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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future. It is not 100% electric, but as Toyota has been proclaiming for decades, tomorrow is hybrid. At least when we talk about cars to stop the pulse and accelerate the emotions, like the new and anticipated BMW M5, which uses a hybrid powertrain to be the most brutal and powerful creation ever conceived in Bavaria.
If we owe the popularity of the M division today to one model, it is the M5. Because, apart from the radical M1, the M5 E28 was the original M and from day zero it was a pioneer within BMW: first using a literal “domesticated” racing engine and now with hybrid power. Everything went through the M5, from V8 engines to a V10 with a manual transmission and performance that would make a Lamborghini sweat. So it’s only fitting that it sits atop BMW’s high-performance throne. Sorry XM, but who knows you?
The best of two worlds
If you ask me, the key to high performance is the synergy between a combustion engine and an electric engine. Look at the Le Mans prototypes, they have been showing for more than a decade why a hybrid train works, why it wins races and raises the names of Audi, Porsche, Toyota and now Ferrari.
How fitting to know that BMW is in that category, because it could be said that the new M5 is like the M Hybrid V8, only for the street. Up front, there’s the typical 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 with a maximum output of 577 hp – lower than the previous M5 CS, of course, but it’s not alone. An electric motor linked to the 8-speed automatic transmission is capable of producing 194 hp and 280 Nm of torque on its own.
On the whole, BMW pegs the output of the monstrous M5 at a whopping 717 horsepower (or 727 PS) and 1,000 Nm of torque to all four wheels. Without a doubt, the Bimmer most powerful street in all of history, period.
Taming its more than 2,400 kg
The big Achilles heel for a hybrid is weight. With a 14.8 kWh (net) battery, its corresponding charging port, electrical systems and the luxury of the M5, this German titan stops the scales at 2.4 tons.
To counteract this, the magic of technology allows BMW to add independent suspension with kinematic stabilization and adaptive dampers. This cancels out chassis roll and weight, allowing only the brutality of the V8 and its electric spark to be felt. Steering on the rear axle and an LSD-type differential help.
Carbon-ceramic brakes, 20 or 21” alloy wheels and, cannot be missed, the varied driving modes. Those who let you play with the limits of the M5, qualify their drifts, make the most of the juice of the electrical system and offer two exclusive modes for the track, as long as you cough up a few more euros and install the M Drive Pro package.
In theory, all braking, chassis, suspension and power settings are at your disposal. Our initial verdict? The M5 is a sedan synonymous with violence, whose job is to accelerate brutally and hold on to curves despite its mass. Under that criteria, the BMW M5 Hybrid fits the bill perfectly and adds a V8 tune to please the ears.
0 to 100 km/h? 3.5 seconds, a key figure when it comes to chases. Its top speed is limited to 305 km/h with the M Driver package, which means that this Bavarian titan can easily exceed 330 km/h.
Rough and somewhat controversial style
If the idea of a hybrid M5 sounds controversial to you, its design is the point at which all the BMW controversy is taking place these days. The sober yet sporty style of the “standard” 5 Series gives way to a much “meatier”, more aggressive and intimidating cut.
Under the illuminated fanny pack emerges a bumper with more muscle and larger air intakes, The track is 75 mm wider so the wheel arches are bodybuilder, carbon fiber parts and four exhausts peek out between a giant diffuser. The most discreet thing, besides the dark paintings, is the small spoiler rear. And yes, the M5 will have a Touring version in the future for “more pleasure.”
Inside, outside of the bucket seats, copious amounts of carbon fiber and new M modes, the M5 doesn’t differ too much from the 5 Series. There’s the curved screen that BMW insists on using, those crystals that adorn the cabin and emit ambient light, the knob in the center of the console, in short. The paddles are larger and there are a couple of extra buttons to play with the M5’s “power” modes and that’s about it.
Beastly, but with a lot of lineage
Remember, this is not a high-tension hypercar sedan. Yes, it has the power and the numbers, but this is a grand tourism to accelerate hard and see how everything gets smaller in the rearview mirror. It is an exuberant experience, above all comfortable and with power to spare.
That’s how the M5 has always been, a luxury sedan that just so happens to be on par with a Ferrari or a Porsche. It’s track technology to make the perfect flagship sedan and although it has more technology, touch surfaces and all kinds of electronic paraphernalia, the essence is still there.
In addition, the M5 Touring is still missing, which will be more practical and heavier, just like an M5 Competition for those who demand that radical experience that an M3 CS does have. That’s if the BMW M engineers please us with this idea.
