So, howzabout that new BMW M5, huh? It’s a mighty impressive sounding thing, with 717bhp, active this and carbon fibre that, but there’s no doubt it’s going to cause a bit of a stir with some of the BMW faithful. As a plug-in hybrid, and one that weighs a staggering 2.4 tonnes, it’s pretty far removed from the early days of the M5.
There’s never been a bad M5, and we’re fairly sure this one will keep that record up, but those turned off by its weight and tech overload needn’t look too far for something a bit more to their tastes.
BMW M5 F90 Competition – side
Take the old, F90 M5 Competition. Like the new car, it used a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 and sent its power to all four wheels via an eight-speed auto. Since it wasn’t a hybrid, though, it weighed a whopping 520kg – or roughly an entire Caterham – less than the G90.
Not only that, but it produced 616bhp. While that’s 100 less than the new car on paper, the G90’s only making that power with both the engine and electric motor working at their peak. If you’re running around with the battery depleted – and, if various studies of PHEV charging habits are to go by, plenty of people will a lot of the time – you’ll be lugging around all that extra weight with ‘just’ 578bhp.
BMW M5 F90 Competition – interior
The stats speak for themselves, though: even with a fully charged battery, the new M5 is actually two-tenths slower to 62mph than the old Competition: 3.5 seconds versus 3.3. Top speed is naturally the standard German 155mph for both cars, unless either’s had the option box ticked for the M Driver’s Package.
Then there’s the issue of cost: the new car starts at £110,500, and while we don’t think that’s too bad next to the smaller and underwhelming four-pot Mercedes C63, it’s still a big old chunk. The old Competition, meanwhile, seems to be getting a bit of a battering with the depreciation stick.
BMW M5 F90 Competition – front detail
We’ve found this one, a three-year-old car in the rather fetching shade of – we think – Snapper Rocks Blue. Having been registered in March 2021, it’s covered a mere 15,337 miles from new – about 5,000 a year, in other words.
As usual, there are a couple of possible caveats. It’s a few months out of BMW’s factory three-year warranty, so a third-party one might be worth looking into for peace of mind. The selling dealer has also covered the plates so we can’t check its MOT history, but at any rate, it’ll only have had the one since being registered, and we’re not aware of any major F90 horror stories.
BMW M5 F90 Competition – rear
And you really can’t ignore the price. Listed for £58,750, this is a modern, low-mileage 616bhp BMW super saloon for not much more than some of today’s more in-demand hot hatches. More importantly, it’s less than half the price of a new M5 – and you may well be able to embarrass the new kid on a drag strip.
