Super-fast M5 is now a real city slicker

Road test
BMW M5
Top speed: 155mph (limited); Combined fuel consumption (claimed): 28.5mpg; Emissions: 232g/km; Price: £73,040.

Ever since BMW launched its first M5 in 1985, the model has been a byword for super-fast, thrilling saloons. But drive one slowly through town and it was about as co-operative as a five-year-old on a sugar rush.

Now there's a new fifth-generation M5 and it's faster than ever, but this one is also happy to noodle through city streets with perfect manners.

Mind you, at the first sniff of an open road its 560 horsepower and neck-straining acceleration (0-62mph in 4.4 seconds) show you that under the skin it is still the same raving lunatic it always was.

It's a little longer, wider and lower than before, and as well as being 10 per cent more powerful than the outgoing model, its CO2 emissions of 232g/km are 30 per cent lower than the old V10-engined M5. It's 30 per cent better on fuel, too, managing 28.5mpg, which is remarkable for an almost two-ton car with this sort of performance.

Its 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, working through a seven-speed double clutch gearbox, is surprisingly quiet, and even has stop/start to boost economy. The M5's styling is a study of restrained aggression, and it didn't look over-the-top from any angle.

Electronic aids can also be adjusted to allow the M5 to be wayward enough to be fun. This may not be the perfect super-fast five-seater but it makes a darned good fist of trying, and even at £73,040 it's easy to see where all the money goes.