• Howick and Pakuranga Times
 

SUBTLE STYLE: Apart from massive brake rotors, painted callipers, and gills in the front guards, there’s not a lot to set M5 apart from the mainstream 5 Series models. Photo supplied.

“Okay, you just went into that corner at 195km/h, but you didn’t start braking until the 100-metre mark,” remarked accomplished racing driver and BMW Driver Training instructor Mike Eady.

“BMWs are beautifully engineered and extremely safe, but you can’t overcome the laws of physics.”

We were on the media launch for the all-new BMW M5 and celebration of 40 years of BMW ‘M’ cars, at Hampton Downs race circuit. I was half way through a hot lap in the M5, and Eady was riding shotgun.
“What are you trying to say, Mike?” I replied.

The question was rhetorical, but Eady answered it anyway: “You should brake earlier and harder. A lot harder.”

But the M5’s dynamic stability control, and a raft of other braking and traction aids, did their thing seamlessly and without fuss. I got off the brakes, turned in, and apart from some tyre squeal it was drama free.
I’m sure that in a lesser car we would have got up close and personal with the tyre wall.

The thing is, I significantly underestimated my speed. The M5 is that kind of car.

I was concentrating on being smooth and keeping my lines tidy, and didn’t glance at the speedo. I’d have picked it at 140ish, not almost the double metric tonne.

M5 can be anything you want it to be: supercar-like performance for the circuit, slingshot-like acceleration when overtaking or a docile daily driver for that Saturday morning grocery run.

The automotive equivalent of a Lear jet, M5 is like piloting your lounge around: whisper quiet, with oodles of comfort and convenience features and leather-clad goodness.

But push one of the two programmable ‘M’ buttons on the steering wheel and it takes on the persona of a street fighter. The exhaust growls, the suspension firms up, the engine mapping changes and it’s all go.