2025 BMW M5 Review: With Specs Like These, Weight Just Isn't An Issue

The 2025 BMW M5 might be the most coherent car I've ever driven. Every part works towards the whole of the car. The hybrid drivetrain ensures smooth (and monstrously quick) acceleration. The interior keeps you comfortable and entertained for however long you are in the car. It's a big sedan, which means you won't have to rely on another vehicle as much. 

Lastly — but by no means least — the fact that it has over 700 horsepower means that it's as happy cruising at 45 miles per hour as it is blasting down the race track at over 100 miles per hour (BMW says it'll do 190 miles per hour with the optional "M-Driver's Package." I did not test that claim).

When I saw that there was a 2025 BMW M5 available to review, I claimed it as fast as I could. I had already driven the M5 back in November at BMW's test track, and was greatly enthralled. Now I wanted to see what it was like to live with.

The BMW M5 is huge Bavarian monster of a sedan. Anyone who follows the newest M-cars is likely aware of just how heavy the new M5 is. It weighs 5,390 pounds, putting it roughly in the same weight class as a full size SUV and maybe a few small planets. That heft is mitigated by the fact that it has 717 horsepower from a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 and an electric motor. 

All the same, it's not stupid big power like you might find in any number of classic muscle cars. It does its best to be refined, while simultaneously possessing the ability to liquefy most other cars within a significant radius. Previously, I used the term "apex predator" to describe the M5. After a week behind the wheel, I think that's accurate, because unless you make a practice of hanging out in Milan, Hong Kong, Monterrey, or anywhere else where supercars and hypercars like to stalk, there's a decent chance that, with an M5, you are the biggest animal in the zoo.

To paraphrase Spider-Man's Uncle Ben, with all that power comes responsibility. Since I had already experienced what the M5 was capable of on a safe closed track, I didn't feel like it was necessary to terrorize my neighbors and eat souped-up Civics on the highway. Until now, I've never felt like I've earned the right to use the phrase: "professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt," but here we are.

As a "normal" car (as much as a six-figure flat-gray BMW can be "normal"), the M5 performed swimmingly. It really is a very capable grand tourer. It was a pleasure to drive on the highway camped at exactly 70 miles per hour, and the car itself seemed content to do exactly that for as long as necessary. I took a number of trips up to Pennsylvania with the M5 and it was a faithful steed each and every time. 

The bright red leather seats, while about as ostentatious as humanly possible, were perfectly comfortable and supportive enough for long drives. A friend and I took the M5 out to go to a few record stores and vintage shops, and it did a fantastic job ferrying us around, despite the fact that the closest vehicle that might exceed the M5 in terms of horsepower and top speed would be any passing aircraft.

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While I didn't thrash the M5 too hard, it wasn't like I didn't have any fun. On a few back roads and highway on-ramps, I got to see how the M5 performed in the real world. In short, it feels like it has unlimited power beneath the pedal. It's ridiculously quick, clocking a 0-60 time of 3.4 seconds. In supercar terms, that's not the top of the pack — there are a number of multi-million dollar exotics (not to mention full electric cars) that can complete the sprint a lot quicker — but it's also important to note that the M5 is a four-door sedan that wouldn't look out of place in an accounting office's parking lot. Quick stomps on the accelerator never ceased to get a laugh out of me or my automotive-enthused friends.

However, since I have to be objective, it was not all Sonnenschein und Regenbögen with the M5. While a good 95% of my driving was easy and care free, it can be a bit of a handful in parking lots and heavy traffic. It's 200.6 inches long, putting it roughly in the SUV or small truck category and making it a menace to park in small spaces. It's just really big, and has the turn radius of a late 19th century steam ship. 

It's not at all economical to drive, either. Despite a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that boasts a maximum of 25 miles of electric-only range, the M5 only achieved about 14 miles per gallon over the week. When I was driving a little more briskly, that could drop to single digits. The M5 is big, powerful, and thirsty, and since it demands premium fuel, filling up the tank got to be mighty expensive.

As part of my constant fight with infotainment systems, there came a point over the week where the sound system no longer recognized my phone and outright refused to pair. I did what any BMW customer might do and called BMW's customer service. Fortunately, I can attest that not only did my phone pair again with a few directed button presses and an infotainment system reboot, BMW's phone-based support was great

The 2025 BMW M5 is a big, mean sedan that can out-muscle a muscle car: you know it's expensive, and there's absolutely no easy way to get over the price unless you happen to own a professional sports team or two. It starts at $119,500. For what it's worth, you do get a four door sedan with leather seats, a Harmon Kardon sound system, four-zone climate control, and a top speed of 190 miles per hour. The "Frozen Deep Grey" paint scheme added $3,600. BMW's driving assistance package was $1,700. The carbon fiber roof, mirror caps, and spoiler on the rear deck lid costs $3,100. 

The $1,850 "Executive Package" consists of an illuminated BMW "kidney" grille, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and parking assistant software. The carbon fiber "high gloss" trim on the inside added $300. The M-Driver's Package was another $2,500, which kicks the top speed up from 155 miles per hour to the aforementioned 190 miles per hour. Lastly, the seemingly-appropriate gas guzzler tax and destination charge added $2,600 and $1,175 respectively. That leaves your grand total at $136,325. 

That's a lot of money for a lot of car. Still, when you consider the fact that the similarly hybridized (and also wickedly fast, though not  quite M5-level) Mercedes-AMG E 53 starts at $88,000, and the more powerful and heavier Mercedes-AMG S 63 starts at an eye-watering $183,400, the nearly $140,000 price tag makes a little more sense.

It's no surprise that the new M5 is really good. Like almost-perfect levels of good. BMW has spent several decades and hundred of millions of Euros in ensuring that the M-badge doesn't go to waste. If it weren't so completely unattainable to most people, the M5 might rank as one of the best cars I've ever driven. Like I said earlier, every piece of the car works towards giving you the best driving experience possible. It somehow managed to make limitless power and high horsepower performance feel manageable and easy (unless, that is, your task was parking or going to the gas station).

Is the 2025 BMW M5 enough to shut the mouths of critics who bemoaned the switch to a plug-in hybrid drivetrain? Yes, absolutely. Is it enough to popularize plug-in hybrid technology for the masses? That jury is still out. It might take more than an inherently ridiculous car with a six-figure price tag to move BMW towards making an PHEV for the everyman, even if its Neue Klasse aims to do that for full EVs. But here's hoping BMW can learn something from the technology and get the drivetrain into more cars at a lower price point.