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BMW M5 CS review

4 years ago

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Writer:

Dan Prosser | Ti co-founder

Date:

3 June 2021

Four-up drag racing? High-speed passenger rides around the Nordschleife? Otherwise I’m afraid I don’t really know what the BMW M5 CS is for. Here’s a saloon car that weighs two tonnes with a driver and some fuel on board, has more power than any other BMW M-car, is much more demanding in normal use than the far cheaper M5 Competition and that has two individual bucket seats in the rear rather than a more useful three-person bench.

And CS? Really? CS stands for clubsport. I think that sort of designation should be reserved for the sort of performance car that one might conceivably use in amateur-level motorsport, like hillclimbing or sprinting. Imagine turning up to an autosolo in a huge four-door saloon car. Everybody else would think you’d got lost on your way to the airport. Lashings of carbon fibre and ceramic brakes mean the CS is 70kg lighter than the M5 Competition. 

It also sits 7mm closer to the road on retuned suspension. Inside it has the seats from the M3 and M4, which look superb and are very supportive, but you’d probably think rather less of them after three or four hours in their bony embrace. At least you’ll get wherever you’re going rather quickly. This thing launches to 62mph in three seconds flat, proving EVs don’t have a monopoly on physically uncomfortable standing start acceleration just yet. 

Looks fantastic, doesn’t it? The Frozen Deep Green paint; the bronze accents. As I lay eyes on it for the first time, my cynicism begins to recede. I wish whoever at BMW sketched the M5 CS would have a stern word with the rest of the marque’s design department. Fire the engine, let it warm through, pin the throttle… In doing so, all remaining scepticism for the CS will be yanked from you and sent tumbling out behind in the tumult of the V8 soundtrack. 

Like other M5s of this generation it has a rear-drive mode, but by default the CS powers all four corners, which is just as well. It allows you to use the power and torque with abandon, even in the wet. There’s pin-sharp steering, near flawless body control, a firm ride but not a crashy one and the sort of edgy chassis balance that means you have more to do than just manage understeer. I adored this car. But no, I still don’t know who or what it’s for. 

BMW M5 CS
Engine: 4395cc, V8, twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed auto, 4WD
Power: 626bhp @ 6000rpm
Torque: 553lb ft @ 1800-5950rpm
Weight: 1900kg
Power-to-weight ratio: 330bhp/tonne
0-62mph: 3.0 seconds
Top speed: 189mph
MPG: 25
Price: £140,780
Ti rating: 8/10
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