2018 BMW M5 Review: Super Sedan That Changed Everything

Six hundred horsepower. All-wheel drive. Four doors. Full luxury interior. Zero to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds. When the F90 BMW M5 arrived for the 2018 model year, it didn’t just raise the bar for super sedans. It effectively redefined what the category was capable of delivering to buyers who refused to choose between outright performance and daily livability.

The 2018 BMW M5 represented BMW M’s most ambitious engineering undertaking in the nameplate’s history. For the first time, the M5 adopted all-wheel drive through BMW’s M xDrive system, a decision that divided purists but ultimately proved itself through the sheer breadth of capability it delivered. This is the car that made 600 horsepower accessible, manageable, and genuinely usable by drivers of varying skill levels without neutering the performance in the process.

Restrained Power: Design That Lets Performance Speak

The 2018 BMW M5’s design philosophy follows a familiar M division approach for full-size performance sedans: communicate performance intent through considered detail rather than visual drama, allowing the car to surprise observers who didn’t anticipate what sits beneath the relatively composed exterior.

The F90 M5 body is wider than the standard G30 5 Series that underlies it, with broader front and rear track accommodated by discreet arch extensions that widen the stance without dramatic visual flaring. The M-specific front bumper with enlarged kidney grille surround, prominent air intakes, and front lip elements provides genuine aerodynamic function alongside visual differentiation from the standard car. The hood features subtle power dome surfacing that adds tension to the front body without the overt bulges that smaller M cars use to signal their performance intent.

The side profile reveals very little that separates the M5 from an attentive passenger’s view, which is precisely the intention. Door sill extensions, M5 badging, and the 20-inch M-specific alloy wheels are the primary side identifiers for those who look carefully. The rear end is where the M5 announces itself most clearly with quad exhaust outlets, a rear diffuser element, and a subtle trunk lid spoiler that manage rear downforce while maintaining the elegant proportions of a full-size luxury sedan.

Competition Package cars add gloss black exterior trim elements and specific wheel designs that sharpen the overall visual presentation considerably. Most M5 buyers by 2018 were choosing Competition specification, making the standard car’s more restrained exterior treatment the less common sight in M5 ownership communities.

Executive Performance: Inside the 2018 BMW M5

Step into the 2018 BMW M5 and the interior immediately communicates that this is a vehicle where luxury and performance intent coexist without either compromising the other. BMW M has executed that balance more successfully in the F90 than in any preceding M5 generation.

Merino leather upholstery on most specifications covers front seats that combine executive car comfort with M-specific lateral bolstering sufficient for the performance driving the car is designed to enable. The seat width, cushion support, and adjustability range serve the full spectrum of body types that executive sedan buyers encompass, which is a broader range than dedicated performance car seats typically accommodate without compromise. Heating, ventilation, and massaging functions available on upper specifications transform the M5 into a genuinely therapeutic long-distance companion for buyers who cover significant motorway mileage regularly.

The iDrive system with 10.25-inch touchscreen represents a meaningful advance in BMW’s infotainment development over the rotary-controller-only systems of the F82 era, adding touchscreen operation alongside the retained rotary controller to deliver a dual-input interface that suits different interaction preferences and driving scenarios. Voice recognition capability improved substantially with this generation, handling natural language commands more consistently than predecessor systems managed. The overall technology provision reflects an executive car brief rather than a pure performance car approach, which suits the M5’s dual mission perfectly.

The M-specific instrument cluster features dedicated M information displays including G-force readouts, lap timing functionality, and real-time power output graphics that keep enthusiast buyers connected to the car’s performance data during spirited driving. Ambient lighting with multiple color options allows the M5 to adapt its cabin atmosphere to driving mood and time of day, which sounds superficial but genuinely transforms the subjective interior experience during evening driving.

Carbon fiber interior trim pieces, available through several option packages and the broader Individual customization program, add visual drama and weight reduction in equal measure. By 2018 BMW’s carbon fiber interior execution had reached a quality level that justified the premium these options represent, with panel fitment and lacquer finish quality that earlier generations had occasionally fallen short of delivering consistently.

Rear seat accommodation is a genuine M5 strength that the M3 and M4 simply cannot match. Four adults sit with executive car space and comfort, with rear legroom, headroom, and seat width that serve long-distance family travel without compromise. The rear center console extends the M5’s interior quality rearward, and heated rear seats on upper specifications extend thermal comfort to passengers who matter as much as the driver in real family use.

The S63 Engine and 2018 BMW M5 Performance: 600 Reasons to Pay Attention

The S63 twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 engine produces 600 horsepower and 750 Nm of torque in standard M5 specification, with the Competition Package lifting output to 617 horsepower. These are numbers that require processing in their context: delivered to all four wheels through M xDrive in a full-size luxury sedan weighing approximately 1,855 kilograms, they produce performance that was genuinely supercar-adjacent at the car’s launch and remains deeply impressive by any current benchmark.

Zero to 62 mph arrives in 3.4 seconds in standard specification and 3.3 seconds in Competition form through the eight-speed M Steptronic automatic transmission. The M5 does not offer a manual gearbox option, which reflects the engineering reality that an 8-speed automatic is the superior transmission choice for the V8’s torque output and the AWD system’s power management requirements. The eight-speed’s performance calibration in Sport and Sport Plus modes delivers gear changes with a sharpness that satisfies even committed manual gearbox advocates in the context of a car producing this level of performance.

Floor the throttle from any speed and the S63 responds with a surge of power that is genuinely shocking in its immediacy and sustained intensity. The twin turbos in V8 configuration build boost with minimal detectable lag, and the torque delivery from 1,800 rpm through to the 7,200 rpm red line is unrelenting in a way that smaller displacement turbocharged engines cannot fully replicate. This is an engine with the physical presence of a large displacement V8 combined with the performance amplification of twin turbochargers, and the result is a powertrain experience that stands apart from everything else in the super sedan segment.

M xDrive manages the 600 horsepower with three operating modes that fundamentally change the M5’s driving character. In 4WD mode the system provides maximum traction and stability for all conditions, enabling drivers of any experience level to access the car’s full performance potential confidently. The 4WD Sport mode introduces a rear-biased torque distribution that allows more driver-managed oversteer while retaining meaningful all-wheel-drive safety net. The RWD mode removes the front axle entirely from the drive equation, transforming the M5 into a rear-wheel-drive performance car for experienced drivers on appropriate roads or track environments.

This choice between modes is the M5’s most distinctive feature and the engineering achievement that makes its extreme performance more accessible than the raw numbers might suggest. A driver can choose the AWD confidence of 4WD mode for a wet commute and switch to RWD mode on a dry track day, extracting the full rear-wheel-drive driver engagement from the same vehicle without modification. No competitor in the super sedan segment managed this breadth of configurable driving character as effectively at launch.

The chassis tuning for the F90 M5 reflects the additional complexity that managing 600 horsepower through all-wheel drive imposes on the engineering brief. Active M differential on the rear axle manages torque distribution between the rear wheels with the progressive, readable behavior that BMW M has refined across multiple M product generations. The adaptive suspension spans from a genuinely comfortable executive car ride quality in Comfort mode to a sharply controlled performance platform in Sport Plus that maintains composure through fast corners at speeds that most drivers will never approach on public roads.

As the experienced automotive specialists at Vicarious Magazine documented in their comprehensive 2018 BMW M5 review, the F90 M5 delivered a breadth of performance capability combined with luxury sedan practicality that set a new standard for the super sedan category at its launch, raising expectations across the segment in a way that all subsequent competitors have had to address.

Fuel Economy: Super Sedan Running Costs Honestly Considered

The 2018 BMW M5’s S63 twin-turbocharged V8 delivers fuel economy that is meaningful compared to the naturally aspirated V10 of the E60 M5 it effectively succeeds at this displacement level, while reflecting honest expectations for a 600-horsepower performance sedan.

Official combined figures sit around 20 to 22 mpg depending on specification and market, with real-world returns for owners using the M5 primarily as a luxury daily driver with occasional performance driving typically landing in the high teens to low twenties in mixed conditions. Steady motorway cruising in the upper automatic transmission ratios produces the best real-world figures, with the S63’s broad torque allowing relaxed engine speeds at highway pace that contribute to economy figures some M5 owners find better than anticipated.

The M xDrive system’s 4WD mode contributes to efficiency compared to RWD mode by optimizing torque distribution across all four wheels, reducing the powertrain strain that rear-only traction management can impose during acceleration. For buyers whose primary use is long-distance motorway travel, the system’s intelligent torque management provides a meaningful efficiency advantage over a comparable rear-wheel-drive V8 performance sedan in normal driving conditions.

Maintenance costs for the S63 engine at this age require honest budget planning. The S63’s complexity, including its twin-turbo system, high-pressure direct injection, and V8-specific maintenance requirements, means that ownership costs between major service intervals can be significant. BMW M specialist rates rather than main dealer pricing make meaningful financial sense for buyers managing long-term M5 ownership economics. Budget proactively for these requirements rather than discovering them reactively during ownership.

Safety and Technology: Comprehensive Executive Performance Package

The 2018 BMW M5 carries comprehensive active safety and driver assistance technology that reflects an executive car brief alongside its performance credentials, recognizing that M5 buyers expect full safety system breadth as standard in a vehicle at this price point.

Standard active safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning with active correction, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors with reversing camera, and speed limit recognition with display integration. The Driving Assistance Professional package extends this to include adaptive cruise control with full lane centering for semi-autonomous motorway driving, active side collision protection, and cross-traffic monitoring with braking intervention. For M5 buyers who cover significant motorway mileage, the Professional package’s semi-autonomous capability transforms the quality of those journeys meaningfully.

M-specific safety technology includes the configurable stability control system with multiple modes that allow progressive adjustment from full electronic management to fully driver-managed dynamics, the M xDrive’s three operating modes described above, and the active M differential’s electronic locking function that manages rear axle traction with the sophistication that 600 horsepower and rear-biased torque distribution demands.

The Parking Assistance Plus system with surround view monitor makes managing the M5’s substantial dimensions in tight urban environments significantly less demanding, providing comprehensive situational awareness around a vehicle whose performance priorities can make the driver temporarily forget how large it actually is in a car park.

Trim Levels and Pricing: Standard and Competition

The 2018 BMW M5 range offers two core specifications that create genuinely different ownership experiences rather than merely aesthetic differentiation.

Standard M5 Entry pricing at launch around $103,500 delivers 600 horsepower from the S63 V8, M xDrive all-wheel drive, the eight-speed M Steptronic automatic, adaptive M suspension, active M differential, 10.25-inch iDrive touchscreen, Merino leather upholstery, 20-inch M-specific alloys, and the full M exterior treatment. The standard M5 is comprehensively equipped from entry specification and requires no package additions to deliver the complete performance experience.

M5 Competition Starting around $110,500 at launch, the Competition Package lifts output to 617 horsepower through engine management recalibration, adds revised suspension with stiffer spring rates and revised damper calibration tuned for the sharper performance brief, applies sport exhaust with enhanced acoustic character, adds gloss black exterior elements, and provides specific wheel designs. The Competition transforms the M5’s dynamic character meaningfully, sharpening it for buyers who specifically want the firmest, most focused setup and who accept that the firmer suspension calibration is more demanding on poor road surfaces.

Option packages beyond the Competition designation included the Driving Assistance Professional system, Executive Package with additional comfort and convenience features, Bowers and Wilkins Diamond sound system, carbon ceramic brake option, and BMW Individual color and material choices. Well-specified M5 examples regularly reached $130,000 to $140,000 at original purchase.

Current used market pricing reflects both the F90 M5’s status as an important super sedan generation and the maintenance realities of a complex, high-performance powertrain approaching the end of its first decade.

Pros and Cons: The Complete Super Sedan Assessment

Where the 2018 BMW M5 Excels:

• S63 V8 delivers 600 horsepower with broad, instantly accessible torque from 1,800 rpm
• M xDrive with three modes spans full AWD confidence to pure RWD engagement in one vehicle
• Zero to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds remains genuinely impressive against current alternatives
• Genuine executive sedan luxury with four-seat adult comfort across all rear positions
• Adaptive suspension spans executive comfort to sharp performance convincingly
• Comprehensive active safety suite including semi-autonomous motorway driving capability
• M Drive system with configurable profiles enables rapid transition between daily and performance modes
• Strong used market value supported by enthusiast recognition of the F90 generation’s significance

Honest Limitations to Consider:

• S63 V8 maintenance and repair costs are significant at this age and complexity level
• 600 horsepower in AWD configuration can feel somewhat filtered compared to rear-wheel-drive alternatives for driving purists
• No manual gearbox option removes the engagement that some performance car buyers specifically want
• Competition suspension is demanding on poor urban road surfaces in daily use
• Interior technology has been overtaken by subsequent generation systems in some areas
• Insurance premiums reflect the M5’s performance specification and replacement cost accurately
• Fuel economy during committed performance driving is meaningfully below official figures

Head to Head: 2018 BMW M5 vs. The Super Sedan Competition

The F90 M5 arrived into a competitive field that had developed meaningfully during the preceding generation’s long production run, and it promptly reset the performance expectations across the entire super sedan category.

Versus the Mercedes-AMG E63 S: AMG’s super sedan delivers a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 producing 603 horsepower alongside 4MATIC+ AWD with rear-wheel drive capability. The two cars are the most direct competitors in the segment, with the choice between them often coming down to brand preference and the specific character differences in their AWD systems’ behavior rather than any objective capability gap. The M5’s M xDrive implementation and the AMG’s 4MATIC+ deliver very different driving sensations even with similar performance outcomes.

Versus the Audi RS7: The RS7’s five-door Sportback body delivers more practical cargo capacity alongside comparable performance in a less overtly performance-oriented package. The M5’s sedan body and more explicitly performance-focused engineering make it the stronger driver’s car choice for buyers who prioritize dynamic involvement over load-carrying flexibility.

Versus the Porsche Panamera Turbo: The Panamera delivers a more explicitly luxury-focused experience alongside comparable performance, with Porsche’s chassis development depth producing a genuinely excellent handling balance. The M5 counters with stronger brand heritage in the super sedan segment and the M xDrive’s RWD mode’s engagement that the Panamera’s standard all-wheel drive setup doesn’t replicate.

For buyers who want to understand how the 2018 M5’s performance approach compares to the M division’s compact performance car philosophy at the coupe level, our comprehensive review of the 2018 BMW M4 covers how the shared S55 engineering and M division chassis development philosophy translates to a smaller, lighter, and more focused performance package than the M5’s executive brief demands.

Buyers interested in understanding how the M5’s four-door performance sedan approach compares to the sedan body style at a more accessible price point within the BMW M family will find our detailed assessment of the 2016 BMW M3 a useful reference for understanding what the smaller M3’s rear-wheel-drive character delivers and how significantly the M5’s AWD system and V8 power change the performance conversation.

Who Should Buy the 2018 BMW M5?

The 2018 M5 buyer profile encompasses a broader range of priorities than most M division products, which reflects the vehicle’s genuine breadth of capability across very different usage scenarios.

Executive performance buyers who need a car that genuinely impresses in a business context while remaining capable of embarrassing dedicated sports cars when the opportunity presents itself will find the M5 the most convincing answer to that specific dual requirement at its current used market pricing.

Family performance enthusiasts who need genuine four-seat adult accommodation for regular family use alongside the performance credentials to make every driving opportunity memorable will find the M5 uniquely capable of serving both requirements without meaningful compromise in either direction.

All-weather performance drivers who want to access 600-horsepower performance regardless of seasonal conditions or surface quality will find M xDrive’s 4WD mode provides the traction security that rear-wheel-drive alternatives cannot match in adverse conditions, transforming the M5 into a practical year-round performance car rather than a fair-weather-only proposition.

Driver engagement maximizers who want the option of pure rear-wheel-drive performance in a daily luxury sedan will find the M5’s RWD mode a genuine and uniquely valuable feature that no comparable competitor offered as cleanly or completely at launch, providing access to rear-wheel-drive dynamics in a car that also delivers AWD confidence when conditions demand it.

Used performance value buyers who recognize that the F90 M5’s combination of 600-horsepower V8 performance, M xDrive capability breadth, and executive sedan luxury is available at used market pricing that represents strong performance value against current new alternatives will find the purchase case compelling when backed by thorough pre-purchase inspection and honest maintenance cost planning.

Final Verdict: The 2018 BMW M5 Set a Standard That Still Matters

The 2018 BMW M5 arrived as the most ambitious and most capable M5 in the nameplate’s history, and it delivered on that ambition comprehensively enough to reset the expectations of the entire super sedan segment. Six hundred horsepower managed through M xDrive’s intelligent, configurable all-wheel drive system, delivered in a full-size luxury sedan with executive-grade interior quality and genuine four-seat adult accommodation, represents an engineering achievement that remains impressive regardless of how much time has passed since its introduction.

The maintenance costs of a complex, high-performance V8 at this age, the premium insurance that reflects the car’s performance and replacement cost accurately, and the absence of a manual gearbox for drivers who specifically prioritize that engagement are genuine factors that prospective buyers should assess honestly. None of those considerations diminish what the 2018 M5 is at its core: one of the most complete, most capable, and most versatile performance cars BMW M has ever produced.

The M5 makes its most powerful argument when experienced across the full range of its capability, from a comfortable motorway family run in 4WD mode to a track session in RWD with stability control removed. That breadth of experience in a single vehicle is the M5’s most profound achievement, and it remains deeply compelling for buyers whose lives require more than any narrowly focused performance car can provide.

Find a strong Competition example with comprehensive service history, budget honestly for the ongoing maintenance requirements, have it inspected thoroughly by a BMW M specialist, and experience the full range of the M xDrive modes on appropriate roads. The 2018 BMW M5 makes its strongest case across the complete span of what it can do, and that case remains one of the most extraordinary in the used performance car market.