BMW i5 M50 Electric Sedan Spied Silently Cruising The Nurburging

Nov. 04, 2022 4:30 PM ET by Chase Bierenkoven Spy Shots / 4 Comments

The new i5 will debut alongside BMW's all-new gas-powered 5 Series.

It's no secret that the next generation of the BMW 5 Series is going electric.

We've spied the i5 a few times before, and we've even managed to get a look at the car's pre-production interior. Our spies in Germany have brought us another look at the new i5, and in an M-flavored.

This time, the car was seen testing at the Nurburgring, doing some hard laps, wearing slightly less camouflage than the last time we saw it. As with previous encounters, this appears to be the M50 version, which means a host of M division enhancements, just like on the smaller i4 M50.

The most immediate giveaway comes from the brakes, which are clearly more significant, upgraded units. They're also painted red, which almost always means it's one of the go-faster models.

There's a small winglet on the trunk as well, and it appears the brand's new horizontal grille strakes will appear here.

Not counting the M5, we expect this to be the most potent 5 Series you'll be able to buy. As previously reported, the i5 should be available in three guises: eDrive40, xDrive40, and i5 M50. These trim levels mirror the i4's structure, and we expect power outputs will loosely follow the same trend.

At the top, that means dual electric motors for some Mercedes EQE AMG-fighting power.

Our spies estimate the i5 M50 will produce fewer horsepower than the iX M60, which has 610 horsepower on tap.

However, given its larger size, the new 5 will likely make more than the smaller i4. In M50 guise, the i4 produces some 536 horsepower. That could place the output for this car at around 570 hp or so. BMW will avoid going near the power output of the upcoming hybrid M5.

At the 7 Series unveiling in New York earlier this year, BMW stated that the i5 would arrive in 2023, possibly as a 2024 model.