Peugeot 508 vs BMW 5 Series

What's the difference?

The Peugeot 508 Sportswagon GT PHEV proves wagons can be extremely stylish but looks aren’t everything and it is an expensive option compared to its luxury rivals. It earns its place with the premium interior but the safety could be improved on and the tech is more confusing than it needs to be. But this wagon offers an alternative for families who are sick of being in an SUV yet still need a little extra space. 

My son didn’t go nuts over this and complained about his view.

There’s no getting around the i5 being a rather expensive offering. More than $150,000 to get into an electric sedan that’s not much faster than a hot hatch is a big ask, but there’s plenty to enjoy about the 5 Series.

Things like its heated leather seats shouldn’t be the reason you’re willing to spend so much on a sedan when a $50,000 hybrid SUV will score you the same, instead it’s the fact the 5 Series is a delight to drive and hasn’t lost the feeling of prestige the badge has earned over the last half a century.

In terms of value - if speed isn’t your focus and you’re less of a gadget-type-operator when looking at cars like this - the 520i has the style and comfort you’d need and at $100K less than the M60.

And in terms of large electric sedans, the i5 eDrive40 is cheaper than a Porsche Taycan (by a little) or an Audi e-Tron (by a lot). The Genesis G80 Electrified is the closest cheaper rival, by about $10K, or the less powerful Mercedes EQE is similarly priced at $154,900.

Essentially, if you’re looking at a 5 Series, it might be worth considering if you really need it to be electric, but if so, there aren’t many alternatives in its category for the price.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

The design of this wagon is what wins it the most points. It is a damn fine specimen with the sleek lines in the body panelling and the sexy rear that looks well-proportioned for its 4790mm length.

Dark, narrow windows, 18-inch alloy wheels and a minimalist-looking nose, with fang-like daytime-running lights, all enhance its sporty look.

The rear lights have Peugeot’s signature ‘claw’ design and there’s something suggestively fun about seeing a twin-exhaust on a wagon!

On the interior, the multimedia system takes centre stage and the dashboard looks quite sleek, despite all of the deep cutaways.

The steering wheel is in the compact style that Peugeot is known for but it makes the cockpit feel driver orientated.

The quilted Nappa leather trims and shiny piano-black accents (with the piano-key controls) make for a refined cabin space.

If you’ve watched other members of the BMW family go into a new generation within the last few years - the 3, 4 and 7 Series particularly, you won’t be too surprised by what you see here. Especially with the latter, having seen the petrol variants look roughly the same as the electric ones.

BMW specifically made the petrol 520i and the i5 variants look similar for egalitarian purposes - to not disenfranchise 520i buyers who are still spending a fair chunk of cash but might not be ready to go EV.

That means all three variants score a mix of new and old. The kidney grille remains and isn’t as large as on the M3 or 4 Series, while the bonnet line following it and the ‘character line’ down the car’s side also remain. And yes, the Hoffmeister kink where the C-pillar meets the passenger window’s lower corner is still there.

On that C-pillar though is a ‘5’ stamped into the bodywork, new to this generation, while the front grille as mentioned has a glowing light surround - the brand’s ‘Iconic Glow’ already seen on the 7 Series.

Overall, thanks to being slightly larger in every dimension, the new 5 is starting to look bigger than a 7 Series from a little while ago. And that’s because it is - its body is overall longer than an E65 7 Series from the mid-2000s.

It’s 5060mm long 1900mm wide, 1515mm tall (97mm longer, 32mm wider, and 36mm taller). Its wheelbase is 20mm longer too at 2995mm. 

The front row gets the most space and you’ll be able to get into a comfortable position even if you’re tall.

However, it is a low car with its 142mm ground clearance and there may be a few grunts as you get in and out (or is it just me?).

My seven-year old loves how easy it is to climb in, though he didn’t have the best view out of the windows because the sills sit high.

The footwell lip also sits quite high, which isn’t an issue until you can’t open your door very wide and then it’s clumsy in a tight parking space.

The electric front seats are very comfortable and the extendable under-thigh support helps to minimise leg fatigue on a longer journey.

Surprisingly, for my 168cm (5'6") height, I have to sit much further back than I ordinarily would to get a comfy driving position.

In the back, you have plenty of headroom but behind my driving position, the legroom could be better.

An adult would still find it fairly comfortable on a longer journey so long as they aren’t behind someone tall. The seats themselves are well-cushioned and you sit in, rather than on top of them.

Individual storage options are good for this class with a dual-opening middle console, glove box and a great utility cubby next to the transmission shifter.

There is also a shelf underneath the centre console that houses the wireless charging pad and two USB-A ports but it’s a tad awkward to use and even see the ports when you're seated.

The amenities are good in the rear but for a top-spec model it’s lacking the luxury items you might expect, like heated seats and climate control but you’ll enjoy map pockets, reading lights, two USB-A ports and directional air vents.

It also has a fold-down armrest with two shallow cupholders, that in a quick turn, might spill their cups!

The boot is a great size at 530L with all seats in use and you can bump it to 1780L with the rear seats folded.

You get a level loading space and a 60/40 split with a ski-port in the back seat, which opens up your storage options.

There is a tyre repair kit rather than a physical spare but the tailgate is powered, which I always like.  

The technology is a mixed bag. It looks sharp and the touchscreen multimedia system is responsive but isn’t as easy to use as others I’ve sampled.

It doesn’t have a lot of accessible information or customisations available but it is easy to connect to the wired Apple CarPlay. There is also wired Android Auto for those users and built-in satellite navigation. 

The 12.3-inch digital instrument panel is the prettiest piece of tech in the car and there is more customisation available to make it feel yours.

Considering its price point and top-model status, it's more obvious that you miss out on premium items like three-zone climate control, faster USB-C connections and a head-up display.

A longer wheelbase means more space inside, where the 5 Series also still looks fairly familiar to those who have spent any significant time in a recent model BMW.

BMW has historically been pretty bang-on with ergonomics, and the new-gen 5 does a good job of sticking to that. Comfortable sports seats and quality feel for the materials on touch points mean the 5 Series feels nice to be in, and relatively restrained interior design for a somewhat luxurious car means it looks nice too.

It’s let down only by a couple of things - its multimedia screen and Operating System 8.5 is a little less simple to use now, and requires more touching the screen than previous iDrive systems, rendering the scroll wheel less useful.

The BMW Interaction Bar too is a little tricky to see controls on, as well as lacking physical feedback for using controls. Vent flow controls are digital sliders on the Bar, while vent direction is controlled by an unusual ‘joystick’ style control nearby.

The rear seat is plenty spacious, as you’d expect from a large sedan, with climate controls and ports for charging devices in the rear.

There are three members of the new 5 Series family from launch, with a base 520i starting things off from $114,900 before on-road costs.

It’s the only petrol-powered (with mild-hybrid, we’ll come back to this) variant in the trio, but it does have a fairly extensive list of features as standard. In terms of tech and comfort, most of what comes with the 520i is available further up the range too, with the major differences being drivetrain related.

In the 520i, the interior upholstery is synthetic ‘Veganza’ leather with Alcantara, though optional Merino leather is a $4000 BMW Individual option. The front seats are heated as standard, however, and electrically adjustable with memory settings and lumbar support.

A 12.3-inch instrument display paired with a 14.9-inch multimedia display are standard across the range, running BMW’s Operating System 8.5, while a head-up display, ambient lighting, wireless phone charging tray and BMW’s ‘new’ Interaction Bar are included too - a crystalline-style strip across the dash with touch-sensitive ‘buttons’ like the climate controls.

A panoramic glass roof - unable to be opened - is standard too, while the 520i’s sound system is a Harman Kardon set-up with 12 speakers.

Exterior features are quite similar to the more expensive i5 variants, with Adaptive LED headlights, automatic boot opening, an M design kit with front and rear aprons, side sills, and BMW’s Iconic Glow kidney grille surround.

Optional in the 520i is an ‘Enhancement Package’ which adds a choice of aerodynamic 21- or 20-inch wheels, metallic paint, and a 655-watt 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system for $5400. One test car on the launch we attended was painted in a BMW Individual colour - Tanzanite Blue - which upped the price to $7800.

Moving up the range to the mid-tier i5 eDrive40, which starts from $155,900, adds Merino leather interior, metallic paint, Bowers & Wilkins surround sound and aerodynamic 20-inch wheels standard, but it also includes adaptive suspension and some other EV-related features.

BMW’s ‘Adaptive Suspension Professional’ comes with Integral Active Steering (rear-wheel steering) and is a step up over the M Sport suspension from the 520i, while its aero wheels function as a way to keep the electric car’s range being affected by resistance.

The eDrive40 also comes with an acoustic protection system to make ‘electric car noises’ to warn pedestrians, as well as BMW’s ‘Iconic Sounds’ for the occupants - basically a system that uses orchestral sounds composed by Hans Zimmer that are affected by acceleration intensity, speed, and drive mode.

It also comes with the standard kit for an electric car, a Mode 2 and Mode 3 charger, cable, and a five-year Chargefox subscription. 

The top-spec i5 M60 xDrive ups the cost to $215,900 and the features list again slightly (as well as being far more powerful).

Its suspension is even more advanced, adding the brand’s Adaptive M Suspension Professional with active anti-roll, plus 21-inch aero wheels as a no-cost option. The M60 also gains an M rear boot lip spoiler.

Inside, BMW’s ‘Crafted Clarity Glass’ controls in the centre console are standard, as is ventilation for the front seats and a four-zone automatic air conditioning system.

The GT plug-in hybrid model has a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, as well as an electric motor that sits on the front axle. It has an eight-speed automatic transmission that produces smooth gear changing driving the front wheels.

The combined outputs are 165kW and 360Nm which means you have a good amount of power for this sized car but it’s not a performance wagon as its 0-100km/h sprint time is 8.3 seconds.

The lithium-ion battery has a small 11.8kWh capacity and will get from 0-100 per cent in three and a half hours on an 11kW system. On my standard house plug, it took closer to six and a half hours.

Despite BMW calling it ‘electrified’, the base 520i is only a mild hybrid so most wouldn’t realise unless they were told.

Its turbocharged 2.0-litre four cylinder puts out a modest 153kW and 330Nm, with power and torque sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

BMW claims it’ll knock over the 0-100km/h sprint in 7.5 seconds, a few seconds too slow to blow anyone’s socks off.

The mid-spec eDrive40 has a little more kick to it, its rear-mounted electric motor capable of 250kW/430Nm and able to cut that time to 6.0 seconds.

It’s fitted with an 84kWh battery to draw its power from, the same as the 442kW/820Nm M60 with its all-wheel drive dual-motor setup.

The M-tuned i5 can hit 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds. Bye bye socks, perhaps.

Peugeot says you can travel up to 55km on pure electric function, however my morning (return) school run is 38.4km and the electric range was spent by the time I parked in my garage after starting on a full charge. 

Under optimal conditions, where you’re utilising both the engine and motor, the GT PHEV has an official fuel cycle consumption of 1.5L/100km.

After charging it three times, travelling 444km on a mix of open/urban roads and using 33 litres of fuel, my real-world usage came to 7.4L/100km.

You absolutely get the best economy when you regularly charge it but sometimes you just don’t get the time to!

You'll need 43 litres of premium 95 RON unleaded fuel to fill the tank which, using our real-world average consumption figure, translates to a driving range of around 580km.

BMW claims the petrol 520i sips 6.7 litres per 100km from its 60-litre fuel tank, though we were unable to independently test any of the claimed figures on the launch day.

The base car has a theoretical range of 896km if it was possible to achieve the claimed fuel consumption figure for the duration of the whole tank - but it isn’t and realistically you could knock about 20-30 per cent off that, depending on how enthusiastically you drive.

In the i5 variants, the same 84kWh battery provides slightly different ranges due to the eDrive40 using 16.56kWh per 100km, and the M60 using 18kWh.

The eDrive40 has a claimed 550km maximum range, while the M60 has a 506km figure thanks to its extra motor and weight.

The 508 Sportswagon is an odd car to drive. Around the city, the steering makes it feel like you’re in a go-kart and you may over-correct until you get used to it. 

On the open-road, it feels like it gets into its groove but the power reserves feel a tad too shallow as the engine can complain with only a light load. 

The suspension is well padded and you won’t notice too many bumps but you do get a fair bit of wind and road feedback at higher speeds. 

Because of the narrow windows, I am surprised by how great the visibility is but you feel tiny when you sit next to a big SUV in traffic!

That said, it corners beautifully and taking this on a winding coastal road is super fun.

The brakes are very responsive, which is great in stop-start city traffic but can make it feel a little jerky while navigating a car park.

And on that note, because of the funky steering feel, it takes a moment to calibrate your senses with what the car is doing.

Once you get used to it, it’s simple to park but the quality of the 180-degree camera system is pretty rubbish for where this car sits in the market.

For some cars, the list of features is what really separates the variants, but that’s not the case for the 5 Series. As is a bit of a BMW tradition, the drivetrains dictate the different trim levels and prices, and there are three fairly distinct flavours of 5 Series.

Starting at ground level, the 520i might at first seem like a bit of boring vanilla. Except it’s actually quite smooth and light vanilla.

There’s not a lot to write about when it comes to its drivetrain, but the lightness of its engine and petrol tank combo when compared to EV batteries and motors is refreshing, and makes for a quite dynamic rear-drive sedan.

Its 153kW and 330Nm is delivered smoothly enough with the mild hybrid assistance doing a little in helping responsiveness, but without intervening in the gearshifts it doesn’t feel particularly keen.

It lacks the ride comfort of the i5’s adaptive suspension, but it’s able to be driven in a spirited manner that belies its size and even, to some extent its 1725kg kerb weight. Chocolate sprinkles on the vanilla, if you like.

It’s not fast, but it feels nimble compared to its electric siblings and can carry a fair bit more speed through corners, after which there’s room to notice its rear-drive characteristics.

It’s especially noticeable after getting out of the 2130kg eDrive40, though the extra power from its 250kW/430Nm motor makes for some more spirited acceleration and a little more excitement when exiting a corner, especially if you’re aiming to double-check if it really is rear-wheel drive. There’s a little more than choc-topped vanilla going on here.

The steering is, like in the 520i, direct and responsive, though in most cases is probably best set to ‘comfort’ rather than ‘sport’ in its settings. 

The eDrive40 is rather comfortable and capable when barrelling through twisty backroads, and doesn’t feel out of hand for a five-metre-long sedan. It holds its weight well, and telegraphs when you might be approaching the limit quite sensibly.

When considering that, then, it’s impressive how brutally capable the 2305kg M60 is.

Here, we’re looking at a double-choc fudge with extra choc, and maybe some cookie dough in there for good measure. There’s a lot to like, but boy is it heavy.

It’s 580kg (or exactly half a Peugeot 208 GTi) heavier than the 520i, but it feels quick on its feet and its anti-roll seems to do a lot in terms of dynamics, the limiting factor really seems to be its tyres (which can and will squeal quite quickly to let you know when approaching said limit).

While you’ll need to take caution with how much speed you approach a corner with, you’re not going to lack acceleration on the other side, its all-wheel drive being less ‘fun’ but more efficient at getting you away from the bend than in the rear-drive eDrive40.

That adaptive suspension does also translate to a comfortable ride on relatively rough roads - only particularly bad bumps will reveal how much weight and pressure is being placed on each corner of the big sedan.

ANCAP hasn’t crash tested the new 5 Series. The last generation was a five-star car and it would be unusual to see that change with additional safety features - even with stricter testing.

The 5 Series comes with BMW Driving Assistant Professional as standard, with active cruise, lane assist and departure warning, front and rear cross traffic alert, collision prevention and intervention systems - in fact BMW says it has about 40 safety systems including an augmented reality dash display.

Its list of airbags includes front and side airbags for driver and passenger including one between the two occupants, as well as curtain airbags front and rear.

On the 508 you’ll enjoy a five-year/unlimited km warranty and the battery is covered by an eight-year or up to 160,000km warranty, which is great.

You can pre-purchase either a three- or five-year servicing plan and the five-year plan costs a flat $2100 or an average of $420 per service which is very reasonable for this class. 

Servicing intervals are at every 12months or 20,000km, whichever occurs first.

BMW has a fairly industry-standard five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty on its new cars, while its electric car batteries are covered by an eight year/160,000km warranty.

For servicing, BMW offers numerous discounted packs and deals based on your preferences and desire to pay upfront.

For the 5 Series, a five-year/80,000km basic service package is $2400, though the i5 will have different needs and lower servicing costs not yet listed by the brand.