Some cars look fast standing still. The BMW M2 is one of those, with its squat stance and bulging arches.
The BMW M5 Competition is not one of those cars.
Other cars look fast from the driver's seat. An Austin Seven, say, where 30mph feels like 90mph.
The BMW M5 Competition is not one of those cars.
But looks can be deceiving. Very deceiving indeed.
The BMW M5 Competition is definitely one of those cars.
Few cars on the road will keep touch with the latest generation M5, the F90, and even fewer could do so as effortlessly as this commanding executive saloon. It's a cliche, but the M5 combines supercar performance with room for the kids and the golf clubs. It always has, ever since it reached 911 levels of performance in the 1990s.
But where a supercar is daunting and thrilling every time you open its door, the M5 cannot shake its humble saloon aura. Until the road clears and there is room to canter into, it’s a faultlessly capable cruiser. Give it some breathing space to draw into and the power and speed is shattering, propelling its heft with astonishing ease. The road and air simply disappear beneath its big 20-inch wheels and through its two turbos.
Weighing very little under 2000kg, it was never made to be a b-road chaser, but the four-wheel drive gives stability where previous generations would roll and slip and require a lift. The electronic trickery simply keeps it planted and your foot matches it, despite the 600bhp available. It is simply unshakeable on the average drive.
That detracts somewhat from the rawness and engagement that should come with an M, perhaps. Our technical Test Track, with little in the way of straights and fast corners, is not its perfect habitat, but still doesn’t turn it into a lumbering handful of power over poise. It has both in equal measure.
The confidence the Comp inspires means in the cabin you never feel like you’re pressing on, despite the later and later dive onto the optional carbon-ceramic brakes. From the outside, though, from all accounts it looks cheek-puffingly fast.
