With electrification “the order of the day”, BMW has decided to reinforce its range of plug-in hybrids with the new BMW 320e and 520e , which join the already known 330e and 530e.
Encouraging them is a four-cylinder petrol engine with 2.0 l and 163 hp, which is associated with an electric motor that allows a maximum combined power of 204 hp while the torque is fixed at 350 Nm.
With rear or all-wheel drive, the BMW 320e and 520e always have an automatic eight-speed gearbox. As for bodies, both models will be available in sedan and minivan format (a.k.a Touring at BMW).
Economical but fast
In the 320e rear-wheel-drive sedan the 100 km/h arrives in 7.6s (the 320e Touring takes 7.9s) and the top speed is fixed at 225 km/h (220 km/h in the van). On the other hand, the 320e xDrive Touring fulfills 0 to 100 km/h in 8.2s and reaches 219 km/h.
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As for the 520e, in the sedan format, it takes 7.9s to reach 100 km/h (the van does it in 8.2s) and the top speed is set, respectively, at 225 km/h and 218 km/h . Both capable of reaching 140 km/h in 100% electric mode, both the 320e and the 520e don't have autonomy in this mode so different.
The 320e sedan advertises an electric range of between 48 to 57 km (WLTP cycle); the 320e Touring between 46 to 54 km; the 520e sedan between 41 and 55 km and the 520e Touring between 45 and 51 km. Common to all of them is the use of a 12 kWh (34 Ah) battery that can be charged up to 3.7 kW, requiring 3.6 hours for a full charge (2.6 hours if you want to go from 0 to 80 %).
Located under the rear seats, the battery ends up “invoicing” the luggage compartment capacity, which is lower than that of the other non-hybrid 3 and 5 Series. In this way, the 320e sedan has a trunk with 375 liters, while the 520e sedan offers 410 liters. The vans, the 320e Touring and 520e Touring have, respectively, 410 liters and 430 liters.
With a market launch scheduled for March, the prices of the new BMW 320e and 520e are, for now, an unknown.