2019 Volvo S90 vs. 2019 BMW 5 Series: Which Is Best?

A few years ago, car buyers displayed an insatiable appetite for mid-size luxury sedans, especially those from Germany. Today, however, Americans are gorging themselves on SUVs, and the trend has taken a serious bite out of mid-size luxury sedan sales.

This is unfortunate, as the mid-size luxury sedan segment is packed with some of the best cars in the world, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Audi A6, and the Genesis G80. However, two of our favorites in the class are the award-winning 2019 Volvo S90 and the ever-popular 2019 BMW 5 Series. Both offer exceptional design, luxurious interiors, powerful yet fuel-efficient engines, optional all-wheel drive, and the latest safety and in-cabin technology. To help you choose between the two, let's take a deeper dive into their specs and other attributes.

Now in its seventh generation, the 2019 BMW 5 Series, which is built in Germany, is long, low, and sleek. BMW practically invented the sports sedan, and the 5 Series looks like it’s ready to take on the road, with an aggressively styled face and body lines seemingly shaped by speed. It’s undeniably attractive, looking sporty and upscale, but it’s a little too familiar as it fails to break new visual ground from 5 Series of the past.

Volvo, it seems, gave its designers a little more freedom to innovate when shaping its flagship sedan, the 2019 S90. Over the last few years, the Swedish automaker has become a design leader, and the S90 is clean and perfectly proportioned, with intricate details and interesting forms. It’s not quite as “fast” looking as the BMW, but its look is more courageous, without feeling reckless.

Winner: Volvo S90

BMW offers the 5 Series with five exceptional engines, starting with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder rated at 248 horsepower. There’s also a plug-in hybrid model also rated at 248 hp, a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder with 335 hp, and two twin-turbo V8s, including the 4.4-liter in the high-performance M5 model, which makes an astounding 617 hp.

The Volvo S90, which is assembled in China, is packing a less might under its hood than the BMW. Three 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines are offered. The base turbocharged T5 model is rated at 250 hp, while the T6 all-wheel drive model is powered by a 316-hp 2.0-liter that is both turbocharged and supercharged. In the T8 plug-in hybrid model, that engine is also paired with an electric motor and battery pack for a total of 313 hp. Every BMW 5 Series and Volvo S90 is equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters for manual gear selection.

Winner: BMW 5 Series

It’ll surprise no one that the quickest 5 Series is the M5. With its twin-turbocharged V8 and all-wheel drive, it can accelerate to 60 mph from a dead stop in just 3.1 seconds, which makes it one of the quickest sedans in the world. But the other 5 Series models are also quite speedy. With its optional all-wheel drive system providing extra traction off the line, BMW says the base 248-hp 530i can reach 60 mph in just 5.8 seconds.

According to Volvo, the quickest 2019 S90 is the T8 hybrid, which can sprint to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. The base T5 model needs 6.9 seconds to hit 60 mph, which is much slower than the BMW 530i, and the more powerful S90 T6 can reach 60 mph in 6.0 seconds flat.

Winner: BMW 5 Series

Despite its thrust, the BMW 5-Series is also quite fuel-efficient. The 530i is rated at 24 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway rear-wheel drive. Even the 456-hp M550i, with its twin-turbo V8 and all-wheel drive, manages to achieve 25 mpg on the highway, and the 335-hp 540i is rated at 21 mpg city and 29 mpg highway.

Not surprisingly, the slower and less powerful Volvo achieves better fuel economy than the BMW, but its advantage is slight. The base S90 T5 is rated at 23 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway with front-wheel drive. The more powerful 316-hp T6 model is rated at 21 mpg city and 31 mpg highway.

Winner: Volvo S90

Although the Volvo S90 is about 6 inches longer than the BMW 5 Series, it offers significantly less cargo volume. The Volvo has 15.2 cubic feet of space behind its rear seat, while the BMW’s trunk provides a cavernous 18.7 cubic feet of space.

However, the tables turn slightly in the other direction when it comes to the plug-in hybrid models. In order to store its battery pack, the trunk of the BMW 530e is smaller at only offers 14.7 cubic feet of trunk space, while the S90 T8’s trunk remains at 15.2 cubic feet. 

Winner: BMW 5 Series

The 2019 BMW 530i comes standard with a long list of driver aids and high-tech safety systems including a forward collision warning and "city collision mitigation," a lane-departure warning, and blind-spot monitoring with a rear cross-traffic alert. Also, when BMW's Active Protection System detects probable accidents, it prepares the vehicle for impact by automatically tightening its seat belts, closing the windows and moonroof, and activating post-crash braking, which helps avoid secondary impacts. In an optional package for $1,700, BMW offers Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go, which maintains your selected speed and a preselected distance from the vehicle ahead with autonomous braking. Other features include active lane-keeping assist with side collision avoidance and a front cross-traffic alert.

The list of standard driver aids on the Volvo S90 is similar to the BMW’s. But Volvo ups the ante by providing standard adaptive cruise control with steering control and standard lane-keeping assistance.

Winner: Volvo S90

Both of these luxury sedans have been awarded a five-star overall safety rating from the National Traffic Safety Administration. That’s the highest rating possible.

The BMW 5 Series has also been given the highest possible safety rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Top Safety Pick+. Volvo is of course known for safety, but the IIHS rates the Volvo S90 lower than the BMW with an overall safety rating of Top Safety Pick.

Winner: BMW 5 Series

Both the BMW 5 Series and the Volvo S90 feature large touchscreens and impressive infotainment systems with standard navigation, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay compatibility. Neither sedan offers onboard Wi-Fi, which is disappointing. BMW’s iDrive system is now far more intuitive to use than it used to be. Menu selection and functions have been streamlined, and its touchscreen is massive at 10.2 inches. The system can also be controlled with a large knob on the console behind the shifter if that’s your preference.

Still, the Volvo’s infotainment system is the better of the two. With its clean screen designs and clear prompts, it’s more intuitive to use than the BMW’s and the Volvo’s large touchscreen, which is mounted vertically, looks and acts much like an iPad. Overall, the Volvo’s system feels a bit more modern than the BMW’s. It also offers Android Auto in addition to Apple CarPlay. 

Winner: Volvo S90

Prices for the 2019 Volvo S90 T5 with front-wheel drive start right around $50,000 including a $995 destination fee. All-wheel drive is available for an additional $2,200. The more powerful T6 costs about $55,000, while the T8 plug-in hybrid model starts around $65,000.

The 2019 BMW 5 Series is generally more expensive than the Volvo. The 530i with rear-wheel drive starts at $54,395. And all-wheel drive costs an extra $2,300. The more powerful 540i starts around $60,000, while the M550i has a base price of $75,445. Surprisingly, however, the 530e plug-in hybrid is much cheaper than the S90 T8 at $54,395.

Winner: Volvo S90

Add up the score and the Volvo wins a very tight battle. The 2019 Volvo S90 is a very desirable automobile, and its combination of style, performance, comfort, and technology is hard to beat — especially for the price.

That said, buyers looking for the most performance and handling, as well as a smoother, more comfortable ride, should still go for the 2019 BMW 5 Series. Yes, it costs a little more than the S90, but the BMW’s quicker acceleration, better-balanced chassis, and more sophisticated suspension tuning make it significantly more fun-to-drive than the Volvo.

Winner: Volvo S90