I drove a $130,000 BMW M5 for a week to see if the aggressive-looking sedan is worth the cost — here's the verdict
- The 2018 BMW M5 is the latest V8-powered beast to emerge from the horsepower addicts of Bavaria.
- I spent a week putting the BMW M5 through its savage paces — and it scared me. A lot!
- The M5 is a mighty monster of a machine that provides a four-door alternative to some supercars.
Let's face it, people like to hate on BMW.
This is depressing because for decades, the Bavarian motoring giant has proven again and again that the whole "ultimate driving machine" thing was utterly, totally, completely legit. BMWs are unquestionably among the most thrilling cars a human can drive and have been for ages.
Blame the yuppified 1980s, when BMWs became status-mobiles. Then throw in some aggressive leasing deals that meant every new Hollywood agent or junior law partner could slip into a 3-Series.
Thankfully, BMW's M Sport performance division doesn't care about young agents or tyro lawyers and continues to focus on taking cars such as the 2018 5-Series, a perfectly brilliant luxury sedan, and turning them into terrifying beast-machines designed to alter the movement of entire planets.
You think that's an overstatement. OK, fine, but you didn't just spend a week driving around in a 2018 BMW M5.
What is this car like? Remember that scene in "Avengers: Infinity War" when Thor arrived in Wakanda via bifrost express and slung his hefty new hammer, Stormbreaker, to devastating effect? BOOM!
The M5 is about 1,000 times more exciting than that. And you can have the same one I did in your driveway for $130,000.
Yep, that ain't cheap. But considered in terms of a cost-to-motoring-nirvana ratio, it's a magnificent bargain. Plus, you don't have to unleash hell with the M5 every time you start it up. The car can be dialed back to relative calm — calm enough, sort of, for daily commuting. True, you'll be buying a lot of premium fuel; the M5 gets 15 mpg city/21 highway/17 combined, adding a $1,000 gas-guzzler tax to the sticker price. But pleasure such as this car delivers cannot be entirely quantified.
Let me go into greater detail about why the 2018 M5 is basically the baddest four-door in our realm:
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The 2018 M5! Our test car came in a Marine Bay Blue Metallic paint job and benefitted from a $4,000 Executive Package, including rear sunshades, wireless-device charging, and a WiFi hotspot.
We checked out the un-M'd 5-Series last year. The 5-Series in now in its seventh generation.
Read the review »
BMW's M cars always up the burliness factor, design-wise. The normal 5-Series looks stately and executive, while the M5 looks bold and aggressive.
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