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I don't think anybody really expected the M5 to win our Performance Car of the Year showdown in 1992. Busily polishing their various contenders, nine of our ten scribes smugly awaited their own personal triumphs, only to be gravely disappointed. I was the other one.
The reason it won was simple, and is also the reason why it stands without a flicker of awe beside this handsome collection of the decade's finest motors - it's the ultimate all-rounder, a kind of Ian Botham without the rough edges, if you will. It didn't win many hearts among our testers, but gained such a wealth of grudging respect that it claimed the most comprehensive victory ever seen. People spent the weekend trying to catch it out, and ended by throwing their hands up. 'Bloody Germans', they were heard to mutter.
This M5 - the third car to bear that badge since 1985- retains the understated plainness of the 5-series on
which it's based, a fact which works against it in the minds of some performance drivers. It looks like a family saloon, and turns hardly a single head -back in 1985 we called the first MS 'the perfect picture of innocence', in 1990 we called its successor 'a master of understatement', and visually, little has changed.
But nobody ever said the M5 was the best-looking car of any bunch. What it's all about is driving. The delivery of the power from the 24-valve straight six engine, which has been bored and stroked from 3.5 to 3.8 litres, is simply delicious. There is 340bhp in harness here, and torque in plentiful supply throughout the rev range. In fact, three quarters of the 295lb-ft peak is available at just 1800rpm. Sixty comes up in a mere 5.9 seconds and the top speed is limited to 155mph.
The sharpness which prevents M5 dwindling into softy-softy-saloon country comes from an adaptive suspension, electronically governed according to road speed, steering input, acceleration and body roll. What you seem to get as a result is enough refinement and enough fun. The best of all possible worlds, and undoubtedly the most accomplished all-rounder produced during our first 10 years - maybe the best ever.
It was the best of our 1992 bunch because it adds to an already-excellent package the vital ingredient that lovers of pure driving and performance simply insist upon -involvement. Great drivers could be forgiven for thinking that your everyday Bimmer doesn't do quite enough in return, but this is a very long way indeed from your everyday Bimmer, and that's why it's so great. You may have thought that it's just a family saloon but, believe me, you had to be there.
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