2021 BMW 5 Series Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The 5 Series has the most restrained design of any current BMW sedan. It doesn’t have the design flourishes of the 3 Series or the imposing size of the 7 Series. Where most luxury cars (and likely their drivers as well) are eager to show off, the 5 Series flies under the radar.

For the 2021 model year, the 5 Series gets a minor styling refresh that gives the sedan a sleeker look. The standard LED headlights are a bit more streamlined than the old versions, which stood slightly proud of the front end. BMW's signature twin-kidney grille is larger than before but not comically large like the massive protuberance on the 7 Series sedan.

Other changes include trapezoidal tailpipes, new L-shaped taillights, and new front and rear bumpers for the M Sport Package. BMW says the 5 Series is 30 millimetres longer than before, but still with a reasonably good drag coefficient of 0.27, allowing the car to slice through the air more efficiently.

The interior design hasn’t changed much from last year, keeping the familiar BMW layout. You could tape over the blue and white roundel on the steering wheel and still know from all of the other details that you were sitting in a BMW. From the positioning of the touchscreen to the unusual-looking shifter, to the typefaces and door chimes, everything has a specific BMW style. These details are now as important to the automaker’s identity as the driving dynamics of its cars.

As with other luxury cars, the prestigious badge doesn’t guarantee high-end materials. Lower trim levels get standard SensaTec upholstery rather than real leather, while two grades—Dakota leather and Nappa leather—are available at extra cost. Our 540i xDrive test car had Nappa leather in Mocha (a $1,500 option that also requires the $7,450 Premium Packaged Enhanced), which looked and felt great.

Aluminum trim with an unusual scale pattern added to the high-end feel, but the standard leather-wrapped “sport” steering wheel felt out of place. It was the only overtly-sporty element of the interior, and its rim thickness and overall diameter seemed too large, especially considering how little effort the electric power steering required.

BMW offers a wide array of powertrain options for the 2021 5 Series. The base 530i sedan gets a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 248 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It may be the entry-level 5 Series, but the 530i can still do zero to 100 km/h in 6.0 seconds, according to BMW. Top speed is electronically limited to 210 kilometres per hour with the standard tires, and 235 km/h with optional performance tires. An eight-speed automatic transmission and xDrive all-wheel drive are the standard drivetrain on all 5 Series models in Canada.

Next up is the 540i, which gets a 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six engine and, for the 2021 model year, a 48-volt mild hybrid system. This adds a small battery pack that can power accessories like lights, climate control, and power windows, and also allows for a more aggressive engine start-stop system. However, despite the “hybrid” nomenclature, the 540i is not capable of driving solely on electric power. Rivals Audi and Mercedes have added similar systems to the A6 and E-Class, respectively.

The 540i boasts 335 hp and 362 lb-ft of torque, getting it from zero to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds with xDrive all-wheel drive. As with the 530i, an 8-speed automatic is the only available transmission, and top speed is limited to 210 or 235 km/h, depending on what tires you choose.

Our test car was a 540i xDrive, which felt like a facsimile of an old BMW sedan made by a different company. The 540i felt appreciably sportier than most rivals, with wonderfully precise handling (thanks in part to the optional adaptive dampers) and an ultrasmooth six-cylinder engine. However, it’s not, as the BMW slogan used to say, an “Ultimate Driving Machine.” It’s just a bit too distant; more of a luxury car playing at being sporty than a true driver’s car.

Granted, BMW does offer sportier options further up the 5 Series hierarchy. The M550i xDrive sedan gets a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 making 523 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, which shaves 0.9 seconds off the 540i xDrive’s zero-to-100 time. The legendary BMW M5 gets a more powerful version of the V8, with 617 hp in Competition spec. BMW says the M5 will do zero to 100 km/h in just 3.0 seconds, with a top speed of 305 km/h when equipped with the optional M Driver’s Package.

On a different note, BMW also offers the 530e plug-in hybrid, with a powertrain consisting of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine, eight-speed automatic transmission, and an electric motor. Combined output is 288 hp (40 hp more than before) and 310 lb-ft of torque. The BMW 530e xDrive can do zero to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds, but is also capable of driving solely on electric power for significant distances. The 2020 model had a 31 km electric range; Natural Resources Canada reports the same range for the 2021 model.

In Canada, the 5 Series is available only as a four-door, five-seat sedan. Wagon variants of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6 are available here, as is the Volvo S90 sedan’s V90 wagon sibling, but BMW no longer offers a 5 Series wagon in this market.

The 5 Series sedan feels as spacious as its generous exterior proportions indicate. Front-seat space is competitive, and while the rear seats appear a bit less roomy than rivals on paper, they still offer plenty of room for occupants to stretch out. At 396 litres, the 540i has more trunk space than an Audi A6 or Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and the rear bench has a 40/20/20 split fold for longer items.

Our test car was equipped with 16-way power front seats with four-way lumbar support, driver memory, heating, and ventilation. Despite the array of features, these weren’t overstuffed luxury-car armchairs, offering plenty of supportive bolstering to augment the cushioning. Forward visibility over the long, high, hood was poor, making it difficult to place the car on the road and maneuver in parking lots. A surround-view camera system helped with the latter, at least.

For 2021, the 5 Series gets a standard 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen (up from 10.2 inches before) with the latest iDrive 7 system, as well as a 12.3-inch Live Cockpit Professional digital instrument cluster. Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility, Bluetooth, and SiriusXM satellite radio are also standard.

Graphics on both the instrument cluster and infotainment system were excellent, and the infotainment screen’s location atop the dashboard made it easy to read while driving. The layout of the instrument cluster could have been better, however. Unless you switch into sport mode, a power meter is shown in place of the tachometer. This is likely to indicate when the mild-hybrid system is active, but it will probably just confuse drivers who don’t know what it is.

As with other BMW models, a rotary knob is the default controller for infotainment functions. It provides the tactile feel missing from a touchscreen-only interface, and is much easier to figure out than, say, Mercedes’ touchpad controller. Voice control, which responds to the prompt “Hey BMW” is also available.

Alternatively, you can use gesture controls to, for example, raise the audio volume by twirling your finger. However, it’s hard to do this precisely, and you need to learn the specific gestures the system responds to. What’s so bad about a volume knob?

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) hasn’t crash-tested the 2021 BMW 5 Series, but the virtually-identical 2020 model received a “Top Safety Pick+” award—the organization’s highest. That included top “good” scores in all crash tests, as well as front-crash prevention tests. The standard headlights were only rated “marginal,” however, but optional lights received the “good” rating.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasn’t published any safety ratings for the 5 Series recently.

Standard safety features include lane-departure warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high beams. The Driving Assistance Plus Package adds adaptive cruise control, traffic-jam assist, lane-keep assist, and emergency stop assist—which can help pull the car onto the shoulder if the driver is incapacitated.

Similar features are now offered as standard equipment on some less-expensive cars, but BMW distinguishes itself with the sophistication of its driver-assist tech, and smooth operation. The traffic-jam assist feature allows the car to accelerate and brake in stop-and-go traffic on highways, BMW claims, while at higher speeds the adaptive cruise control does a reasonable impression of a competent driver, with less-jerky inputs than systems from mainstream brands.

It’s hard to find good value when looking at most luxury cars, and that’s the case with the 2021 BMW 5 Series. Pricing starts at a Canadian MSRP of $64,050 for the base 530i model with standard xDrive all-wheel drive, but our 540i test car had an MSRP of $84,150 (Canadian, estimated). That reflects not only the bigger engine and all-wheel drive but also a long list of options.

Notable options included Nappa leather ($1,500; Premium Package Enhanced required), the Advanced Driver Assistance Package ($2,000), Premium Package Enhanced (remote start, power trunk lid, surround view monitor, Wi-Fi hotspot, four-zone automatic climate control, head-up display, heated rear seats, wireless charging, and Harman Kardon audio system for $7,450), Gesture Control ($250), and the M Performance Package ($2,000), which adds adaptive dampers. These features add a lot to the car’s price, but they’re also the features that make a 5 Series stand out from the competition and, more importantly, cars from more mainstream brands.

There’s no point in buying a loss-leader luxury car, and that means you must always be prepared to check a few option boxes. It’s the same case with most other luxury brands (Hyundai’s Genesis brand being a notable exception). If you want to equip a 2021 BMW 5 Series in a way that justifies stepping up to a new BMW, you need to spend considerably more than the base price.

Note: Images show a US model.

BMW’s standard warranty covers four years or 80,000 km, with four years of free roadside assistance.

On fuel consumption, the 2021 540i’s mild-hybrid powertrain only nets a small improvement. The 2021 model is rated at 9.1 litres per 100 kilometres combined (10.3 city, 7.6 highway), compared to 9.5 combined (10.7 city, 8.1 hwy) for the 2020 model.