2024 BMW i5 Sedan Teased During Winter Testing Ahead of Its Oct Debut

Ahead of its global debut, the all-new 2024 BMW i5 has been teased yet again, this time during its strenuous winter testing period. Set to be the first-ever all-electric 5 Series model, the i5 is poised to make its global debut later in Oct this year.

BMW has put the new i5 under a very intense, year-long road testing, which involves a 3,000 KM winter testing stretch that started from the marque’s Munich plant all the way to BMW’s winter test centre in Arjeplog, Sweden. Aside from testing the i5’s electric powertrain and battery pack endurance, BMW has also displayed the vehicle charging up in the middle of the freezing winter condition.

Aside from the partially-exposed headlights design, much of the i5’s specification details are yet to be disclosed by the Bavarian marque, with the sole performance clue given by them being the i5’s utilisation of an upgraded version of BMW’s proprietary eDrive all-wheel drive (AWD) system. This updated hardware is said to “display a high level of maturity” over the previous fifth-gen version.

Interestingly, this latest BMW EV still underpins the same CLAR platform as its ICE-powered predecessors, as BMW’s Neue Klasse dedicated EV platform won’t be ready until 2025.

The German luxury brand has been road-testing the i5 Sedan since Feb last year, with the prototype models even made to the Arctic Circle last month for another round of harsh winter testing. Said prototypes were then driven back to BMW’s Dingolfing plant in Munich for evaluation.

Codenamed G60, the eighth-gen BMW 5 Series will feature a full-swing of powertrain options, aside from the aforementioned i5 all-electric version. Said powertrain options include a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version, with both the petrol and diesel ICE models poised for a 48-Volt mild hybrid (MHEV) adoption. In terms of design, the next-gen 5 is said to boast the marque’s latest iDrive 8.5 infotainment system on board, featuring two screens housed within a single curved display unit that crowns above the front dash.

Coming in both sedan and estate body styles, BMW said the i5 will also come with an M performance version, likely to be called i5 M60 – should it follow the same nomenclature as its other electric sibling such as the BMW i4 M50 and iX M60. As for the standard model, the 2024 BMW i5 is set to make its debut later in Oct this year, with BMW Malaysia already opening inquiry for folks who are interested in buying them.