BMW M5 Pure 2015 Review

BMW M5 Pure
Quick Spin

Less power but still 412kW; less kit but still a pukka luxury sports sedan – the Pure is an entree into BMW's M5 family that saves you the equivalent of a decent V8 Holden. There's little missing from the equipment list, unless you deem soft close doors and the like as must-haves and performance is still prodigious. Priced closer to M3 and the likes of the new C 63 AMG, this is a lot of car for what is still a lot of money but the experience and sheer grunt of BMW's 4.4-litre twin-turbo M-fettled V8 is unique. The BMW M5 Pure edition is priced from $185,000 (plus on-road costs).

Even after a couple of days of driving BMW's M5 Pure around for the life of me I couldn't work out what was missing.

Stellar, turbo-torque rich V8 engine. Check…

Hunkered down suspension. Check…

Tweaked body-kit with guards flared just so. Check…

Big racer-spec brakes and even bigger 20-inch wheels and tyres. Check and double check…

It's all there, plus a fair dose of luxury and all the other things you expect from the biggest bruiser in BMW M Division's armoury. Even a wild satin/matt paint job. And yet this is supposedly the cut-price version – a substantial $44,540 less than the singleton M5 model that until recently was your sole option.

Indeed, after a drive in the new $185,000 (plus ORCs) M5 Pure I'd wager you like me would have to consult the BMW Australia price list to be able to work out exactly what goodies the super-sedan gives away to its more expensive, full-fat version.

Gone are performance 'deal breakers' such as the rear powered sun-blind and soft-close doors. Yet key tech like cruise control with brake function, lane-change warning, tyre-pressure monitor and head-up display are still on the list. Sport seats are standard in 'extended Merino leather', and BMW ConnectedDrive Freedom and Internet come along for the ride.

So too does dynamic damper control, although to a different state of tune compared to the Competition Pack-equipped variants. Note I wrote 'different'. Not inferior. Indeed, arguably the suspension tune of the Pure is perhaps one of the car's strengths.

On paper, the Pure's twin-turbo 4.4-litre M-fettled V8 is down 11kW (the torque value unchanged) compared to the 423kW/680Nm Performance Pack-equipped cars.

But while it's nice to carry the biggest stick, did I notice the deficit? Hardly. Even with its paltry output (warning: irony), the Pure has the straight-line performance to shut down all but the fastest sportscars, and more than enough to evaporate your bank of demerit points in a single Sunday morning jaunt. It goes without saying, it's fast.

But it also feels a little more settled and wieldy than the most recent M5s I've driven.

As I've stated before, it's always risky to trust old seat-of-the-pants memory, but the Pure's suspension tune seems better resolved on the rougher bitumen that seems to now define interesting Australian back roads.

While I don't doubt the Competition Pack car would be a touch quicker on a racetrack, the Pure seems to have the ability to put its power down better in the real world. And as anyone who's driven a turbo M5 will attest, you need all the power down traction you can get.

Most of my M5 Pure miles were simply commuting but this and two quick strops reminded me of two things: I'm still not a huge fan of BMW's dual-clutch and, on the plus side of the ledger, the competence and attraction of the quintessential M Division four-door.

The M-DCT gearbox is great in an M3 on the racetrack but it can be downright annoying in everyday use. To and froing when parking is less seamless than it should be and it hates an uphill reverse (out of a driveway for instance) first thing in the morning. You'll perfect your left-foot braking if nothing else.

But there are other aspects of the car that soon make you forget this. My short time was a reintroduction to, for example, how that fat, small steering wheel feels just right. And how the car, while not the soulful beast it once was, still has a personality and identity that is unmistakably BMW and unmistakably M.

BMW has in some aspects lost its way of late. Mercedes-Benz has worked hard to erode the Bavarians' dynamic advantages and largely succeeded. At the same time, BMW has also fallen behind in terms of its interiors and in some cases perceived quality. It's the essence of BMW the M5 Pure champions. It's this essence the company needs to bring back to the fore if it's not to fall further behind Stuttgart.

The adage goes less is sometimes more. It holds true in the case of M5s, pure and simple…

2015 BMW M5 Pure pricing and specifications:
Price: $185,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo petrol V8
Output: 412kW/680Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 9.9/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 232g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (EuroNCAP)