THE ( MOST PERFECT) CAR OF THE YEAR

>> I’ve loved the M5 since I was a teenager. The E39 M5 and its 4,9 L V8 laying down just shy of 300 kw and 500 Nm to the rear wheels via a Getrag 420G six-speed manual gearbox was pretty much automotive perfection for younger me. The only differences between it and the more pedestrian 540i was its more powerful engine, reinforced clutch and a limited-slip diff with 25 per cent locking – even more impressive. With deep love for this brand established, I took to the driver’s seat of the current F90 version with a fair bit of caution and much scepticism.

It wasn’t the exhaust note or the ludicrous in-gear acceleration that won over my affections, but the restraint. BMW engineers could easily have made a car that was undriveable for most mortals with the ample power they had to play with. At 441 kw and 750 Nm, the 4,4 L twinturbocharged V8 plant can give established supercars some pause for thought. You’d also think that it is difficult to extract 0–100 km/h sprints in the sub-four-second range from this monster. Think again. The launch control is one of the simpler systems I’ve encountered and even in unaided take-offs, you’ll be able to dip below five seconds without too much hassle.

What’s really surprising, though, is that this M5 will just as easily chew up traffic-light racers as it will putter around a shopping-centre parking lot and do sedate school runs. That’s the beauty of this beast. You can raise hell at any given moment and it’s still more than capable of driving itself, parking itself, playing a movie for the kids on the back seat and keeping your bum warm.

And all customisable. You can set temperature triggers for a full range of climate controls. You can define exactly how many safety features you want active at any time, or dial in exactly the ride quality you want. And you can map all of those settings to the two red ‘M’ buttons on the steering wheel, to instantly switch the car’s personality.

Downsides are few, but the exhaust defaulting to loud every time you switch on the car is a great way to make enemies in your cul-de-sac.