its main rival, the Mercedes E-Class sedan, the BMW 5 used to come standard with a six-cylinder engine -- as people used to expect when they spent what it costs to buy a midsize luxury sedan. Both of them now come standard with 2.0-liter fours -- and neither of them has gotten any less expensive.

This isn't to say the BMW 5 Series isn't still a very nice car. The problem is, it's less car -- under the hood, at least. And it's also less a BMW in the sense that a 5 Series used to be a very different kind of luxury sedan versus a Mercedes E-Class sedan.

Now they're much closer to being pretty much the same.

What It Is

The 5 Series is -- per above -- BMW's midsize, mid-priced (for a BMW) sedan. Though the base trim is still called the 530i, it comes standard with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, just as its main rival, the Mercedes E350 sedan, does. It is interesting -- in a telling kind of way -- that neither BMW nor Mercedes has adjusted the name to reflect the change. In the past, a 530i came standard with a 3.0-liter six -- just as a Mercedes E350 came standard with a 3.5-liter V6. They no longer do, but they still carry the badges that suggest otherwise. Probably because "520i" -- denoting the standard 2.0-liter four -- doesn't sound like much when you're spending $58,700, the base price of the rear-wheel-drive 530i.

You can opt for BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive for $61,000.

A 3.0-liter six is available -- in the $65,800 540i (which comes standard with xDrive AWD). Interestingly, the badging in this case used to indicate a V8 under the hood. Consider it a form of shrinkflation.

The top-tier iteration of the 2025 5 Series is the $73,400 550e -- the "e" indicating a six amped up via a battery pack and motors to generate a combined output of 483 horsepower. This iteration of the 5 Series can be plugged in -- to get a charge -- or gassed up to avoid the wait.

What's New for 2025

The plug-in hybrid 550e is new, and heated front seats are now standard in the base trim.

What's Good

-- Larger, roomier -- especially in the trunk -- and less expensive by several thousand dollars than its main rival, the Mercedes-Benz E350 ($62,400 to start).

-- Looks more stately than the Mercedes.

-- Plug-in hybrid version is about $15,000 less than the hybrid version of the E-sedan, which is not a plug-in hybrid.

What's Not So Good

-- Just shy of $60,000 to start is a lot to spend for a 2.0-liter four (and just 255 horsepower).

-- Not especially sporty anymore -- which makes it a lot more like the Mercedes E, which has always been the more stately driving of these two.

-- Smartphone-emulating touch/tap/swipe interfaces are harder to use accurately while the car is moving than knobs, switches and buttons.

Under the Hood

The BMW 5 -- like the Mercedes E -- comes standard with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with a "mild hybrid" system -- which means the engine shuts itself as often as feasible (as when the car isn't moving or decelerating/coasting) in order to reduce fuel consumption and also to help BMW comply with government "emissions" requirements pertaining to carbon dioxide. When the engine isn't running, it isn't "emitting" anything. A high-powered (48-volt) electrical system is used to restart the engine almost instantaneously.

Interestingly, both the BMW's 2.0-liter four and the Benz's 2.0-liter four tout exactly the same 255 horsepower, effacing any meaningful mechanical differences between the two. Both cars come standard with RWD; AWD can be ordered optionally.

Also interestingly, both the BMW and the Mercedes have the same type of optionally available engine -- a 3.0-liter straight six, also paired up (in both cars) with a "mild hybrid" system. Once again, both of these inline sixes tout exactly the same 375 horsepower. BMW's xDrive AWD system is standard with the bigger engine.

The newly available plug-in hybrid drivetrain in the 550e marks the only major drivetrain difference between these two contenders. The first being that the BMW is a plug-in hybrid -- which means it can be recharged without driving it (in a conventional hybrid, the running engine is used to generate electricity to recharge the battery pack as you drive) and the second being that it can be driven for about 33 miles on battery power alone.

On the Road

It's a little disappointing driving the 5 with its standard 2.0-liter engine. Not because there isn't enough power to get you going quickly; the 530i can get to 60 mph from a dead stop in about 5.5 seconds -- and that isn't slow.

The problem is that it doesn't sound like a BMW -- a nearly $60,000 BMW -- ought to sound, because a small four-cylinder engine does not sound like a six-cylinder engine and that's what a car of this stature -- a car at this price point -- ought to come standard with. The Mercedes E350's 2.0-liter four has the same lack of gravitas.

How did it come to pass that nearly $60,000-to-start midsize luxury sedans now come standard with engines the same size -- and not much more powerful than -- the small fours that come standard in $25,000 crossovers? It isn't because that's what people who spend nearly $60,000-to-start crave. And it isn't because these little turbo-hybrid fours get good gas mileage. The idea that people who spend nearly $60,000-to-start on a BMW or Mercedes care about a 5 mpg difference in gas mileage -- for the better or the worse -- is just silly.

But BMW and Mercedes have to care about gas mileage -- because if they don't, the government will make their cars even more expensive (via heavy fines for "guzzling" more gas than the government says is permissible) and that makes it harder to sell cars, including the luxury-brand ones. The government also makes it hard to sell cars with engines -- at all -- because they "emit" carbon dioxide (the gas that isn't a pollutant) when running. So it is necessary to shut the engine off as often as possible.

Thus the "mild hybrid" thing.

On the upside, the "mild hybrid" thing is pretty seamless; the engine shuts off and restarts with little to no indication this is happening. It's a swift and quiet process.

At the Curb

Here we come to some meaningful differences!

The BMW 5 -- though classified as midsize -- is much closer to being a full-size sedan than its main rival, the Mercedes E-Class sedan. The BMW is 199.2 inches long versus 194.9 inches for the E-Class sedan. Thus, ironically, the 5 Series is the more stately looking of the two. It is also the more practical of the two -- another interesting difference -- because unlike the Mercedes, the BMW has a large 18.5-cubic-foot trunk, whereas the Mercedes' trunk is only 12.7 cubic feet. That's a smaller trunk than the current Honda Civic sedan's -- and the Civic is a much smaller car than the E-Class sedan.

Both cars have interiors dominated by huge LCD displays for both the main gauge panel and the infotainment stuff. The BMW's differs in having a kind of trapezoidal tachometer and speedometer, which is at least different from the Benz's display. The secondary LCD screen is huge -- just shy of 15 inches -- and canted toward the driver. Some of the functions can be controlled via hand gesture rather than by actually tapping/swiping. Voice control is another way to avoid having to tap/swipe while driving.

The Rest

All trims come standard with a very good Harman Kardon audio system and (finally) heated seats for the driver and front-seat passenger. Astoundingly, they were extra-cost options last year.

The Bottom Line

Nearly $60,000 to start doesn't buy as much -- under the hood -- as it used to. But you do get a bigger trunk, and that's something, at least.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.