Five Alive (BMW M5)

Member Name: kfingleton

Product:	BMW M5
Date:	07/05/01 (1026 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There is no car that comes as close to perfection

Disadvantages: I couldn't even come close to affording it

BMW, a name eternally connected with sporty refinement, class, image and the slightly less glamorous adjectives such as reliable and well built. The 5-Series has been around for a couple of years now and has become a permanent fixture in company car parks and suburban driveways. The economical man goes for the diesel, the dull man goes for the 520, but the smart man goes for the best, the M5. No, not an English motorway, but the original and best sports saloon in the world.

I have never driven a car more perfect than the M5, but I would love so much to make driving such a beast a daily occurrence. M5 owners must invent reasons for driving ("We only have 3 bottles of milk left love, I’ll run down the shops in the car for more"). Nothing surpasses this package. It is technically far superior to any other competitor including offerings from both Mercedes and Jaguar. Maybe I've lived a sheltered life, but my one drive of that car on the Donegal roads is one of the greatest memories of my 19 years.

In fact its closest rivals are the Mitsubishi Evo VI and the Subaru Impreza. Both are packed with technology but have the subtlety of a man in pink at a funeral. They are quite simply hideous, while the M5 is graceful and elegant. Only its massive 19 inch M-badged wheels, the subtle little slip for a spoiler at the back and the deeper front spoiler suggest what this car really is. The 5 litre 6 cylinder engine is tucked away were no one can see it, but a look under the bonnet reveals a work of art.

On the road, it almost matches a Porsche 911 Turbo for performance and can match it in terms of ride and handling. It hugs the road like a child to its mother. For the driver of questionable ability it has ESP, traction control, ABS and a mountain of other safety features, including the usual airbags etc.

You may think that computer chips are getting in the way of your fun, so you may as well risk life and limb by taking of
f the traction control and going mad around the race-track. This is the only way you can enjoy yourself more than on the road. Such is the engineering in this car, that fast speeds seem a lot more easier to handle than a lesser car and it is true. If I had had this car for longer than a day I may have lost my license through speeding penalty points by now. Nothing beats this as a drivers car.

Oh but there is more! The M5 is an executive saloon. If you’re mad enough to take your family with you (an they’re mad enough to come with you) they can all fit in happily and watch the on board TV (an optional extra). It sort of looks like an ordinary 5-Series, so when you see that little boy-racer in his girlie little convertible about to over-take you, you can accelerate away, even in 5th gear!!! Easily! This car has 6 gears in its manual gearbox and such is its torque, it can drive off in 4th or fifth from a standstill. Be amazed, be very amazed.

That's not to say that this car can not be driven like normal sane people. The blend in the M5 is remarkable, because you can actually drive it like a family saloon, sedate, conservative and relaxed and it will feel like the executive cruiser the 5-Series is so good at being. The gimmickery allows you to choose between sports suspenison and the more composed softer ride at the touch of a button.

The amount of extras fitted with this car is too much to catalogue. You get your CD changer, phone socket, climate control, electric, heated leather seats and all those things you never knew you needed until you drive the car. I remember getting into our VW Passat for the first time after the M5 and thinking that the centre console and the steering wheel looked so sparse, something that had never occured to me in 3 years of driving the same car!

Safety is catered for as it would need to be in a car like this with front and side airbags, plus all the technical extras like ESP and the t
raction control. Hidden behind those massive tyres are massive brakes with suitable stopping power.

As with all BMWs, this car as rear-wheel drive and near 50-50 weight distribution, it can be composed but never ordinary. It will always be a joy to drive as long as you don’t put it in a ditch. All this of course comes at a hefty price, but when you consider £82,000 for the Z8 with the same engine, it sounds like a snip at the £52,000 price tag. If you’re considerably richer than me and you live anywhere on the earth, this is the finest car you can buy for any money. Don’t buy an S-Class if you’re going to drive the car yourself. Please buy an M5! Maybe I can pick it up second-hand from you in 10 years time.

Summary: