The new BMW M5 sedan, with its 500 horsepower engine, is in the same league as the Mercedes-Benz E55 AMB and the Audi RS6. All three carmakers quote a 0 to 62 miles per hour time of 4.7 seconds, and all three are capable of a top speed of 155 miles per hour. The BMW M5 is different from its competitors, however, in that it feels like it was designed and built by people with a passion for driving.

The new BMW M5 sedan, with its 500 horsepower engine, is in the same league as the Mercedes-Benz E55 AMB and the Audi RS6. All three carmakers quote a 0 to 62 miles per hour time of 4.7 seconds, and all three are capable of a top speed of 155 miles per hour. The BMW M5 is different from its competitors, however, in that it feels like it was designed and built by people with a passion for driving.

This five seater sedan can be fine tuned to the preferences and driving style of each buyer, a sure sign that those building it understand drivers and what makes them tick. The engine, transmission, steering, traction control and damper characteristics can all by calibrated by those who feel the need to fine tune the performance of this fine automobile.

The BMW M5 features a 5.0 liter V-10 engine with three performance programs, the P400 (400 horsepower), P500 (500 horsepower) and P500 S (500 horses in sync with an ultra sharp throttle action). The transmission can be told to operate in automatic or sequential mode and at what shift speed. The Servotronic steering system can be designed to be responsive or extra responsive, and the stability control system can be set to operate continually, set to allow a level of tire slip, or even turned off altogether. In addition, the electronic damping control (EDC) button allows the driver to easily switch suspension modes from comfortable to normal to sporty.

These systems are accessed through a system BMW calls iDrive. This onboard mouse can be somewhat cumbersome to use, and the Servotronic and dynamic traction control systems require that the user access various submenus to set them correctly. Fortunately, many of these features can be stored and accessed via a star button on the steering wheel. The steering wheel also features an M button. By pushing the M button, the driver automatically shifts the power output to 50 horsepower, switches the skid control system to dynamic mode, stiffens the damping system and sets the preferred shift speed. This system makes it easy to customize the driving experience of the M5 without using the awkward iDrive system.

The steering of the M5 is balanced and fluid, and it performed well on a slalom course. There was somewhat of a struggle to keep body movement to an acceptable level, particularly in comfort mode. This can be corrected, however, by stiffening up the damping. When the damping was made tauter, the cornering flattened out and the chosen line became much more stable.

The M5 features an aluminum rear suspension that has been specially modified for the M5. The mounts have been replaced with stiffer bushings, and the drive shafts have been made stiffer as well. Like the smaller M3, the M5 has been fitted with a progressive limited slip differential which automatically shifts most of the torque to the wheel that needs it the most.

This torque is transferred to the differential using a new seven speed sequential transmission. This seven speed transmission gives the driver an incredible amount of control over the performance of the car, but it has some drawbacks as well. One of the most significant issues is the one of the shift paddles, which are attached to the steering wheel instead of the steering column. While this design is perfect for racetracks, it is not so practical in real world driving.

In the real world, as soon as the driver changes the grip on the wheel, he or she has lost track of the silver flaps on the steering wheel. The driver can rely on the shift lever, as long as he or she remembers to downshift by pulling back and upshift by pulling forward.

The V-10 engine in the M5, however is a remarkable piece of engineering. One unique feature is the fact that the V-10 comes in two different horsepower configurations. When the car first starts, it is running at 400 horsepower. To access 100 more horses, the driver presses the Power or M button. When in 500 horsepower mode, the M5 can leap from 0 to 125 mph in a mere 14.4 seconds. BMW says this dual horsepower configuration was designed as a way to cut down on fuel consumption.

All in all the BMW M5 is a fine car for the discriminating driver. Despite a few minor quibbles, we found in the M5 proof that the folks at BMW love to drive, and they love to build cars to satisfy drivers looking for that extra spirit.