Compare the2022 Audi A7VS 2022 BMW 5 Series Sedan

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A7 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The BMW 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Audi A7 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The BMW 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

Both the A7 and 5 Series Sedan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A7 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The 5 Series Sedan’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the A7. But it costs extra on the 5 Series Sedan.

The A7 offers an optional Top and Corner View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The 5 Series Sedan only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the A7 and the 5 Series Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available night vision systems, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A7 its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 73 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The 5 Series Sedan has not been fully tested, yet.

As tested in Motor Trend the Audi A7 55 TFSI is faster than the 530i 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

On the EPA test cycle the A7 running on electricity gets better mileage than the 5 Series Sedan:

On the EPA test cycle the A7 running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the 5 Series Sedan:

The A7’s standard fuel tank has 1.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the 5 Series Sedan (19.3 vs. 18 gallons).

The A7 has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Audi A7 higher (5 to 7 out of 10) than the BMW 5 Series Sedan (3 to 7). This means the A7 produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the 5 Series Sedan every 15,000 miles.

The A7 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A7 stops much shorter than the 5 Series Sedan:

For better traction, the A7 has larger tires than the 5 Series Sedan (255/40R20 vs. 245/45R18). The A7’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 5 Series Sedan (255/40R20 vs. 245/35R20).

The A7’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the 5 Series Sedan’s standard 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the A7 has standard 20-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the 5 Series Sedan. The A7 55 TFSI Prestige’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels optional on the 5 Series Sedan.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the A7 is 1.9 inches wider in the front and .7 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the 5 Series Sedan.

The A7 55 TFSI Prestige handles at .93 G’s, while the 540i pulls only .87 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the A7’s turning circle is 3 feet tighter than the 5 Series Sedan’s (36.4 feet vs. 39.4 feet). The A7 55 TFSI e’s turning circle is .1 feet tighter than the 5 Series Sedan xDrive’s (40.7 feet vs. 40.8 feet).

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the A7 55 TFSI Prestige is quieter than the 540i (63 vs. 64 dB).

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the A7’s rear seats recline. The 5 Series Sedan’s rear seats don’t recline.

The A7 has a 3500 lbs. towing capacity. The 5 Series Sedan has no towing capacity.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A7 Premium Plus/Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the A7 has standard extendable sun visors. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer extendable visors.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Audi A7 offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The A7 will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the A7 will retain 41.65% to 94.21% of its original price after five years, while the 5 Series Sedan only retains 39.22% to 41.97%.