Should a Sports Sedan Weigh More Than an F-150?

In our test of the first hybrid BMW M5, one question was top of mind: What is lost and what is gained in the era of big batteries?

January 16, 2025 10:55 am EST
A 2025 BMW M5 in green driving down the road
Meet the 2025 BMW M5, the first hybrid entry in the storied lineup.
BMW

There are three new letters you might want to consider when looking at the latest high-performance luxury machines from Mercedes-AMG and BMW M: BMI. With electrification all the rage among Germany’s leading speed merchants, the transition towards battery-assisted drivetrains has seen curb weights skyrocket.

The all-new, plug-in hybrid BMW M5 is no exception. In addition to offering more power than ever before, it’s also packing a 25% weight gain that it didn’t exactly pick up at the gym. All those extra pounds would seemingly add up to an experience behind the wheel that’s markedly different from what M division fans are looking for.

Nothing stays static in the auto industry, and the pace of technological change and market tastes make it tough to compare the fruits of today’s trends with the achievements of the past. It’s fair to ask, however, how much gets left behind in the embrace of tomorrow, in particular when shopping for a vehicle like the M5. Is it still possible to tap into familiar thrills when taking an entirely different — and considerably heftier — path towards fun and fulfillment behind the wheel? Or does the march into a plug-in future serve to sever this modern crop of machines from their heritage?

I recently tested the 2025 BMW M5, the first hybrid design for this storied model, to find out.

Meet the 2025 BMW M5, the first hybrid entry in the storied lineup.
On one hand: 717 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. On the other: a huge weight gain.
BMW

More Power…at a Price

At first blush, the redesigned 2025 BMW M5, which starts at $123,275, has all the credentials necessary to tantalize — if not outright terrify — even the most jaded of sports sedan pilots. We’re talking 717 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque: Hellcat-baiting numbers in a world where twin-turbo V8s are now matched with electric motors to provide a rollercoaster drop of acceleration at the merest brush of the pedal. Pair that with all-wheel drive (inherited from the previous-generation car), and you have the claws needed to catapult on summer’s dry asphalt and scratch deep for purchase in January’s deep snows.

And yet, all of that ferocity is tempered by the physics-bending properties of the M5’s battery, which contributes to the sedan’s SUV-like curb weight of 5,400 pounds. For context, that’s a thousand pounds more than its predecessor, and heavier even than an entry-level F-150 pickup — altogether new territory for a car that has always tilted towards big-boned.

As a result, the 25 miles of EV-only driving range provided by the BMW’s battery is paid for by performance stats that largely match those of the car it replaces. The new M5 also hovers around the three-second mark when sprinting to 60 mph, and its top speed is similarly capped at the same 190 mph.

2025 BMW M5 in green with a charger plugged in
The plug-in hybrid gets up to 25 miles of electric-only driving.
BMW

The Age of Electric

BMW is no stranger to plug-ins, but so far only the XM SUV and now the M5 have been dusted with electrons over at its performance division. 

Over at rival AMG, however, the electrification parade includes a significantly longer list of entries. The flagship S63 E, the mid-size E53 and the compact C63 S E are joined by the GLC63 S E SUV, GT63 S E coupe and SL63 S E roadster in a startlingly broad embrace of plug-in hybrid technology.

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As with the M5, each of these models might as well be carrying a massive slab of granite as a passenger. The lightest among them is the small C-Class, which “only” weighs 4,400 pounds (or, to make another Hellcat reference, the same as a full-size Dodge Charger), with the S-Class climbing to a sensational 5,700 pounds. Most of the other models hover somewhere above the 5,000-pound mark. Even the GT, a dedicated sports car, presents 4,800 pounds or so of battery-powered brawn.

The draw here isn’t so much a brief period of electric-only driving, but rather the hammer hit of instant-on torque provided by their various EV motor configurations. It seems that a secret cabal of behind-the-scenes engineering experts and product planners have decided that customers crave stultifying drivetrain output over anything else, regardless of what the stopwatch has to say about it. One assumes that Audi and Porsche will soon get the same memo.

The interior of the 2025 BMW M5 plug-in hybrid sports sedan
What driving mode will you choose? There are too many customizations to count.
BMW

Flipping the Switch

It’s clear what the extra weight’s impact is on straight-line speed, but what about less tangible and more emotional aspects of the driving experience provided by these PHEVs? Traditionally, heavier vehicles also present more of a challenge when changing direction, which would seem to run counter to the philosophy guiding a land missile like the M5.

In truth, the BMW’s electric attitude does impact its personality, but not necessarily how one would expect. When not attending closed-door summits on the future of automotive fun, the brand’s suspension experts are clearly crafting ever more intricate digital playgrounds within which its M models can cavort. The sheer number of drive modes available to the M5 owner beggars belief, with the hybrid component piling on additional on-road personalities and options absent from past editions of the sedan. These represent yet another layer of abstraction between the driver and the task at hand, an unintentional but still accounted for aspect of electrification that informs the car’s character just as much as its explosive horsepower and torque do.

The good news is, in the face of this information overload, you can still turn everything off and nail the throttle with only your wits available to keep the shiny side up. In doing so during a driving snow storm, I discovered that the new BMW M5 remains remarkably well-balanced and predictable when doling out traction, even with the all-wheel-drive system disabled and the back tires spinning furiously through a sideways corner.

You can even “turn off” the engine and sample what was once the world’s surliest performance sedan in absolute silence, cruising at speeds of more than 80 mph with the electric motor chipping in a very usable amount of power on its own. This is a shade of M that most have never before experienced, and perhaps more than anything indicates where its course is plotted.

The all-new BMW M5 plug-in hybrid sports sedan driving down the road
Worried about the new personality of a plug-in hybrid M5? Don’t be.
BMW

Last Stop

The BMW M5 has been a car at the crossroads for more than a few years now. With the thoroughly excellent BMW 550i xDrive offering 80% of the performance with none of the extraneous (for most customers) track trappings, and the BMW i5 M60 nearly matching its speed in an all-electric format, the M5’s circuit focus appeals to that narrow subset of buyers who might occasionally exercise a 5,400-pound monster on a road course. The recent 550e, which introduces electrification of its own, further complicates the question of where the M5 fits in.

In this context, perhaps a big battery was the only conceivable way for BMW to move the needle on the spec sheet without pushing entirely into the full-electric space, which may be too much of a shock for brand loyalists eager for their M5 fix.

Still big, still brawny, yet tempered by a surprising soft side and anchored through the road by its electric assist, the 2025 BMW M5 suggests we may have reached internal combustion’s end game among the elite sport sedan crowd.

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