Freed of the troubling ride that undermines lesser Fives, it’s easier to appreciate the M5’s cabin for the excellent piece of design that it is. Crisply styled and most beautifully built, it’s a refreshing contrast to the wood and leather of the Jaguar XJR and the fussier finish of the Mercedes E55.
It’s hard to fault the driving position or the wonderful sports seats, whose side bolsters move in to clamp you in place as you turn the key. If that doesn’t heighten the anticipation, nothing will.
Of course, it’s not all perfect. The gearshift occasionally gets jerky in town and the iDrive still infuriates some drivers, despite its growing ubiquity.
The M5’s UK specification has to be finalised, but expect satellite navigation and the useful Head Up Display, to be standard.
Otherwise the cabin’s like any other Five’s: much bigger than the old car’s, but not as big as an E-class’s and really only suitable for four owing to the unyielding centre-rear cushion.
For all its sensible, practical four-door credentials, M5 ownership remains an indulgence. Depreciation has traditionally been heavy on super-saloons such as this and, though the latest version’s novelty will no doubt boost prices to start with, the long-term view seems less favourable.
Company car drivers will be taxed at the full 35 per cent of the list price, as they would for any of the BMW’s rivals, and fuel costs are likely to be just as painful. Even our gentle touring route couldn’t yield more than 22mpg, while owners making full use of the performance shouldn’t be surprised to see numbers worryingly close to the 12mpg we recorded over a weekend of mixed driving, or even the 6.9mpg recorded during performance testing. It’s compounded by the M5’s frustratingly short range, the result of a 70-litre petrol tank that is ludicrously small given the car’s thirst and its mile-mashing qualities; a sub-300 mile range is unacceptable