Video: 2018 BMW M5: Review

That's very similarly priced to competitors in other super sedans, like the Mercedes-Benz, AMG 63 and a super hatchback like the Audi RS 7 but still what does $130,000 gets you in M5? And what does it do for that much money? But we spend a week driving the M5 to find out. The M5 starts at $104,000 with destination and gas guzzler tax. Ours just has $25,000 worth of optional equipment. One thing you won't have to pay extra for though is this marina bay, metallic blue paint, and it is a head turner, it's what made this M5 stand out. We got a bunch of thumbs up saying, hey dude nice car and a lot of that is because of this color. It has this depth and metallic shine to it in the daylight that I don't think you'd get the same response if it were silver, black, or white. Now for the good stuff, the 600 horsepower under the hood of the new M5 and this 600 horsepower is perhaps the most refined way 600 horsepower has ever been delivered. It's smooth, it's linear and there's no such thing as terrible lag in this car. And with the standard all wheel drive, you have zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds. Yes, it's smooth and luxurious, but there's still something missing feels restraint. It's like BMW is at the end of the night and it's tie is still right up there under its collar. It doesn't really feel like it's let loose a hundred percent thing. Honestly, I think a lot of that has to do with the exhaust something that's easily changeable after you buy the car, but as it sets a Porsche Panamera or E63 AMG they have this booming loud exhaust when you change into those optional modes. The BMW is just doesn't have that effect. And I think kids where the M5 could have turned up that part a little bit more it's a very BMW wish but I think I'd like to have that option just to take it up another notch. There are an overwhelming number of ways to control that 600 horsepower. There are individual settings for engine throttle, sensitivity, suspension firmness, staring firmness, transmission programming, stability control, and new for 2018 you can even adjust the new all wheel drive system. Now that all wheel drive previous M5 didn't have, it was real wall drive only. And the automatic transmission that's adjustable here were that's your only transmission choice before 2018 the manual transmission option is gone. And honestly, I'm glad to see that because that old manual transmission did not improve how the M5 drove it was just the sloppy manual transmission experience. And this new automatic is very, very good, but that all wheel drive, you can choose two wheel drive, all wheel drive or a sport all wheel drive option. So each one of these modes, you have three engine options, three suspension options, three staring options, three transmission options, three all wheel drive options, multiple stability control system options and exhaust option. Overwhelming, it's exactly what this is. So BMW simplifies that and perhaps the best way out of any of these super sedan and that's with the M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel. These are programmable buttons and you can set them up. So M1 is strictly comfort. This has the softest suspension setting, the efficient engine setting, the least offensive transmission mode, and then all wheel drive. M2 can be set up for exactly the opposite. So you have aggressive engine, the firmest suspension, the firmest steering option, and two wheel drive, which in two wheel drive, you have to turn off the stability system. And by having it programmed in M2, it's already done. So you have one button for M1 and one button for M2 and that's how I drove the M5. In the M1 button how I have it set up and it's most relaxed, efficient driving. This drives like a normal five series it really does. It's very hard to tell there's 600 horsepower. In M2 and with rear wheel drive, it is a completely different vehicle, but I'm not totally convinced there's a big difference between two wheel drive and four wheel drive on this car. It doesn't magically take away the weight that the all wheel drive adds. And there's still a lot of mass on the front end of this car. It's very hard to tell the difference unless you're driving at the limit. So if you have access to a drift pad or on the racetrack, I'm sure that two-wheel drive setting will let you get much more squarely than with the all wheel drive, but for just tooling around town and taking some curvy roads I didn't notice a big difference between the two wheel drive and the all wheel drive on this car. So where is the extra $25,000 spent on this car? Well, you're looking at about 10,000 of it right here with the optional carbon ceramic brakes that are 8,500 and the 706 M wheels and 20 inch summer tires that are $1,300. Now, these carbon ceramic brakes, if you're spending a lot of time on the racetrack, get these, but if you're not, they're squeaky, they're grabby even when they're hot. And I'm not sure that the weight savings and rotational mass is really worth it when you're pulling up to a valet and their brakes are squeaking and you have to explain to everybody who's sitting outside having a nice meal, why you're very pretty car is making all of these awful noises. Do people care where carbon ceramic brakes are probably not. So it's an option you probably want to skip on this one if you're not doing a lot of heavy duty track driving. Other packages that rack up the bill on the M5 are not unique to M5 at all, they're available on the regular five series. And that includes the driving assistance plus package for $1,700 with active driving assistance plus, now, if you plan to spend any amount of time in the car, on the road, just regular commuting or a road trip here and there, then consider getting that package. It has BMW, semi autonomous driving features. and while you do have to have your hand on the wheel, it's gonna hold the car in its lane. It's gonna stopping go semi-autonomously in traffic and is really just the, a great assist to have for $4,000. The executive package gives you soft close, automatic doors, rear sunshades, front ventilated seats, front and rear heated seats, front zone climate control, front massaging seats, parking assistance plus, wireless charging, wifi hotspot, enhance USB and Bluetooth, active participants control, rear view camera, but what's really gonna impress people in the car out of the executive package is the surround view with 3D view. There are numerous cameras around the car and you can have this 360 degree view at ground level what's around the car it's useful, and it's one of those gee whiz features. The last two big ticket items on this option sheet are the $3,400 Bowers and Wilkins sound system and the $2,500 M driver's package. Now, it sounds like a package you would want, right? M driver's package got to give me better steering, better tires, optional sway bars, but there's no hardware at all. The M driver's package is actually a one day driver's training course through a BMW facility. And it raises the top speed from 155 miles an hour to 178 miles an hour. And honestly, I think you can skip that package too. For driver training, find a road course around your area that has high performance driving days. They're almost always instructors there, and they're probably not more than a few hundred dollars. And as for the top speed, well, if you're going to a local track, I don't think you're gonna come anywhere near that 155 mile an hour speed limit, unless your local track is circuit of the Americas for road America. So while there's BMW has $25,000 worth of options the bulk of what's in M5 is standard, and it doesn't need all of those options to be BMWs better sedan.