If you want a little more power (but slightly worse performance) and a little better fuel economy and don't mind paying US$9,345 over the price of a regular 535i, then you may want to take a look at BMW's new ActiveHybrid 5 Sedan. If you live in Europe or in any other region where BMW offers diesel variants of the 5-Series, then you're probably better off with one of those models – we'll explain why later on.
BMW today announced that the ActiveHybrid 5 will go on sale in the States in March with a base MSRP of $61,845 (€47,800), which includes an $895 destination and handling fee.
The ActiveHybrid 5 brings together BMW's 3.0-liter turbocharged inline 6-cylinder gasoline engine with 300hp and 300 lb-ft (EU-spec: 306hp and 400Nm), an electric drive system producing 54hp and 155 lb-ft, and an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
The hybrid drive system generates a combined output of 335hp and 330 lb-ft (EU-spec: 340hp and 450Nm), which allows the car to be driven on electric power alone up to 37mph (60km/h) for 2.5 miles (4km), and accelerates the sedan from 0 to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds (0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds).
In comparison, the 535i completes the 0-60mph sprint in 5.6 seconds (0-100km/h in 5.8 seconds) and returns up to 31mpg highway EPA.
While BMW has not yet announced EPA estimates for the U.S. model, across the pond, the ActiveHybrid 5 is claimed to return between 6.4 and 7.0lt/100km on the combined European driving cycle (33.6 - 37.8 mpg US).
The European market 535d that's powered by a 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six diesel delivering 313HP and 630Nm (465 lb-ft), does the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.5 seconds and returns a combined fuel consumption of 5.4-5.6lt/100km (42 - 43.6 mpg US) with CO2 emissions of 142-148g/km.
So basically, the 535d is not only faster, but also more fuel efficient and with lower CO2 emissions than the EU-spec ActiveHybrid 5 (149– 163g/km) – which is why we said before that the Europeans are better off looking at BMW's diesel range.
