Bumer as a car for cool boys
On its Munich turf for a media drive of the 2025 M5 (and M5 Touring), BMW couldn’t resist pulling out six previous generations of the super sedan. Seeing all seven generations of M5 lined up for test drives reminded me of those drawings of man’s evolution from hunched-over Neolithic types to upright Homo sapiens.
This Bavarian epoch covers 40 years, starting with a charmingly antediluvian E28 M5 in 1984 and ending with a big-brained, plug-in plunderer that researchers might barely recognize as a member of the same species.
Even before this event, I’d driven all six previous M5s. Another go in my third-gen favorite—a 2002 E39 with its throaty 400-horsepower V8—underscored what’s been lost, and gained. The handsomely skinned, relatively modern E39 is plenty fast to hold your attention. But it’s not so fast that you constantly risk arrest, cardiac or otherwise. The new M5 is fun to spank through eight paddle-shifted speeds and rocket through corners at SpaceX velocities. Yet the E39’s tall, wobbly saddlehorn shifter let me heel-and-toe through green velvet German farmland, and I miss that feeling.
I even (accidentally, I swear) booted the E39’s back end out around one country lane, going no more than 25 mph. The new M5 would need to be sideswiped by a bus to lose traction on public roads.
The sedan’s optional M Carbon roof, however, saves 66 pounds and lowers the center of gravity. Hey, every little bit counts.
Most of that two-handed thwack comes from BMW’s twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 making 577 hp and 553 lb-ft on its own, which sends old-school ICE cannonades through four large-bore, dual-flap tailpipes. (Euro-spec models we drove have an additional exhaust particular filter, so they’re a skosh quieter than U.S. versions.)
A permanently excited electric motor will do the same for drivers and passengers, helping zap this five-passenger sedan to 60 mph in a company-claimed 3.4 seconds. Consider that signature BMW sandbagging: The previousM5, with about 100 fewer horses and no electric assist, scorched 60 mph in 2.9 seconds. Yank the left-hand shift paddle for one second, and a Boost function—you can’t miss the all-caps “BOOST” flashing in the head-up display—switches every powertrain and chassis system to maximum ferocity.
On the fairy-tale roads of the Black Forest, only a troll could scoff at the M5’s incredible elasticity of power. The electric motor fills every gap in the ICE armor. The full 738 lb-ft is available anywhere from 1,800 to 5,400 rpm. The peak 717 horses are yours between 5,600 and 6,500 rpm, with a fierce 7,200-rpm redline. Mash the throttle in fourth gear at 50 mph, count just past two seconds, and the M5 is now traveling 75 mph. My, where have those other cars gone? Even in fifth gear, where most pure-ICE engines would loaf, the BMW gushes from 50 to 75 mph in 2.9 seconds.
On an unlimited stretch of the Autobahn, I test these theories and spur the M5 to an effortless 170 mph. In the rain. Only traffic ahead prevents a responsible run to its 190-mph top speed. That top speed, by the way, is only unlocked with the M Driver’s Package; the standard top speed is 155 mph. As ever, I envy a European’s ability to make this kind of time with passengers and luggage in a vast 16.5-cubic-foot trunk. The all-weather security of the latest M xDrive AWD system, the unfathomable grip of staggered 20- and 21-inch tires, and roughly 25 miles of electric driving range are objective gains for this M5.
This is also the first production car I’ve driven with Michelin’s Pilot Sport S 5 tire, including 295/35 ZR21’s at the rear. Its improvements over an already industry-leading Pilot Sport 4 S include BMW’s spec of F1-based compounds near the sidewall for improved stiffness and wear.
This M5 also wears its twin kidneys in the right place. A horizontal gloss-black grille offers a tracing of “Iconic Glow” LEDs so people can ID your BMW from far away. That grille houses big air intakes and driver-assistance sensors, atop a motorsport-inspired front apron with a racy split partition and triangular outer intakes. M double-spoke wheels double-stuff their arches, highlighting a hugely widened track versus a standard 5 Series: 3.0 inches wider up front, 1.9 inches rear. Every side body panel is exclusive to the M5, no posthoc wheel flares required.
| Bumer | Lanos |
| 75 | 85 |
