Does the better electric business sedan come from Stuttgart or Munich?
With the E-class and the 5-series, BMW and Mercedes have been competing for the favor of the same target group for decades. The battle continues with EVs: the i5 and the EQE. Who builds the better electric business sedan?
Is the BMW i5 a standalone model just like the Mercedes EQE?
The Mercedes-Benz EQE is an independent model. Although it is the electric counterpart of the E-class, the E and the EQE do not have a single piece of sheet metal in common. How different is that with the BMW i5. That is nothing other than the electric version of the new 5-series, which as usual is also available with petrol and diesel engines (and later also plug-in hybrid technology). The i5 is currently only available as a sedan, but a station wagon – Touring in BMW jargon – is also planned for early next year. The i5 is therefore an integrated part of the 5 series.
Is it smart of BMW that the i5 shares its body with the 5-series?
There is something to be said for both the Mercedes solution (two different models) and BMW’s solution (one model for all drive variants). Although there are also disadvantages to both approaches. By using a different body for its electric sedan, Mercedes has to make fewer compromises. For example, in the EQE you will not find a center tunnel with a cardan shaft running underneath it, and in the E-class the entire floor can be kept as low as possible because there is no need to hide a battery pack underneath. BMW takes those limitations for granted. In Munich, they attach more importance to the economies of scale that can be achieved by sharing as many components as possible and also benefiting from extra flexibility in production. Because when demand shifts from versions with a combustion engine to electrically powered variants (or when demand for the latter lags behind expectations), switching can be done quickly and easily.
Which versions can we choose from?
BMW currently offers the i5 in two variants: there is an extremely dynamic i5 M60 and a more subdued i5 eDrive40. The first case concerns a 601 hp four-wheel drive, the other is a 340 hp rear-wheel drive and also the car in this test. For the fairest possible comparison, we have the Mercedes as a 292 hp EQE 350, also as a rear-wheel drive (the EQE 350 is also available as the four-wheel drive EQE 350 4Matic with an electric motor in the front). In any case, the choice at Mercedes is a lot wider. There are currently seven drive variants of the EQE, ranging from the 245 hp EQE 300 to the powerful Mercedes-AMG EQE 53 4Matic with 687 hp. The choice of two at BMW seems to be in stark contrast to this, but rest assured that that will change.