The 2019 Automobile All-Stars winners could be revealed on Saturday, March nine at eleven:00 am Eastern, but first, we’re introducing—in no precise order—many of the contenders each day this week. Head here for an All-Stars preview, and be sure to check lower back all week to look at the contenders as they’re introduced!
BMW’s revitalized M5 arrived too overdue for our 2018 festivities. Still, it brought its sparkling arsenal of hardware to the 2019 All-Stars mashup, most substantially a walloping six hundred-hp V-eight and all-wheel pressure to wrangle all those ponies. “What a stonking motor!” gushed our seasoned racer, Andy Pilgrim, who praised its well-damped suspension despite its hefty footprint. The enthusiasm prolonged to the M5’s excessive-pace street ride abilities, inspiring editor-at-massive Arthur St. Antoine to exclaim, “Damn, this thing is right!” after piloting the five-passenger Bavarian from Los Angeles thru the California wilderness, announcing, “It made speed like Ghirardelli makes chocolate,” and that its “almost 4, three hundred pounds felt 1,000 pounds lighter at the music.” Executive editor Mac Morrison said, “This is the first new M5. I’ve enjoyed this plenty since the E39 era, which changed over 15 years ago. Yikes.”
The M5’s versatility and rear-biased all-wheel-drive gadget inspired a spark of hope from folks who say BMWs of late have battled an identification disaster. “BMW’s M Series had this thread, misplaced it, but is getting it back quickly. And luckily,” contributor Steven Cole Smith said. The M5’s capabilities have been strong enough to sway contributor Jethro Bovingdon away from Mercedes-AMG’s charismatic contender. “I suppose the E63 S stole the hearts and minds of Maximum,” he said, “but I choose the M5. It doesn’t supply equal instant gratification, but I think its depths of skills run deeper. The all-wheel-pressure machine is extra herbal and steady—the Merc punches energy to the rear, then snatches it returned to the front after you’ve had a bit of spike of oversteer. In contrast, the M5 continually feels like a rear-driver blessed with freakishly desirable traction.” A high reward is coming from Automobile’s resident float whisperer.
Not all have been enthralled with the sedan’s interface, but with a not unusual chorus criticizing the plethora of switchgear that belies BMW’s original, iDrive-centered imaginative and prescient of sparsity. “Too many rattling buttons, which describes the state of the sports sedan, in general, these days,” echoed Detroit editor Todd Lassa. “Just beginning the automobile after which certainly riding off become intimidating.” Still, others have been disappointed by using the finer points of BMW’s driving dynamics, even though it’s close to the supercar-like performance envelope. “Authoritative, rapid, composed, heavy, and without tons soul,” contributor Ronald Ahrens lamented. “I respect the auto; its functionality is wonderful, but it appeared indifferent to the driving force.”
While capabilities editor Rory Jurnecka marveled at the beast being a “big, heavy rocket ship,” he has also known it as “too big and indistinct to be very engaging,” an unlucky portrayal for a sport-focused six-parent sedan. With others referring to the steering as “unintuitive” and the overall revel in as “clinical and overly technoid,” the M5 sadly overlooked its self-proclaimed goal as the closing riding device—and standing as an Automobile All-Star.
