BMW M5 First Drive Review - Thug Life

I’m a massive BMW M fan, and within that quite rapid niche, I’m very specifically an M5 fan!

But, while I was looking forward to driving the new 717 horsepower M5, I was also a little concerned – since it’s now also carrying the weight of a small electric motor and battery pack. So, it would certainly be fast, but would it still be athletic?

A Brief History of the BMW M5

But first, a quick crash course on the history of the M5.

The original – the E28 – is a legend! It created the category of super sedans in the 80s. BMW took a regular four-door sedan & plonked their motorsport engine from the M1 in it and a brand-new era of sport sedans was born. Yes, it was a bit soft and wallowy, but it’s also super engaging to drive.

The second-gen, the E34 – made famous in that incredible car chase in the film Ronin – is an amazing car to drive. It’s not that fast by modern standards, but there’s a goodness in the way it goes down the road. The throttle pedal is long & progressive – that was the traction control of the era. You controlled the power delivery not through fancy electronics but with your right foot.

The third-gen – the E39 – is one of my favourite cars of all time. Under the hood, it had a 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8 that made 400 horsepower. It was super luxurious and incredibly playful – the perfect combination for a daily driver and a car in which to cross continents.

The fourth-gen – the E60 – had a monster 5.0-litre V10 that was taken straight out of an F1 car. Perhaps one of the most incredible engines of all time. Sadly, it was plagued by a single-clutch SMG gearbox that was clumsy and just couldn’t keep up.

The F10 grew bigger, more luxurious and even more powerful thanks to a pair of turbos. It was monumentally fast, but it was just too heavy and unwieldy for my liking. The F90 was more of the same, although I never drove the famed CS model.

BMW M5 G90 Hybrid Performance: Power Meets Weight

You would think that the G90, the latest M5, with hybrid tech, at two-and-a-half tonnes, would be just too heavy to be fun to drive. But, with 717bhp & 1,000Nm, and zero lag in power delivery, thanks to the electric motor, it’s an absolute blast from behind the wheel.

It’s more luxurious and better kitted out than ever, but it’s also incredibly fast and fun to drive. And, with an all-electric range of 69 kilometres, you could argue that it’s just that little bit more responsible than before too. I thought it would be numb and forgettable, instead it turned out to be super-fast, engaging and incredibly desirable.

100km/h comes up in just 3.5 seconds, so you know that power is stupendous. But, crucially, so is the chassis and body control. Yes, on quick weight transfers, you do feel the sheer heft, but other than that it’s incredibly easy to hustle around the racetrack. Thanks to the four-wheel drive, you can just point-and-shoot. It simply hunkers down and goes looking for less able prey to harass out of its way. And with that big, black snout (which is illuminated at night for added effect), you can bet that it clears a path with no trouble at all.

The best part of this M5 isn’t that you can actually use it as a track car, it’s the fact that it’s incredibly comfortable, luxurious and spacious while also being insanely fast at the same time. Frankly, it’s a good thing that you won’t be taking it to a track on a regular basis. My assumption is that, with the traction control system working overtime to keep all that power and weight in check, your brake pads are likely to be toast sooner rather than later.

So, you’re better off using the M5 as a fast and luxurious road warrior. You’ll be able to outgun pretty much everything else, and you can do it safe in the knowledge that no one else on the road would be foolhardy enough to get in your way. If that isn’t thug life, I don’t know what is…