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BMW 540i vs BMW M5

What's the difference?

VS
BMW 540i
BMW 540i

2017 price

BMW M5
BMW M5

$259,900 - $263,900

2025 price

Summary

2017 BMW 540i
2025 BMW M5
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Turbo 6, 3.0L

BI Turbo V8, 4.4L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Premium Unleaded/Electric
Fuel Efficiency
7.7L/100km (combined)

10.3L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Softer than petrol-powered sibling
  • Boot smaller due to batteries
  • Hard to match fuel claims in real world

  • Awkward boot
  • Brake and steering feel
  • Low on hooliganism
2017 BMW 540i Summary

Eco-friendly vehicles are the leather pants of the new-car world; it takes a lot of money to make them look good (but people who own them think they look fantastic regardless). If you don't have a gazillion dollars to drop on a Tesla,  then it's a one-way ticket to Prius town. And really, who wants that? 

But what if it didn't have to be that way? Behold the BMW 530e iPerformance.

Seemingly tired of waiting for the Australian Government to introduce any sort of meaningful subsidy for green cars, BMW has made the choice simple: you can have a petrol-powered 530i for $108,900, or opt for the plug-in hybrid 530e for... $108,900. This is truly revelatory thinking.

There's no specification penalty, either, and the hybrid will power to 100km/h in an identical 6.2 seconds, so you're not even any slower. But you are sipping less fuel, emitting less C02 and basking in the general smugness, and sweet silence, that comes with feeling like you're saving the world.

So what's the catch?

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2025 BMW M5 Summary

Balancing luxury car comfort, hot hatch agility and supercar speed is no easy task, yet that is what made the six previous generations of BMW's M5 so iconic. 

In seventh-generation ‘G90’ guise, the M5 has another skeleton in the cupboard: the toughest emissions regulations that Europe, and now Australia, have ever seen.

A twin-turbo V8 was untenable and going battery electric was not an option. Plug-in hybrid was the only answer. For the new M5, BMW combined a revised 4.4-litre ‘S68’ bent eight with a punchy electric motor for 535kW and 1000Nm

Problem is, the G90 is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest BMW M cars of all time, especially in CS trim. And thanks to a circa-600kg weight hike to nearly 2500kg, the new M5's 0-100km/h claim is actually slower than the old 'F90' M5. 

Doesn’t exactly sound like a big leap forward, does it?

A drive through the Central West of NSW and around the iconic Mount Panorama racing circuit gave us answers to two questions. Does the M5 work on Australia roads, and does BMW M's latest super-sedan represent progress?

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Deep dive comparison

2017 BMW 540i 2025 BMW M5

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