5Series spent a week in the current gen BMW M5 and learned that one its most delightful secret isn’t even in the motor.
When I learned I was going to get the keys to the 2018 BMW M5 for a week, I smiled. Daydreams of flying through the Texas Hill Country’s curviest roads filled my head. Once I was behind the wheel, everything seemed to happen quickly (as it should in an M car), but this is what I remember.
Beauty…
Making a car look aggressive is easy. You bore out the front end and fill the holes with air intakes, add different wheels, and bolt on a loud exhaust: Job done. Based on those design cues, the M5 certainly looks like a car with 600 horsepower. However, BMW’s designers also made the most potent 5 Series look graceful and double-take beautiful. My $129,795 tester’s stunning Marina Bay Blue paint certainly helped. So did its stance. The M5’s bodywork draped perfectly over the optional two-tone 20-inch M wheels, particularly in the rear.
Those barely obscured the set of $8,500 M carbon ceramic brakes behind them. A lip spoiler subtly hinted at the M5’s performance potential, which the optional M Driver’s Package bumped up to 189 mph. The quad exhaust finishers flanked a tastefully large diffuser. The M5 was such a looker that whenever I got out of it, I didn’t just want to drive it again. I wanted to get another eyeful of it.
…and the Beast
The 2018 M5 has a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 like its predecessor, but the S63B44T4 has twin-scroll turbos and other enhancements that help it crank out 600 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque.
That’s paired with a new eight-speed automatic with three levels of shift speed and, a first for the M5, all-wheel drive. The M xDrive setup is a rear-biased system that can operate in three modes and with varying levels of Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). 4WD can be used with or without DSC. 4WD Sport automatically engages M Dynamic Mode (MDM), which shuffles more power to the rear and lets the driver have more fun before DSC kicks in. It can also be used with DSC off. 2WD is DSC-free.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
