2024 BMW 530i xDrive Review: Luxury Sedan Evolves To Stay Relevant

Adapt or die. Evolution's most unflinching rule isn't just applicable to flesh and bone but to the automotive segment, too, and it's a challenge the sedan knows all too well. What was once the de-facto standard for new vehicle sales has been overtaken by crossovers and SUVs, and that leaves cars like the 2024 BMW 530i facing an existential crisis.

Back in the day, BMW's midsize luxury sedan made a strong argument for epitomizing the automaker's "Ultimate Driving Machine" slogan. Offering attainable cosseting in-between the 3 Series and 7 Series, with the M5 shaping what was expected from an everyday sports car, the 5 Series — along with the Mercedes E-Class — set the benchmark by which the segment is still judged.

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Times change, and not just because of tectonic industry shifts like electrification. The 2024 5 Series represents BMW rising to the challenge of not only its peers but also a category now squeezed by lavish SUVs, four-door coupes, and even pickups.

For the first time in 5 Series history, BMW is offering both gas and all-electric versions of the car (the latter is the BMW i5, which we found mighty impressive when we drove it back in October). The electric model's design demands have clearly shaped the aesthetic for both, from the closed-off grille to the smoother flow of the roofline, particularly at the rear glass and trunk lid.

The result looks great, with the flush door handles and sharp hood creasing lending the 530i a more sculpted, intentional feel that brings real presence. Being bigger in all dimensions helps there, too: the 2024 5 Series is 3.4 inches longer, 1.3 inches wider, and 1.4 inches higher than its predecessor. Twin LED headlamps pick up on the chevron-like clusters we've seen on other recent BMW models, like the new X2 crossover we drove last month.

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BMW gets kudos for having more color options than the usual black, white, silver, and gray; though you'll pay $3.6k for its matte-effect "Frozen" finishes, they promise to look fantastic. The Cape York Green Metallic of this review 530i is, at $650, cheaper but also more visually divisive, but at least it's different.

19-inch alloy wheels are standard, with all-season run-flat rubber. 20- and 21-inch versions are available, including the handsome Individual Aero Bi-Color rims seen here, which are $1,800.

The 530i's beating heart is a mere 2.0-liter twin-turbo four-cylinder gas mild-hybrid engine, but it does a solid impersonation of something bigger. With 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque piped through an 8-speed automatic transmission, it'll do 0-60 mph in 5.9 seconds in the rear-wheel drive 530i (from $57,900 plus $995 destination), or 5.8 seconds when the power goes to all four corners as in this xDrive version (from $60,200 plus destination). Top speed is an electronically limited 130 mph, or 155 mph as an option.

Those for whom a BMW isn't a BMW without an inline-six can step up to the 2024 540i xDrive (from $64,900). That gets a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged six-cylinder mild-hybrid gas engine with 375 horsepower, 398 lb-ft of torque, and all-wheel drive as standard. It trims the 0-60 mph time significantly to 4.4 seconds.

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You'll need to embrace electric for the (current) fastest of the 5 Series family: the 2024 i5 M60 (from $84,100 plus destination) wields a pair of motors for standard all-wheel drive and 593 horsepower on tap. That's enough for a 3.7 second 0-60 mph time and between 240 and 256 miles of range, depending on which wheel size you go for.

You might not get M-style enthusiasm from the 2024 530i xDrive — despite what the $3,000 M Sport package, with its sport suspension and moodier exterior and interior trim, may imply — but it makes for a grand cruiser. The power steering is tuned on the decidedly light side, and even with the sporting pretensions of the suspension and the larger wheels, ride quality still feels reasonably plush. Personally, I'd skip the bigger rims and M Sport gubbins and lean into the 530i's refinement.

Flick into Sport, and there's more aural feedback and excellent grip in the turns. Really, though, if driving dynamics are your lodestar and you're unwilling or unable to go EV yet, coughing up the $4,700 delta between this car and the 540i xDrive seems a no-brainer. Especially when you consider that, with options, this particular 530i xDrive landed at $70,745 all-in.

The economic penalty for taking that approach isn't even so vast, either. Both RWD and AWD flavors of 530i are rated at 27 mpg in the city, 35 mpg on the highway, and 30 mpg combined by the EPA, numbers which I found to be achievable. The six-cylinder 540i, meanwhile, is EPA rated at 26 mpg city, 33 mpg highway, and 28 mpg combined.

Those who find glossy dashboards full of fingerprints to be frustrating may have conniptions at the sight of the 5 Series cabin. The Curved Display infotainment system combines a 12.3-inch digital cluster display and a 14.9-inch central touchscreen, all housed in a single sweep of glass. Controls for the dual-zone climate control system are on-screen now, a persistent row along the bottom, while even the vent flow controls get touch-sensitive sliders. Factor in the glossy steering wheel buttons and the center console controls being another slab of touch-sensitive translucence, and smudges are a given.

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For the most part, though, BMW's system is straightforward to navigate. The app view looks much like your smartphone home screen might, or you can have a simplified widget layout. Shortcuts run along the bottom of the screen, and there's a flexible natural-language voice control system for hands-free use. If you're really overwhelmed, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can take over.

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Arguably likely to cause the most confusion is BMW's drive mode system or, as it's referred to in the 5 Series and other recent models, the My Mode system. There's a dedicated My Mode button in the center console to summon the options; tapping one not only changes the car's driving dynamics but also its UI, color scheme, cabin ambient lighting, and more. While the intent of some are obvious, though — like "Sport" or "Efficient" — others are more nebulous. What, for example, does "Expressive" mean in a luxury sedan?

Requiring no explanation is BMW's familiar blend of crisp comfort. The front of the 5 Series is spacious and airy, with supportive heated seats as standard. The M steering wheel equipped as part of the M Sport package is definitely chunky — perhaps a little excessively-so, for the 530i — but the gray-blue ash trim it comes with looks nice.

It's similarly pleasant in the rear, with the increased exterior dimensions and longer wheelbase over the last-gen 5 Series, adding back seat legroom. For limo duties, a 7 Series — or, better still, the achingly-plush and tech-packed BMW i7 — will cosset more, but the $1,350 Luxury Seating Package does get you ventilated and more adjustable front seats, along with heated outbound rear seats. The $600 Sky Lounge Roof (BMW's fancy way of referring to a panoramic glass roof) keeps things feeling airy back there, particularly if you've gone for one of the darker leather or "Veganza" faux-leather choices.

Pop the standard powered trunk, and there's 17.3 cu-ft of cargo space. Not bad at all, but the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class we drove last year offers 19 cu-ft.

As standard, BMW includes adaptive cruise control — hands-on speed and lane-keeping assistance — with the new 5 Series. There's also the so-called Active Driving Assistant package, with frontal collision warnings, active blind spot detection, and lane departure warnings. The Parking Assistant is also included on every trim, navigating the sedan into and out of parallel and perpendicular spaces.

The $2,550 Premium Package — in addition to niceties like remote engine start, a heated steering wheel, LED cornering headlamps, and an interior camera — adds the Parking Assistant Plus. That includes a 360-degree view, a drive recorder, and the ability to stream from the car's cameras remotely through BMW's iPhone app.

A further $2,500 adds the Driving Assistance Professional Package to that Premium Package. It includes steering assistance, automated lane-changes, and the latest iteration of BMW's Highway Assistant. That now supports hands-free highway driving at up to 85 mph, using a driver-facing camera to ensure you're paying sufficient attention to the road; it'll suggest lane changes when behind slower traffic, which the driver can confirm by glancing at the appropriate side mirror.

Life in the automotive world has moved on considerably since BMW first launched the E12 generation 5 Series back in the early 70s. Like with many car companies, BMW's range has exploded with sub-categories, forming and filling customer niches that would've been inconceivable only a decade or so ago. As such, the eighth-generation 5 Series finds itself no longer having to satisfy such a wide range of buyers as it once might.

That liberation could've left the 2024 530i floundering, but instead, BMW carved out a solid place for it. Affordable without feeling spartan, it flirts with sportiness to about the degree that I suspect owners will ever feel inclined to themselves. As always, there's a long and comprehensive options list and the potential to send the total price sky-high if you don't show restraint. More broadly, though, I suspect the more rewarding choice for most 5 Series buyers (without excessive budgets) would be the six-cylinder 540i.