CARS
The sixth-generation BMW M5 comes with all-wheel drive. Does that mean it’s still the ultimate supersaloon? jon wall finds out
BMW: 5 star
if ever there was an automobile that convincingly bridged the gap between sports saloon and supercar, then surely it’s the BMW M5, which first saw light of day in the mid-’80s as an ultra-highperformance variant of the Bavarian company’s E28 5 Series. Before that, other manufacturers had tried shoehorning massively powerful engines into otherwise innocuous bodyshells – think, for example, of Mercedes-benz’s nearlegendary 450 SEL 6.9, which was as much force of nature as motor car. Until the arrival of the Beemer, however, none had managed to combine outrageous horsepower, performancecar handling, refinement and everyday usability with quite the same finesse.
In fact, so successful was BMW’S supersaloon that since then there’ve been a further five generations, each more indecently fast, more entertaining to drive and more capable than the one before it – or that, at least, was the theory. Perhaps most noteworthy of all was the fourthgen E60 of 2005, whose naturally aspirated 5-litre V10 was inspired by Formula 1 power units of the time. Thanks to the uneven firing sequence of its 10 pistons, that manic, high-revving, 500bhp motor also produced a soundtrack epic enough to rouse the comatose and rattle the fillings out of teeth, which petrolheads will assure you is one prerequisite for any seriously rapid motor car.
Glorious though 10-cylinder engines may be, they’ve been more or less killed off by fuel-consumption and emissions regulations; indeed, aside from Vw-group cousins Audi and Lamborghini, no one uses them any longer. So for the fifth-generation M5 of 2011, BMW turned to turbo-v8 power, a formula it’s retained for that model’s successor (internal designation F90), a car which arrived in Asia early this year and that I finally got to drive a few weeks ago.
For a couple of decades BMW had this playing field pretty much to itself, but today that niche is contested by every premium German motor manufacturer – and with rivals from Audi, Mercedes-amg and Porsche barking at its heels the M5 now faces stiff competition. Not only that, but with turbocharged V8 motors under the bonnets of Audi’s RS6 Performance, Merc’s E 63 S and Porsche’s Panamera Turbo as well as the newest M5 (the BMW’S displaces 4.4 litres, all the others a slightly more modest 4), not to mention the adoption of all-wheel drive across the board, you’d be excused for assuming it would be difficult to slip a cigarette-paper’s width of difference between the lot of them. How, then, is this latest version special?
In view of such formidable though broadly similar opposition, BMW’S engineers clearly laboured overtime to ensure this new model isn’t merely the greatest M5 ever, but also the top dog in a fiercely competitive pack. Thus, and for the first time ever, all-wheel drive was considered essential to the M5 recipe, not least to tame a V8
engine whose 592 ponies and 750 Newton metres together mean a best-in-class maximum speed of 306km/h and a brain-frying 0-100 time of 3.4 seconds, the latter figure exactly on par with the E 63 S and the Panamera (in terms of bangs for bucks, it’s also identical to that of Aston Martin’s fabulous new – and way more expensive – DBS Superleggera). Unlike the previous M5, however, which used a dualclutch seven-speed transmission, BMW’S latest supersaloon reverts to an eight-speed torque converter, but as the auto shifts just as rapidly as the old box, this isn’t quite the backward step that it sounds.
The M5’s smart M xdrive system vectors torque between axles and wheels through a central multiclutch, an active rear differential and an electronics suite of bamboozling complexity. Indeed, with its multiplicity of modes for steering, suspension, engine, transmission, drivetrain and stability systems – all governed by a central computer – this Beemer may be a step too far for simple folk who like to leap into a car, press the starter button, floor the accelerator and disappear in a cloud of dust.
Granted it takes patience to nail the ideal setting, but after a few minutes’ fiddling there’s a reward: your own personal interpretation of the M5’s celebrated rear-biased dynamics – a configuration you can save for future driving pleasure by using one of two steeringwheel-mounted presets, which appropriately are coloured bright red. Most aggressive of all the drive options is a full-on party mode that deactivates the front driveshafts and diverts power entirely to the rear wheels; with traction control off, this isn’t recommended for the ham-fisted or the faint-hearted, but in the right circumstances – preferably dry, and with no oncoming traffic – it promises huge hilarity.
As all-wheel drive means increased weight, mass has been pared from the car elsewhere – the roof, for example, is fashioned from carbon fibre, and the bonnet
For the first time ever, all-wheel drive was considered essential to the m5 recipe
and front wings from aluminium – so that the M5 tips the scales at around 1.85 tonnes. True, that’s hardly skinny, but it does make the Beemer lighter than every one of its competitors – and, in combination with comprehensive revisions to the suspension, the result is a machine of astonishing agility and speed. But then everything about this new M5 seems weaponised, from the shockingly explosive acceleration and hair-trigger throttle response – for which even the model’s reputation as a nemesis of supercars leaves you unprepared (I mean, saloon cars just don’t go this fast) – to the helm’s staggering precision and the fine balance of its chassis.
Unlike the Audi RS6, for instance, which simply drives around corners as if glued to them, there’s a fluency and even daintiness about the way the BMW can be danced through direction changes. Yes, there’s traction aplenty, but with its endlessly adjustable rearward bias it delivers poise and involvement too. More scalpel than sledgehammer, the new M5 demonstrates that all-wheel drive can be grin-inducing, as opposed to relentlessly secure and reassuring.
There are cars that are a little faster than the M5, but all are far more costly and in none of them can four full-size adults travel in space and comfort while being hurled down the highway like a howitzer shell. Yet, switch the systems back to the default setting and the car reverts to a large and comfy executive express, rapid but verging on the docile.
In the manner of all BMWS, the M5’s cabin is businesslike but lacks visual pizzazz (in this respect, at least, the AMG E 63 S scores a decisive victory); however, as your eyes are likely to be fully occupied in deciphering the warp-speed changes to the scenery outside, quite possibly you’ll never notice. You may well be disappointed by the engine note, too, which at its most extreme settings turns out to be artificially amplified through the sound system.
Those, however, are among the very few shortcomings of the otherwise wholly magnificent new M5, a car whose appeal remains undiminished by the addition of all-wheel drive, and whose ability to deliver so many different experiences – every one of which is to be savoured by both driver and passengers – is now more remarkable than ever. Whether or not this latest model towers quite so commandingly above its rivals is a moot point, for I’d say the Mercedes runs it very close indeed, but that detracts not one iota from this Beemer’s brilliance.
The best there is? Possibly. The best M5 ever? Definitely.