2025 BMW M5 First Drive: Stuffed like Schnitzel with PHEV Tech

It’s heavier, but not that heavy.

December 17, 2024

Lawrence Ulrich

The 2025 BMW M5 easily paces the Autobahn with speeds up to 190 mph (306 km/h) with the optional M Driver’s Package. (BMW)

Before BMW designed its first in-house car, the 3/20 of 1932, the Bavarian manufacturer had built a reputation on lightness. The company’s air-cooled radial aircraft engines avoided the weightier liquid-cooling demands of inline or V designs. And where Jazz Age motorcycle makers often drilled holes in components to reduce mass, BMW’s riveted steel frames were lighter by design.

The updated dashboard of the 2025 BMW M5 uses BMW’s Curved Display with a 12.3-inch driver’s screen and a 14.9-inch center display. (BMW)

For the redesigned 2025 BMW M5 sedan, and most electrified performance cars, lightness is no longer the top priority. The plug-in hybrid M5 that we romped through Germany weighs a hernia-inducing 5,390 lbs (2,445 kg). That’s more than the all-electric i5 that shares its architecture, allowing BMW to build ICE, PHEV and electric 5-Series on one flexible assembly line. The M5 Touring wagon verges on 5,500 lbs (2,495 kg), as much as some versions of BMW’s largest X7 SUV.

Driver-centric seats in the 2022 M5. (BMW)

Consolations include 717 hp and 738 lb-ft (1001 Nm). That’s a crushing high for an M5 that BMW’s vaunted M performance division has built since 1984 across seven generations. Even BMW’s finest 4.4-L, twin-turbo V8 can deliver only part of that, with 577 hp and 553 lb-ft (782 Nm). The rest comes from an electric motor integrated into an eight-speed, paddle-shifted automated gearbox and an underfloor battery with 14.8 kWh of usable juice.

The permanently excited motor adds 194 hp and 207 lb-ft (281 Nm) of excitement. A patented pre-gearing stage boosts electric torque to 332 lb-ft (450 Nm) at the input shaft during automated launches, accompanied by an all-caps “LAUNCH” in a sharp head-up display.

BMW’s estimate of a 3.4-second sprint to 60 mph (97 km/h) is typically uber-conservative. The previous M5, with about 100 fewer horses and no electric boost, did it in 2.9 seconds. Top speed is 190 mph (306 km/h) with the optional M Driver’s Package. We saw an easy-peasy 170 mph (274 km/h) on the Autobahn near Munich before traffic ahead called for a throttle lift that sent regenerative juice to the battery.

Driver controls for infortainment and driving modes sit bewteen the seats. (BMW)

In mellower moments, the sedan and wagon drove on electricity alone at speeds up to 87 mph (140 km/h), with BMW estimating 25 miles (40 km) of electric range. That’s one of five selectable driving modes, including an “eControl” setting that maintains or increases battery charge by upping recuperation or diverting gasoline energy.

Another M console switch tailors settings for the throttle map, transmission, steering, suspension, AWD, brake pedal and energy recuperation. Two red M buttons on a flat-bottomed steering wheel can cut to the chase with stored macro settings. Or, pull the left-hand shift paddle for one second, and a Boost function cranks every powertrain and chassis setting to maximum sportiness.

That includes a bass-heavy growl played through the Bowers & Wilkins audio system that accompanies the natural tune of the V8 and four large-bore, dual-flap tailpipes. A racy interior includes BMW’s Curved Display that conjoins a 12.3-inch driver’s screen and a 14.9-inch center display. An“ Interaction Bar” stripes the dash and door panels with a crystal-like slab that integrates both haptic controls (that actually work) and sizzling lighting tied to vehicle functions. Uhura and Chekov would approve.

The M5 will charge at up to 7.4 kW through its CCS port, replenishing an empty battery in about two hours. But despite its modest electric range, this PHEV is no green superhero. The Euro-spec sedan we drove guzzled premium unleaded at 10 or 11 mpg as it sawed through the Black Forest. Those ripping runs highlighted surprising agility for such a big-boned sedan, and otherworldly grip from staggered 20- and 21-inch tires, shod with Michelin’s new Pilot Sport S 5 rubber. Optional carbon-ceramic brakes brought this monster to heel.

Compared to a civilian 5-Series, the M5’s track is 3.0 inches (76 mm) wider in front and 1.8 inches (46 mm) at the rear. Rack-and-pinion steering is solidly linked to the front axle with no elastic connection. The body structure is stiffened, and the suspension – dual wishbone front, five-link rear – was comprehensively reworked and reinforced, including a beefy strut-tower brace.

The 2025 M5 comes with Michelin’s new Pilot Sport S 5 tires. (BMW)

This lane-hogging M5 never felt lightweight, but its chassis magic might convince you it weighs closer to 4,500 lbs (2,041 kg) than 5,500. An M adaptive suspension mates with an xDrive AWD system that can adjust for generous rear-wheel bias (the best set-up for balanced performance) or sideline the front axle entirely. The superlative M active differential performs tricks found on the big-boned X5M and X6M SUVs, overdriving the outside rear wheel, with no brake interventions, to help the M5 rotate and dig out of corners. Integral Active Steering delivers another palpable gain in handling and stability, pivoting rear wheels up to 1.5 degrees.

The 2025 M5 sedan starts from $120,675, including a $1,175 destination charge. That rises to $122,675 for the Touring model, perhaps history’s most powerful wagon. For engineering types who lose sleep over excess mass, BMW offers its own Ozempic: An optional carbon-fiber roof package that trims 66 pounds (30 kg).