BMW M5 CS Fast Fleet test – 9000 miles in the eCoty-winning supersaloon

Well, we were wrong. The BMW M5 CS prevailed at eCoty 2021, edging out the fabulous Lamborghini Huracán STO along the way, but after six months in its company and getting to know it in intimate detail, we all agree it’s a bit of an old clunker. Stupid seats. Gold grille. Automatic ’box. Need I go on? I’m not sure what we were thinking back on those amazing roads in Scotland. M5 CS beats Porsche 992 GT3? Or Ferrari SF90? Come on… that’s ridiculous. 

BMW finally collected the M5 CS after we’d accrued some 9000 miles in the UK and Europe, on road and track. The plan for YH21 FWW was for it to be inducted into BMW GB’s Heritage Fleet. To sit alongside stars like the E30 M3, E46 M3 CSL, E39 M5 and all manner of other wonderful M products. I’m not sure it fits, guys. Honestly. Hands up, we made a mistake. I think the best course of action is just to deliver the CS back to me, quietly forget about it and pretend this whole thing never happened. Agreed? You have my address. 

> 2025 BMW M5 Touring (G99) prototype review – super estate returns to battle the Audi RS6

So yes, the M5 CS has gone. And life will never be quite the same again. I can’t think of another car that overcomes so many inherent challenges to deliver such outstanding dynamics. It is a big car. Huge, in fact. The G30-generation 5-series is very similar in size to the E65 7-series (the first Bangle one) and it feels it. At least initially. You sit low in those controversial carbonfibre seats and there’s just so much car around you. Parking is a nightmare, although it does seem UK parking bays are marked out around the footprint of an original Golf. 

So, it feels wrong. But the funny thing is that you only really notice the scale of the CS in these moments. As soon as you’re on the move it feels light, agile and so wonderfully natural to drive. For those who can’t see past the E39-generation M5 and turn away from elements such as four-wheel drive and the automatic gearbox, I can only say the lineage between those two models is tangible and strong. The same easy, thrilling sense of power, sublime balance and aura of invincibility. It’s just the CS is wildly faster and so much sharper when you really get going. 

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What about the everyday stuff? Well, the ride is stiff at very low speeds even in Comfort mode. The heavily bolstered seats worked superbly for me but people did complain about climbing in and out of them, plus the driver’s chair showed some wear after just 20,000 miles. The lack of a centre armrest for keys and other paraphernalia was a bit annoying. And that’s about it for negatives. The CS really is a tough car to fault. I suppose the fuel costs were a little bit tough to swallow. Or at least they should have been as the 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 averaged around 23mpg. I never resented the consumption for a second, though. Having access to so much performance and such a characterful engine makes it all worthwhile.

However, it is worth saying that the sheer breadth of the CS’s talents can lull you into forgetting just how good it is as a pure performance car. Once the ride smooths out – which isn’t at much more than 25mph – it’s so easy and relaxing to drive that you almost forget to push on occasionally to enjoy its wilder side. Of course, you get to appreciate the clean, connected steering all the time, the polish of those upgraded dampers and the seamless energy of the fast-spinning V8. Even so, a brief bit of full throttle, carrying proper speed and loading up the chassis through corners is a proper oh-my-god revelation every single time. The CS is shockingly fast, but the real beauty is in its amazing capacity to change direction, and the way the four-wheel-drive system feels so malleable. The dynamics are honey-coated but with a steely control. Simultaneously outrageously sharp and spookily calm. 

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I suppose the trip to the Nürburgring demonstrated this multifaceted character most clearly. The CS and I quietly negotiated the M25 and M20, skipped through France and Belgium and into Germany, ripped up to an easy 190mph on the autobahn and, the next day, completed two fantastic laps of the track at unbelievable speed and with agility you’d never believe possible of a car that weighs 1825kg. The baby seat was still in the back. 

Yet the real revelation for me was on the way back from Le Mans. It was early on the Monday after the race and plenty of Brits were escaping as quickly as possible. The variety of cars at every fuel stop or toll gate was fantastic. But every time I looked around, the M5 CS won the little game of Top Trumps in my head. Rarer, cooler, less ostentatious, more aggressive, sweeter to drive, faster, more exciting. It just had everything covered. There was no car I’d rather have been driving and it’s great to be in something that people who really know recognise is something very special indeed. I’m still regularly asked, ‘Is the M5 CS really that good?’ The answer is yes. Annoyingly, it deserves pride of place on that Heritage Fleet. 

This story was first featured in evo issue 315.