My wife and I have a 2022 E350 with a number of the old bells and whistles as part of a lease for her job. We do enjoy the car, though we’re looking at the BMW 5-series for the next go-around (can only choose between E-class and 5-series with said lease).

First, would you recommend this over the current 5-series?

Second, with all the infotainment under glass, how fiddly is it compared to the mostly button-and-switch-driven previous model?

Third, does it accelerate as smoothly as that E450 does? We’ve been disappointed with a bit of a jerky start partially due to the on/off engine, but I hear the ISG really helps against that.

Lastly, how does it compare to the now uber-coupe, the CLE?

Submitted by Like the Sauce

Gonna answer all of these at once here! I haven’t had the chance to drive the new 5 Series yet, but I am a huge fan of how it looks and am really loving the driving dynamics and interiors of BMW’s newest cars. (The 7 Series and iX are particularly excellent.) I’d really have to drive them back to back to make a decision, but I would probably go with the E-Class because I prefer its infotainment, and I don’t think the gas-powered 5 Series is available with air suspension, so the E-Class’ ride would probably win.

I don’t find the infotainment system to be fiddly at all, I actually vastly prefer it to the previous-gen’s more button-heavy setup. The updates to MBUX for the E-Class have made the main menus and frequently used functions simpler and easy to use.

While not as silky smooth as the inline-6 in the E450, the turbo four in the E350 isn’t bad at all, especially now that it has the 48-volt hybrid system. The stop-start is seamless and smooth, but it can be a little slow to kick the engine on if you come to a rolling stop.

The CLE is more similar to the C-Class than it is the E-Class, but sadly I haven’t gotten to drive one yet either.