MG IM5 assessed: strong performance signal, but price bases and grade line-up need untangling

Review signal: quick, comfortable, with identified irritants

The most substantive independent assessment of the Australian MG IM5 comes from NRMA's Open Road, whose reviewer Kris Ashton spent a week with a Platinum-grade test car. His verdict, as reported by the NRMA, is that the IM5 nails the fundamentals of a luxury electric sedan — describing acceleration that transforms the Platinum into a "silent rocket-ship", a plush interior, effective double-glazed windows and suspension that rolls over road plates and potholes without fuss — while falling short of true luxury-brand refinement in some details. This is the NRMA's finding from its loan vehicle, not DriveAgent's own experience. ²

The NRMA's week-long test also surfaced practical criticisms: a flush doorhandle design that requires holding a touchpad for a second or two before the handles emerge, an overspeed alert the reviewer called "borderline distressing" that defaults above 40km/h and needs six button presses to disable each cycle, a tinny treble from the 20-speaker audio system, a single USB-C socket, no glove box, and a flimsy frunk lid and key fob the reviewer felt betrayed budget origins. That account conflicts with the NRMA's own earlier launch review from August 2025, which reported that custom settings would let drivers turn off speed-alert chimes with a single button press — a difference the later review does not explain. ²³

CarExpert's earlier quick-drive assessment of the IM5 Performance — conducted in Performance trim — listed impressive performance for the price, slick technology and a long standard equipment list as strengths, with near-non-existent physical switchgear, polarising styling and packaging the outlet described as "not as spacious as its dimensions suggest" as drawbacks. ⁵

Dimensions

MG Motor Australia lists the IM5 at 4,931mm long, 1,960mm wide and 1,474mm tall; CarExpert's showroom data adds a 2,950mm wheelbase for the Australian model, matching MG's own published figures. MG's page does not state whether the width figure includes mirrors, so that basis remains unstated. CarExpert separately lists cargo capacity at 457 litres with rear seats up, 1,290 litres folded and an 18-litre under-bonnet compartment for the IM5. ¹⁴⁵

The NRMA's practicality findings put usable context on those numbers: its reviewers measured a cargo area 1,150mm long and 900mm wide but only 620mm high at its peak due to the sloping roofline, with a 100mm boot lip, and found frunk storage limited because it houses the tyre repair kit. ²

Grades, powertrains and claimed range

MG Motor Australia's official specification sheet lists three IM5 grades: the Premium with a 400V IGBT platform, 217kW rear-wheel-drive motor, 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds, 490km WLTP range and 153kW maximum DC charging; the Platinum with an 800V SiC platform, 300kW RWD motor, 4.9 seconds, 655km WLTP and 396kW DC; and the Performance with an 800V SiC platform, all-wheel drive at 200kW front and 372kW rear, 3.2 seconds, 575km WLTP and 396kW DC. ¹

The battery capacities behind those platforms are reported by the outlets rather than MG's grade tables. CarExpert's launch coverage states the Premium uses a 75kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, while the Platinum and Performance use 100kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NCM) packs, and quotes tare masses of 2,180kg, 2,210kg and 2,298kg respectively. The NRMA's 2026 review matches those capacities and adds torque figures of 450Nm in the Premium, 500Nm in the Platinum and 302Nm plus 500Nm in the Performance. According to CarExpert, all grades take 11kW AC charging, carry four-wheel steering and 6.6kW vehicle-to-load output — a V2L figure NRMA's launch review also reports — and the Performance AWD is the only variant with both air suspension and Continuously Controlled Damping, while air suspension alone is optional on the Platinum. ⁴²³

MG qualifies its claims carefully: the 655km WLTP figure applies to the Platinum only, the 3.2-second sprint to the Performance only, and the 30-to-80 per cent charge in as little as 15.2 minutes applies to a 350kW ultra-fast charger under standardised test conditions, with real-world times depending on battery age, temperature, charger capacity and location. Aerodynamics also differ by grade: CarExpert reports a drag coefficient of 0.226Cd in the base Premium RWD trim and 0.237 in the other grades. One inconsistency is worth noting: MG's marketing prose on the same page refers to "a range of 755km" while its own comparison tables and footnotes specify 655km WLTP maximum for the Platinum, and CarExpert's showroom lists a 550-755km range span; the 755km figure is not supported by MG's grade-level tables in the evidence available. ¹⁴⁵

Pricing: different figures, different bases

Multiple price bases coexist in current reporting and should not be conflated. NRMA's 2026 review lists four specification levels — Premium at $60,990, Platinum at $67,990, Platinum with air suspension at $71,980 and Performance at $77,990 — all before on-road costs. CarExpert's 2025 launch coverage quoted three grades at $60,990, $69,990 and $80,990, explicitly as drive-away pricing. ²⁴

CarExpert's current IM5 showroom page displays drive-away pricing of $57,990 for the Premium, $64,990 for the Platinum and $74,990 for the Performance, on a stated Sydney location basis that includes delivery, registration, plates and applicable road taxes but excludes CTP insurance, dealer delivery fees and options, and is subject to change. These Sydney drive-away figures, the NRMA's before-on-road list prices and CarExpert's 2025 launch drive-away prices are on different bases and at different dates; the evidence does not establish which reflects current national pricing or what the exact before-on-road versus drive-away relationship is at any given location. ⁵

Colour and trim pricing is also reported inconsistently. CarExpert's launch coverage states a Highland Grey interior is standard with a Dover Beige interior available for an extra $990, and five named exterior finishes at an extra $1000 over the standard Athena White. The NRMA's earlier launch review, by contrast, reported five exterior and two interior colour options available at no additional cost. The evidence does not resolve which colour schedule applies to current Australian order books. ⁴³

Home-market update and Australian implications

CarExpert reports that the slippery electric liftback sold in MG's Australian showrooms has received an update in its home market of China, bringing more range. That development is consistent with the unexplained 755km figure that appears in MG Motor Australia's marketing prose and in CarExpert's current showroom range span, but the available evidence does not establish which Australian grades, if any, carry the updated hardware, battery or range rating, or when any such change reaches Australian deliveries. Buyers comparing quoted range figures should treat the 490km, 655km and 575km WLTP numbers from MG's grade tables as the confirmed Australian specification basis, with the 755km figure unverified against those tables. ⁵¹

Warranty, servicing, safety and availability

On ownership conditions, NRMA's 2026 review reports a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty, a separate eight-year/160,000km battery warranty, and servicing every 12 months or 20,000km through selected MG dealerships. CarExpert's launch coverage adds conditions NRMA does not: the vehicle warranty drops to five years if servicing leaves MG's network (or five years/160,000km for commercial use), the air suspension and four-wheel steering carry a five-year/unlimited-km warranty, and capped-price servicing spans five years/100,000km with items ranging from $323 to $1,294 ($1,459 in the Performance). NRMA's launch review separately listed no spare wheel among its cons, and noted that not all MG dealers will service IM cars — a point to query beyond the test-drive stage. ²⁴³

On safety, CarExpert's August 2025 launch coverage stated the IM5 had yet to be tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP at that time; NRMA's later 2026 review notes the IM5 was subsequently awarded a five-star ANCAP rating. Standard safety equipment reported by CarExpert includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep and emergency lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view camera and seven airbags including a far-side airbag, powered by 12 ultrasonic sensors, nine HD cameras and three millimetre-wave radar units. ⁴²

On availability, MG Motor Australia's own IM5 page states "Stock Available Now" with test drives and a build-and-price configurator offered, though the page carries a disclaimer that its data applies to MY25 models as at April 2025 and that Australian specification may vary from vehicles shown. CarExpert's showroom records VFACTS and EVC-based sales of 146 IM5s in 2025 and 392 year-to-date in 2026, indicating the model is on sale in Australia. The IM5 is built in China, per CarExpert, and sold under the 'IM Presented by MG Motor' marque, with IM Motors being premium brand of parent SAIC Motor. ¹⁵⁴