The 2025 BMW M5 Touring review: Way more power, way too much weight

Summary

Basic functions like adjusting the fan speed of the air conditioning system require taking your attention off of the road to call up the comfort settings on the display, and if you dare to venture further down the rabbit hole to adjust something else, you’ll find an app drawer-style menu filled with ambiguously named icons that rarely get you where you want to go the first time out. Do I change the damper stiffness by pressing the M Mode button on the center console, or is it in the Drivetrain and chassis submenu under Driving Settings? The answer is neither. (In fact, you should use iDrive’s excellent voice commands so you can keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road—Ed.) With adjustments for throttle response, brake regeneration, steering weight, brake pedal responsiveness, transmission behavior, all-wheel drive system modes, simulated engine noise volume, and other performance-related features, you can create literally hundreds of different combinations of vehicle settings, but thankfully, the aforementioned M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel provide an easy way to call up one of your two favorite presets on the fly. The bigger concern, though, is how all of these augmentations and enhancements seem to conspire to hide the shortcomings of BMW’s design decisions but aren’t successful in doing so. This will be the last generation of BMW iDrive to use a rotary controller, and we'll miss it. Bradley Iger This will be the last generation of BMW iDrive to use a rotary controller, and we'll miss it. Bradley Iger CarPlay is present and correct. And not at an additional upcharge. Bradley Iger CarPlay is present and correct. And not at an additional upcharge. Bradley Iger This will be the last generation of BMW iDrive to use a rotary controller, and we'll miss it. Bradley Iger CarPlay is present and correct. And not at an additional upcharge. Bradley Iger Chassis upgrades are a prerequisite for an M car, and with an M-tuned adaptative suspension, additio...