Compare the2023 Volvo S90VS 2023 BMW 5 Series Sedan

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Volvo S90 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 its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Volvo S90 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 S90 and 5 Series Sedan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The S90 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.

The Volvo S90 offers optional built in child booster seats. They’re more crash worthy than an added child seat because of their direct attachment to the seat. BMW doesn’t offer the convenience and security of a built-in child booster seat in the 5 Series Sedan. Their owners must carry a heavy booster seat in and out of the vehicle; S90 owners can just fold their built-in child seat up or down.

The S90 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the S90. But it costs extra on the 5 Series Sedan.

The S90 has a standard 360° Camera 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 S90 and the 5 Series Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, plastic fuel tanks, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the S90 has a standard 800-amp battery. The 5 Series Sedan’s 570-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

The S90 has more powerful engines than the 5 Series Sedan:

As tested in Motor Trend the S90 B6 2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cylinder is faster than the 530i 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

On the EPA test cycle the S90 running on electricity gets better mileage than the 5 Series Sedan:

On the EPA test cycle the S90 running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the 5 Series Sedan:

The S90 T8 can travel with zero emissions for 38 miles. The 5 Series Sedan can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

The S90 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.

The S90 stops much shorter than the 5 Series Sedan:

For better traction, the S90 has larger tires than the 5 Series Sedan (255/35R20 vs. 245/45R18). The S90’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the 5 Series Sedan (255/35R20 vs. 245/35R20).

The S90’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 S90 has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the 5 Series Sedan.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the S90’s wheelbase is 3.4 inches longer than on the 5 Series Sedan (120.5 inches vs. 117.1 inches).

The S90 handles at .90 G’s, while the 540i pulls only .87 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the S90’s turning circle is .7 feet tighter than the 5 Series Sedan’s (38.7 feet vs. 39.4 feet). The S90’s turning circle is 2.1 feet tighter than the 5 Series Sedan xDrive’s (38.7 feet vs. 40.8 feet).

The S90 has 3.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the 5 Series Sedan (102 vs. 98.8).

The S90 has .8 inches more front legroom, .3 inches more rear headroom and 3.9 inches more rear legroom than the 5 Series Sedan.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the S90’s rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the S90 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

Consumer Reports rated the S90’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the 5 Series Sedan’s headlights, which were rated “Poor.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The S90 has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The S90 Ultimate has standard front air conditioned seats and offers them optionally in the rear. This keeps the passengers comfortable and takes the sting out of hot seats in summer. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats in the rear.

The S90 has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the car heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the 5 Series Sedan.

The S90 has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The 5 Series Sedan doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The S90 was chosen as one of Automobile Magazine’s “All Stars” in 2017. The 5 Series Sedan has never been an “All Star.”