BMW M5 2025 Review

Given that the 2025 BMW M5 is a tech tour de force, you’d expect the price to have ballooned as much as the kerb weight. And yet, it hasn’t. The M5 even comes with BMW M Drive Professional as standard.

At $259,900 plus on-road costs (ORCs), it undercuts the sixth-generation M5. Although, eagle eyes will notice that it’s missing the Competition moniker. This not only means it isn’t an exact comparison, but also that something tastier may be waiting in the wings.

If you require additional pragmatic performance, the G99 BMW M5 Touring ($263,900) aims to solve both family and fun requirements even more than the sedan can.

Speaking of wagons, if you wish to sidestep a sporting PHEV, the Audi RS6 Performance is a venerable alternative to the M5. Otherwise, Porsche offers the conventional Panamera or the all-electric Taycan as viable options.

The M5 is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with six years of roadside assistance.

Steeped in history, there’s generally a certain classy aesthetic the go-fast 5 Series is required to follow – just with an added dose of understated performance menace. The 2025 BMW M5 follows suit and creates visual drama with its pumped wheelarches, but its design has been somewhat polarising.

All M5s gain the M Carbon Exterior package, and our Fire Red metallic test car opts for the 952 M Bicolour Black alloy wheels in a staggered 20- and 21-inch fitment. It also features bold LED lighting (Iconic Glow) around the kidney grille, while signature BMW adaptive LED headlights and LED taillights round out the look.

Inside, the M5 is cloaked in Black Merino leather upholstery with carbon-fibre/high-gloss silver-thread inserts and abundant ambient lighting. Up front the electronically operated M Multifunctional seats offer lumbar and memory control as well as heating and ventilation, while the steering wheel and outboard rear seats are heated, too. The climate control is quad zone.

The 2025 BMW M5 runs the maximum ANCAP safety rating as the 5 Series range attracted a five-star score in 2023. It’s packed with seven airbags, rear ISOFIX points and a trio of top-tether anchorages.

As part of BMW Driving Assistant Professional there’s autonomous emergency braking with cyclist, pedestrian and junction protection as well as other aids such as active cruise control, lane departure and assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and speed-sign recognition.

The M5 is also packed with front and rear parking sensors, BMW Parking Assistant Professional as well as a rear-view camera with 3D 360-degree view.

It isn’t just the mechanicals that are overly complex and future-thinking. The 2025 BMW M5 is loaded with screens and useful tech, too.

The BMW ConnectedDrive is highlighted by the iDrive Operating System 8.5 hardware. It runs through the central 14.9-inch touchscreen display but can also be manipulated by the iDrive controller. Once maligned, it’s almost a shame the circular dial is now rather obsolete given it’s now intuitive to use.

Sitting proudly ahead of the driver is another 12.3-inch digital display which houses BMW’s Live Cockpit Professional. The intuitive screen is accompanied by a large head-up display that, like the instrument cluster, can be customised with various themes.

Elsewhere the M5 gains wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless charge pad with cooling, Bluetooth, DAB+ digital radio, native satnav, USB-C ports and voice activation (via ‘Hey BMW’ commands). Also as standard is the premium 18-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system that offers high-quality acoustics.

While the German marque makes some cracking turbocharged inline six-cylinder engines, we can all rejoice the fact the 2025 BMW M5 has remained a boosted, hot vee bent eight.

The S68 engine is, according to the German brand, a largely new unit. Like the S63 it replaces, the V8 remains a 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol, but it has been revolutionised with the addition of an electric motor housed inside the eight-speed ZF 8HP automatic transmission. Power is sent to all four wheels via the xDrive system.

And the grunt? Well, the internal-combustion engine alone delivers 430kW and 750Nm, while the e-motor supplements with 145kW and 280Nm. Combined, the M5 is endowed with 535kW and an astounding 1000Nm – enough to shift the Bavarian brawler to a launch-control-assisted 0-100km/h time of 3.5 seconds.

However, it’s tasked with motivating a mammoth kerb weight of 2435kg – or almost half a tonne more than the F90 M5 Competition. Hence, for the first time in the M5’s history, the power-to-weight ratio is worse than the model it replaces.

Although, you can largely forget that in a straight line – as well as the slower 0-100km/h time – because on-paper figures have never betrayed a car so much. The G90 is unequivocally rapid and the auto gearbox whacks you in the back with fast upshifts in its raciest setting.

Turbo lag? The M5 doesn’t know the meaning. The torque-fill from the electric assistance renders immediate responses. Where the hybridised super sedan really pulls through is the fact BMW claims it takes just 2.2 seconds to cover the 80-120km/h marker. From the seat of your pants, it’s believable.

Does the M5 sound any good? Yes and no. But the no is more because there isn’t enough of it more than it being an aural let down. In full EV mode you can opt for near silence or M Sound (BMW IconicSounds) – which is a bit weird as it tries to mimic an eight-cylinder symphony.

Efficiency and emissions are the reasons the 2025 BMW M5 is such a controversial departure from the fast 5 Series norm. Both needed to be cut drastically.

Officially, the M5 runs with a claimed combined average fuel consumption of 1.7L/100km – with a more realistic figure of around 11.0L/100km when the battery has depleted. After a week of driving normally and spiritedly, our number came in at 15.1L/100km. Gulp.

Of course, the ‘party trick’ of the new M5 is the fact it has up to 67km of EV-only range thanks to the small, high-intensity recharge/discharge 18.6-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery. There is a dedicated EV mode, but the e-motor can be called upon to offer full assistance to the petrol V8 under heavy load.

There’s no DC fast charging – the best you’ll get is an 11kW three-phase AC charge which takes two hours and 15 minutes to fully replenish from empty. However, you can also charge the battery on the run using the V8 engine and regenerative braking, meaning you might never require plugging in if you don’t care about the increased fuel consumption.

Ultimately, the 2025 BMW M5 is still a 5 Series. In other words, it needs to be a luxury sedan as much as it is a performance four-door.    

Although, at first it doesn’t seem enough of the latter. Soften the myriad driving parameters to Comfort and the big BMW is largely a cossetting cruiser. Yes, there are some tram tracks and sharp imperfections that the adaptive suspension and low-profile Hankook Ventus tyres can’t iron out but, in general, the secondary ride is well sorted.

With decent visibility and a multitude of cameras, navigating within city limits is stress free – even the 1.5-degrees of rear-axle steering aids manoeuvrability. The steering is light and the auto transmission is buttery smooth in its most relaxed setting.

Given you can do all this in EV silence, you might as well be driving an i5 and not the halo M-badged version. It continues in the same competent vein on highways, too.

Get through the hustle and bustle to reach more entertaining roads and some pre-planning is required. On narrow, winding tarmac, the M5 feels all its five-metre length and two-metre width. It returns myriad heart-in-mouth moments as it fills all its lane.

You also need to consider what mode you’re in. And at first, the extent of configurability is overwhelming, especially given the effects on the dynamics are profound. Luckily you can pre-set two of your favoured arrangements via the M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel.

Having said all of that, when the car and conditions are right, the BMW M5 is astoundingly talented. The M5 goes from feeling cumbersome and unwieldy to disguising its size and 2.5-tonne mass so well that it’s hard to comprehend. And despite what the online trolls might think, it’s hugely entertaining.

BMW’s MDM mode offers a leniency with a safety net, so opting for 4WD Sport is best on-road. The option is there for rear-wheel-drive only, but it also disables key traction and stability controls, so it’s best left for a racetrack. You don’t need it anyway, as the rear axle is mobile enough despite power being sent to all fours. It squirms and wriggles under power.

With a road affording room to move, the M5 comes alive. It keeps body movements in check and the rear steering works away in the background without being unnervingly prominent. It aids turn to the apex as the big BMW fails to porpoise mid corner. The M Sport differential helps rotation, too, while also generating purchase as it shuffles torque between the rear wheels. 

The M5 responds well when you ask more of it – which is exactly what an M car should do. Luckily, the M Compound brakes (carbon ceramics are an $18,500 option) stack up to arrest the prodigious pace. You can tailor the steering feedback, but it isn’t quite as tactile or naturally weighted as other M products like the M3 CS.

The 2025 BMW M5 is a true executive express.

The seventh-generation G30 5 Series welcomed a completely new cabin, and the barnstorming M5 benefits from the transformation. It’s a futuristic aesthetic featuring plenty of LED lighting and new, hidden air vents with novel controls.

Touchscreens largely replace buttons, although there are still some physical switches, including the iDrive controller. The infotainment runs impressive graphics with selectable themes, but the operating system isn’t immediately simple to use.

While the cabin is undoubtedly an upmarket and pleasing place to be, it doesn’t feel a great deal more special than the 520i. Ultimately, that’s more a compliment to the ‘generic’ 5 Series, but you’d expect a little more from the M version, especially with a price north of $250K.

In the back there isn’t as much legroom as the exorbitant exterior dimensions would suggest – but it’s comfortable, nonetheless. Headroom is also decent, while there’s space for three across the back bench. Amenities are covered off by rear climate controls, air vents, USB-C points, sun blinds and a fold-down central arm rest with cup holders.

The boot is compromised due to the lithium-ion battery, but the cargo capacity is still a workable 466 litres that expands with the 40/20/40-split rear seats stowed. You won’t find a spare wheel, just a can of goo.

Once an easy decision for those with the means, the 2025 BMW M5 now comes with baggage.

The part of the equation that seems hardest to stomach is the fact the M5 feels somewhat contrived, a product born out of meeting regulations more than striving to be ‘the ultimate driving machine’. There’s an overriding sense that, sans hybrid gubbins and the accompanying weight, the previous-generation M5 Competition is a less compromised experience.

Yet, this is BMW M. And duds aren’t acceptable. Despite the tabloid-style weight-shaming campaign and an overcomplication of the ethos, the M5 remains utterly impressive. The performance is astonishing, and the comfort is palpable. It is the very definition of a velvet sledgehammer.

Ultimately, the M Division’s hands were tied, but keeping the V8 was the right move for the M5 despite the compromises. It’s a heavyweight dilemma that, on balance, has had a positive outcome.

2025 BMW M5 at a glance:
Price: $259,900 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 4.4-litre V8 twin-turbo petrol-electric
Output: 430kW/750Nm (electric motor 145kW/280Nm)
Combined Output: 535kW/1000Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Battery: 18.6kWh lithium-ion     
Range: 67km (WLTP combined)
Energy consumption: 25.6kWh/100km (WLTP combined)
Fuel: 1.7L/100km (WLTP combined)
CO2: 39g/km (WLTP combined)
Safety rating: Five stars (ANCAP 2023)

Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au