BMW M5 | Video Review | CarsIreland.ie

Published on 18 July, 2018

The ultimate super saloon is back and more powerful than ever

Overview

Overview

The BMW M5 is back and more powerful than ever. Pushing out an incredible 600ps, it now sends its ferocious power to all four wheels and will take you from standing to 100kmph in just 3.4 seconds.

The €164k price tag may put it out of the reach of most, but there aren't many cars out there that can offer supercar performance in the shape of a family-friendly four door saloon.

In short, it is magnificent.

Interior Gallery

Read our review of the standard 5-Series here.

The M5 comes as well-equipped as you might imagine (and expect) for the price tag. Standard features include full leather heated sports seats, four-zone automatic air-conditioning, the fantastic BMW iDrive infotainment system complete with gesture control, wireless phone charging, an around-view parking camera and electric boot opening. On the styling front it gets 20 inch double spoke M alloy wheels and adaptive LED headlights with with Matrix function.

The list of optional extras is long and tempting. The comfort package will add a heated steering wheel, a touchscreen display key and split-folding rear seats. The premium package adds soft-close doors, and ventilated seats with a massage function.

The big and slightly controversial news with this new M5 is that it is now all wheel drive, which some hardcore rear-wheel-drive fanatics have found reason to grumble about. They needn't worry though, as it can be turned off and switched to two-wheel drive at the push of a button. However, BMW do advise against it unless you're on a track or an experienced driver.

There are plenty of other ways to configure the settings for thrills, from the sound of the engine to the feel of the chassis and the steering. Your choices - Comfort, Eco, Sport, and Sport+ and these preferences can be saved to two different driver profiles called M1 and M2, located in thumb-friendly locations on the steering wheel.

Essentially what it allows you to do is switch between ferocious beast and comfortable family cruiser at the flick of a switch, and that is what makes the M5 so unique. Track abilities aside, it's a very easy car to live with in everyday life, which for most people won't be spent going sideways around Mondello Park (though it is nice to have that option).

Thanks to those handy driver profiles, it’s really easy to both. Naturally enough, lowered sports suspension is fitted as standard, but with the chassis set to comfort, it can be as tame and well-behaved as you like and will soften things up nicely for around town and the school run. Heck, you can even stick it into Eco mode if you want to save a bit of fuel (more on that later).

When you do get the chance to open it up on a back road, you won't be disappointed. With everything switched to Sport+, the BMW M5 is nothing short of astonishing. It is blisteringly quick and phenomenally powerful, but more impressive still is the sense of calmness and control it inspires as you draw from a power supply that never seems to end. It's a car that can inspire courage in even the meekest of drivers because it feels so perfectly engineered to cope with high speed.

MPG, as you might have guessed – isn’t great. The official figure is just under 30MPG which or about 9.5l/100km, which might be possible in theory but unlikely if you drive an M5 like it was meant to be driven. It's not a car you buy for the fuel economy, but if you can afford the asking price to begin with, it's safe to assume that won't be an issue.

In other economic problems, the new M5 has a starting price of €164,000. Getting tick-happy on the option list can push that north of €200k.

It's a big chunk of change, that's for sure, but the practical four-door family aspect means you won't need a 'weekend car', so tecnically, you could say it's a bit of a bargain.

Right, we're off to try that line on the other half and pick up a lotto ticket...

Verdict: Motoring perfection

Facts & Figures

Sinead McCann

Sinéad is our resident car tester who has the unenviable (-ok, slightly enviable) task of reviewing all the latest new cars to hit the market. You can follow her on Twitter @smcani and on Instagram @whatshedrives