The BMW i5 and i5 Touring are luxurious, practical, comfortable and engaging electric vehicles to drive. The issue is that they don’t offer the best electric driving range and are quite expensive, especially after you add additional packs.
In terms of their audio configuration, the i5 and i5 Touring share the same setup. Both have a 205-Watt 12-speaker Harman Kardon system as standard but for a £1,250 option or as standard in the M60 models, you’ll find a 655-Watt 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system. The latter is on review.
Click here to read the full BMW i5 review
BMW i5 audio setup
To tweak the audio settings, one has to navigate through the curved 14.9″ infotainment system. Here are our optimal settings:
- Logic 7 Surround: On
- Surround intensity: +1 (or -1 from the middle)
- Treble: +0
- Bass: +0
- Balance & Fader: Centre
- Equaliser: On
- 100Hz: +3
- 200Hz: +2
- 500Hz: +1
- 1KHz: -1
- 2Khz: +0
- 5Khz: +4
- 10Khz: +7
As for connectivity, both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are supported over a wired and wireless connection – the former type is suggested to attain the utmost audio fidelity. Bluetooth is also an option, however, the SBC and AAC codecs are supported only.
In terms of your media controls, they can be accessed through the display, and via the physical buttons located by the centre console and steering wheel.
Read next: BMW i4 audio review: The Harman Kardon audio upgrade
BMW i5 audio performance
For a demo of the BMW i5’s audio system, head on over to our YouTube channel.
When it comes to its audio configuration, the stock 205-Watt Harman Kardon system has 12 speakers. At the front, you’ll find a core bass speaker, mid-range and tweeter within the front doors. Within the dashboard and in each of the rear doors you’ll find a mid-range and tweeter driver.
The 655-Watt Bowers & Wilkins system has 17 speakers instead. Within each of the front doors, you’ll find: a 50x80mm dual balanced woofer, a 100mm Continuum mid-range speaker and a 25mm aluminium tweeter. Within the dashboard, there’s a 100mm mid-range speaker and a 25mm aluminium tweeter. In each of the rear doors, there’s a 100mm Continuum mid-range speaker and a 25mm aluminium tweeter. Within the boot by the headliner, there are two 100mm mid-range speakers and two 25mm aluminium tweeters, and finally, the area between the rear portion of the rear seats and the underfloor compartment houses a 200mm dual voice coil subwoofer.
It should be noted that the Bowers & Wilkins was previously listed as an 18-speaker system on BMW’s website and press material. However, after TotallyEV reached out to BMW UK, the mistake was rectified; this is because the regular 5-Series has an 18-speaker setup due to it housing central bass speakers underneath the two front seats instead of a singular subwoofer in the boot. The information was therefore carried over from the 5 Series and not correctly listed for the fully electric i5 and i5 Touring models.
Speaking of which, the included subwoofer certainly bolsters the vehicle’s sub-bass response; songs that have a pronounced low-end rumble come to life. Bassheads will be left impressed by the Bowers & Wilkins subwoofer, which manages to extend into the lower echelons of the frequency range. It’s more powerful and capable than the subwoofer found in the stock 12-speaker Harman Kardon system.
Similarly, the mid-bass impact is plentiful while also being controlled and precise. Adding a few notches to the bass frequency range helps bring out that low-end slam in ‘Rock Steady’ by Tay Iwar, Le Mav and Gold. If you’re listening to bass-heavy music, you’ll be left with a smile on your face.
However, the same praise can’t be said about the mid-range frequencies, especially given Bowers & Wilkins’ pedigree in this department. The mids are a little pushed back and recessed, which means both female and male vocals don’t come out to the foreground. Given our experience with other vehicles that house Bowers & Wilkins systems, such as the BMW i7, BMW iX, Volvo XC60 and Polestar 3, it is disheartening that the i5 and i5 Touring are the least impressive of the B&W range in their ability to reproduce an engaging mid-range reproduction. Make no mistake, the mids are still impressive when compared to alternative systems, including the standard 12-speaker Harman Kardon configuration; we just had higher expectations.
You might be wondering: why can’t I just add a few notches to the mid-range tones via the 7-band equaliser? As doing so takes away from overall accuracy and provides a slightly off-balanced tone. As such, we only added a few notches to the frequency bands to help provide a minimal impact to vocal tones.
Thankfully, the highs can be EQ’ed quite substantially and extend tremendously well at the front and rear of the cabin. This is largely thanks to the inclusion of those 25mm aluminium tweeters, which are dotted around the cabin. With a few notches added to the 5-10 kHz bands, you’ll get that toe-tapping feeling and engagement no matter where you’re sat.
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As for the soundstage, it’s impressive, albeit not perfect. With the Logic 7 Surround option disabled through the infotainment system, you get a uni-directional sound and one that lacks engagement. However, with it enabled, there is a slight reverb and a fishbowl effect that takes away from the listening experience. As a result, we’d suggest enabling Logic 7 Surround and taking one notch off the default EQ. This will give you bettered width and depth over the standard setup while preserving tonal accuracy across the frequency range.
Aside from its sound reproduction, the BMW i5 and i5 Touring have one of the quietest cabins around. Using a sound meter in the i5 Touring we recorded: 35-36 dBA at a standstill; 52-58 dBA, while driving at 20-30mph; 59-63 dBA, while driving at 40mph; and 63-67 dBA when at 70mph. Impressive numbers, especially considering the length of the estate and that our press vehicle was fitted with the larger 20″ alloys, which won’t be as quiet as the 19″ alloys with their larger tyre walls.
We should also point out that you have ‘IconicSounds’, which provide fake engine sounds that are played back through the audio system. They’re not as accurate as some of its competitors and are best left disabled. Of course, that is subjective, so should you wish to have a fake whoshing sound each time you put your foot down on the accelerator pedal, the option is there via the infotainment system.
Read next: BMW i7 audio review: The new benchmark for audiophiles
TotallyEV’s verdict on the BMW i5’s audio system
The 17-speaker 655-Watt Bowers & Wilkins system housed within the BMW i5 and i5 Touring is certainly impressive. It excels in the low-end tones and high frequencies, and provides an engaging listening experience. It’s a notable and worthwhile upgrade over the stock 12-speaker 205-Watt Harman Kardon system and as such, the B&W configuration receives TotallyEV’s Performance audio award.
However, it’s not perfect, as when compared to flagship audio systems, including those offered by Bowers & Wilkins, the soundstage and mids of the i5 and i5 Touring are a little below expectations.
What do you make of the BMW i5’s audio system? Let us know in the comments or via social media; we’re on: YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.
