I was there, and 1984 was nowhere near as terrible as George Orwell would have you believe. Ghostbusters and The Goonies ruled the box office, Prince released Purple Rain, and Frankie Goes To Hollywood topped the chart with Relax, then again with Two Tribes. In Munich, meanwhile, BMW pulled the wraps off the world’s first super saloon.
The original ‘E28’ M5 packed Porsche performance into something that looked like your dad’s company car (OK, not my dad, his allowance only stretched to a Vauxhall Cavalier). With a 3.4-litre naturally aspirated straight-six engine from the BMW M1 supercar, it developed 286hp and could hit 62mph in 6.1 seconds.
Seven generations and 41 years later, BMW has launched a new ‘G90’ M5. Available as a saloon or ‘Touring’ estate, this one packs a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 with hybrid tech. It has two-and-a-half times the power of the E28, but is also a tonne heavier. Progress? Let’s find out.
Yellow, not mellow
One thing is immediately apparent: the M5’s days as an under-the-radar Q car are over – emphatically so if you opt for the Speed Yellow paint of my test vehicle.
For starters, this is a big car. The front track is 75mm wider than its predecessor, while overall width is 170mm greater than the original E23 BMW 7 Series. On a typical British country road, it can be difficult to stay within the white lines.
It also looks suitably musclebound, with swollen wheelarches, slash-cut air intakes and a rear diffuser crammed with four tailpipes. The ‘kidney’ grille isn’t so supersized as in other BMW models, but its illuminated border and gloss black finish give the M5 mighty rear-view-mirror presence. “GEHEN SIE ÜBER,” it seems to say (that’s ‘MOVE OVER’ in German).
Battery and boost
The M5 has been no stranger to controversy over the years; remember the furore about the 2004 E60’s SMG auto gearbox, or the 2017 F90 gaining four-wheel drive? However, it’s fair to say that the G90’s hybrid drivetrain – and the extra weight it brings – has sent BMW enthusiast forums into meltdown like never before.
The core component is still that V8, of course, which develops 585hp on its own. Factor in the 18.6kWh battery and a ‘permanently excited’ electric motor and total output is 727hp, bolstered by a whopping 738lb ft of torque. Zero to 62mph takes 3.5 seconds and top speed is 155mph (or 189mph with the M Driver’s Pack). It’s enough to make you, well, permanently excited.
Just as importantly, the M5 now offers around 42 miles of electric-only range, which helps towards CO2 emissions from just 37g/km. For company car drivers paying Benefit in Kind tax, the M5 just got a lot more affordable (eight percent BiK rate until the end of 2025).
Inside the BMW M5
If you thought the M5 looked extroverted on the outside, wait until you see its interior. Your view is dominated by twin curved digital displays, which work with BMW’s latest iDrive 8.5 media system. The dashboard is splashed with red and blue highlights alongside brushed aluminium and satin carbon fibre trim. There’s also a full-width light bar that changes colour depending on the drive mode.
All this probably looks impressive if you’re 14 years old, or somebody more interested in tech than cars. But I found myself nostalgic for the simple clarity found in BMW cabins of old, where crisp white-on-black dials met proper switches and a driver-angled centre console. Google ‘E28 M5 interior’ and you’ll see what I mean.
On the plus side, the G90’s inflated dimensions mean there is enough space for five people to travel in comfort, with very supportive front seats and a useful 466-litre boot. The Touring carries 500 litres up to the parcel shelf – no more than the M3 Touring we tested back in 2023. But a cavernous 1,630 litres opens up if you fold down the rear bench.
Getting in the mode
Get behind the BMW’s flat-bottomed steering wheel and your first job will be configuring the drive modes. There are Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus settings for the drivetrain, gearbox and suspension, plus further choices for the 4WD (or indeed 2WD) system, steering feedback and brake pedal response. That’s before you even get to trimmings such as ambient interior lighting and the ‘M Sound’ noise generator.
It’s a lot to take in, and an aspect of modern BMWs that journalists tend to criticise. That said, we only get a few hours with a car, which makes it difficult to try out all the available options. An M5 owner can spend days and weeks honing their preferred setups, then fix them as shortcuts using the red M1 and M2 buttons.
The result, potentially, is a car with very broad bandwidth, particularly when you take the hybrid tech into account. So how does it stack up to drive?
Power and weight
The new M5 always starts in electric mode, which means you can manoeuvre quietly – useful if you leave home before others are awake. Its EV range of just over 40 miles also means some owners could commute on battery power alone. Rivals such as the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance, which only manages eight miles on electrons, will be costlier to run.
Driven as an EV, the BMW feels refined, cosseting and acceptably quick. But nobody buys an M5 to potter in saintly silence, so I switch into Sport and the big V8 abruptly joins the party. Yep, that’s more like it.
All the extra heft means this M5 is actually 0.1 seconds slower to 62mph than the outgoing F90 (blame a power-to-weight ratio of 303hp per tonne, compared to the previous 323hp per tonne). On the road, however, it feels monstrously, relentlessly fast, the electric motor providing instant throttle response as the eight-speed gearbox blams through the ratios.
The ultimate driving machine?
On paper, the M5 loses points for having a conventional automatic transmission, rather than a twin-clutch ’box. In reality, you will rarely notice the difference, so quick and responsive are the shifts. The V8 also snarls and roars with pleasing potency, even if you know some of the sound is augmented.
The dynamic picture is more mixed. Thanks to a combination of adaptive dampers, rear-wheel steering and an electronic Active M Differential – plus carbon ceramic brakes with tell-tale gold calipers on my test car – no one could doubt the M5’s ability to blitz a challenging road. Or indeed, given a sufficient supply of fresh tyres, set impressive lap times at a racetrack. It hides its 2,345kg mass remarkably well.
Nonetheless, you do feel slightly detached from the experience, with numb steering and a sense that technology is doing much of the heavy lifting. The slower, non-hybrid Porsche Panamera GTS is a more rewarding driver’s car.
BMW M5 G90: Verdict
The BMW M5 has moved with the times and is certainly the most multi-talented iteration yet. It has an awe-inspiring ability to switch between soft-focus EV and hardcore super saloon, along with several steps in-between. For those with £111,755 to spend, it makes for a compelling all-rounder: less dated than an Audi RS6 Avant, less compromised than EVs such as the Porsche Taycan, and much cheaper than an AMG GT 4-Door.
And yet, this was a car I admired rather than built a bond with. Being almost as wide as a Range Rover often hindered progress on the sort of roads where an M5 should come alive, and its over-abundance of technology left me feeling, ironically, somewhat switched off.
In truth, the excellent BMW M3 Competition is a more usable and engaging car in the UK, so I’d choose one over its bigger brother. Either that or a timewarp E28 M5 with a copy of Purple Rain in the cassette player. Perfect.
ALSO READ:
