2025 BMW M5 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This model year marks the beginning of a new M5 generation that features significantly different styling throughout to match the rest of BMW’s current lineup. The latest M5’s looks are definitely subjective — perhaps the most subjective that the brand has ever produced. But its clean body lines, LED lighting package, precision-engineered panel gaps, and bank-vault-like doors do a good job justifying its $151,814 Canadian price tag, a figure that includes a $2,555 destination charge, the federal government’s luxury tax, and other fees.

Inside, the cabin retains the massive single screen of the previous generation, containing both the gauge cluster and centre infotainment software, iDrive controller for navigating through said screen, and piano black plastic galore. One neat new feature is how the centre dash trim changes colour, particularly when switching between Road and Sport driving modes. It’s otherwise customizable with a host of other interior lighting features.

Then there’s the ability to change airflow via haptic control on each of the front passenger compartment’s vents. We’re not sure this is an adjustment that consumers were begging to be haptically controlled, and altering the direction of airflow is still done via a manual wheel hidden lower on the dash, but it works without much issue and contributes to the interior’s overall clean aesthetic.

Overall, the 2025 BMW M5’s interior materials feel solid and well screwed together. There wasn’t any hint of squeak or rattle while driving around. Besides the litany of fingerprints that’ll inevitably show up on its piano black construction, utilizing the centre console’s sheet of buttons to change settings and modes felt nice to the touch, producing a confident thump while pressing down to change driving modes and other settings like the exhaust system’s volume level.

As a product of BMW’s M division, this musclebound 5 Series packs some serious powertrain specs. Beneath its hood lives a 4.4-litre twin turbo V8 producing 577 horsepower and 533 pound-feet of torque. Additionally, attached to the M5’s eight-speed automatic transmission is an electric motor that receives power from a 14.8-kilowatt-hour battery pack, which pitches in 194 hp and 207 lb-ft. That brings peak power to an astonishing 717 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque at 5,600 and 1,800 rpm, respectively. A standard xDrive all-wheel drive (AWD) system manages that tremendous power.

Curb weight may come in at a hefty 2,445 kilograms (5,390 pounds), but the M5 is still blindingly quick: 0 to 100 km/h takes 3.5 seconds according to BMW, and triple-digit speeds arrive awfully soon after. Battery-sourced torque is easy to discern from what’s coming from the V8’s crankshaft, but we’re not complaining. This latest M5 is a riot to launch off the line or to merge onto the highway. Top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h in the base configuration, but the limit can be raised to 305 km/h with the optional M Driver’s Package ($2,500).

Also impressive considering its weight is how well this rotund M car carves through a winding mountain road. Rear-wheel steering, combined with trick differentials, adaptive dampers, and sporty suspension tuning give the M5 a surprising amount of agility with great steering response and barely any body roll under hard cornering. Overall feel was lacking, though, especially in the front end while ripping along at speed.

Yet, despite this strong propensity for lateral and longitudinal g-force thrills, we were disappointed in the soundtrack, which was overall way too quiet. Whether intake- or exhaust-sourced (the latter having two settings), we could barely hear the engine at wide-open throttle, or even in town, when the noise should have been bouncing off walls and parked cars. There ought to be a clear distinction in decibels between the two modes: not “quiet” and “ever-so-slightly-less quiet.”

For in-town everyday driving, our tester rode generally well with its dampers set to Comfort. But even that mode leaned a bit too far towards enthusiastic when the road surface got rough, causing the suspension to exhibit some choppiness and even faint clunking. This further emphasized the overly quiet soundtrack. If an enthusiast-geared sports sedan possesses a ride quality that errs on the side of performance, it should have a raucous sound to complete the overall package.

As the M5 is now a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), we spent plenty of time tooling around in electric-only mode, which can be used for up to 43 kilometres at a time, with decent acceleration for around-town driving. Since the electric motor interfaces with the gearbox, its power is sent through the conventional drivetrain. Power delivery and shifts were smooth, though they got a tad jerky at full throttle.

As in many PHEVs, there’s a notch in the accelerator pedal that fires up the gasoline engine if you push past it, sort of like the kick-down switch in non-hybrid cars with automatic transmissions. If you do that regularly, though, you’ll be living with high fuel consumption. We saw around 20 L/100 km during our time with the M5, well above Natural Resources Canada’s estimate of 17.3 L/100 km in combined driving while in hybrid mode.

Inside, our tester was quite spacious and accommodating, even for a six-foot-three-inch driver's frame. But that’s to be expected of a car measuring 1,970 mm wide with a 3,006-mm wheelbase. Heated and vented seats are standard, overall visibility is quite good, and front seat headroom and legroom (996 and 1,052 mm, respectively) are quite commodious. Not only that, but the steering wheel’s tilt and telescoping allowed us to bring it very close, more so than most other modern performance cars, enabling a perfect performance driving position.

In back, passengers get all the benefits of the M5’s massive size, too, with 954 mm of headroom, though legroom is 928 mm, roughly 12 centimetres less than in the first row of seats. Still, we were able to sit behind our adjusted driver’s-seat position with ease.

Due to the spatial needs of the battery pack and various other added-on components, Hybrid versions of a given vehicle often have less trunk space than non hybrid. However, the M5 still offers 530 litres for storage, and the trunk itself is shaped in a way that’s easy to load and unload. If that’s not enough, a BMW M5 Touring wagon is newly available in North America, with 500 litres of space behind its rear seats. Drop those rear seats, and it becomes a downright cavernous 1,630 litres.

The 2025 BMW M5 runs on the brand’s iDrive 8.5 infotainment software. It operates in a generally smooth and lag-free manner within a 14.9-inch centre screen, though there’s a learning curve to it for the uninitiated. However, as in other BMW M cars, we liked that the iDrive controller situated in the centre console is joined by a handful of shortcut buttons, plus two customizable M-setting buttons on top of the steering wheel. Drivers can use the iDrive controller itself to do their scrolling and selecting, rather than tapping the screen, which we appreciate.

Connectivity features include Bluetooth, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and USB-C outlets in the front and rear seat area. Pairing an iPhone was quick and easy, and unlike other BMWs we’ve tested in the past couple of years, it didn’t become excruciatingly hot after sitting on the wireless charging pad for a while.

The 2025 BMW M5 is fitted with standard automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane-keep assist, speed limit info, and blind-spot monitoring. Additionally, BMW’s Parking Assistant Professional, which used to be an optional extra, is now standard and includes backup assist, a 360-degree camera system, and great resolution for the rearview camera.

Our tester was also equipped with the $2,000 Advanced Driver Assistance package, which adds side collision protection, adaptive cruise control, and what BMW calls Traffic Jam Assistant. This allows for hands-free driving at up to 65 km/h in stop-and-go traffic. We found it easy to quickly switch on, and its operation was quite smooth and natural.

Keeping the mighty M5’s speed in check are 16.1-inch front and 15.7-inch rear brakes with multi-piston calipers, though our tester sported optional M carbon ceramic brakes (an $10,900 option) which had great bite and feel. They got loud after putting a lot of heat in them on a fun, twisty road, but were very resistant to fade.

At the time of this writing, the 2025 BMW M5 has not been tested by either the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), although that's somewhat expected. Neither organization typically crash-tests high-value vehicles.

At its absolute base level, the $151,814 BMW M5 sedan offers a lot of standard equipment, including AWD, rear-wheel steering, and impressive-though-compromised dynamics. The Touring wagon offers all of these same attributes at a $149,534 starting price.

Our tester’s M carbon ceramic brakes ($10,900), Advanced Driver Assistance package ($2,000), M Carbon Exterior Package ($4,000), M Driver’s Package ($2,500), and carbon fibre inlays with silver thread ($1,000) brought its Canadian as-tested price up to $171,494. That also includes a $2,555 destination charge and the federal luxury tax plus other fees, but we’d say it’s an overall compelling package considering the level of performance, space, and luxury the M5 delivers.

When it comes to the M5’s competition, several sedans squab in this arena, including Cadillac’s CT5-V Blackwing, the Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid, and Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid, as well as the Audi RS6 Avant wagon.

The 668-hp Blackwing is beloved by our colleagues in automotive media and is the second-least-expensive of the lot, starting at $113,727. For AWD aficionados, Audi’s RS6 starts at a lofty $151,840, but we can’t fault its voracious twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8, excellent looks, and overall athletic stats. The Mercedes-Benz E53 Hybrid produces a still-impressive 604 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, and is the value pick of the litter starting at just $105,000 (though this price is before fees). The Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid starts at $223,100 before fees, puts out a combined 670 hp (771 hp in the more expensive S model), will hit 100 km/h in as little as 3.2 seconds, and can even travel up to 50 kilometres on electric power alone.

Note: Images show a US model.