Since its first incarnation in 1985, the BMW M5 has been the answer to the question: “What if I want to go obscenely fast but still carry a laptop case, my family and a golden retriever?” And once again, BMW's engine alchemists have cooked up a machine that does all of that, and possibly shaves time off the Earth’s rotation while it’s at it.
Now, you may think you know the M5 – big, brutish and snarling. And you’d be right. But this latest generation, the G90? It’s very much like the previous M5 after it’s had a few months with a personal trainer.
It still has that 4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8 under the bonnet, obviously. That part hasn’t changed because, let’s face it, it was already perfect. But now, it’s paired with a plug-in hybrid system. The model has finally joined the electric revolution – and models like the Bentley Continental GT – by going hybrid-only.
Purists needn’t panic. This isn’t a hybrid that’s made for Uber rides – although there’s enough room for this to be the best Uber ride of your life. The hybrid means the M5 now has even more power – just shy of 730 horses of Bavarian thunder. That’s about as many as a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
It’s the kind of power that makes you question your life choices as you hurtle down the motorway. In many ways it is the perfect getaway car to keep idling outside a heist and the perfect cop car to engage in the high speed chase that ensues. Supercar performance hiding in plain sight. Undercover.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
It’s quick. BMW claims 0–100 kph in only 3.5 seconds, but it feels quicker. Like it’s got something, or someone, it’s trying to run away from. Put my foot down and it doesn’t surge, it detonates. And yet, thanks to the all-wheel-drive system, it doesn’t spin its wheels or make a scene. It just grips and launches. What’s more astonishing is that it still manages to be civilised.
At low speeds, with everything dialled down, it’s as quiet and smooth as any sedan on the school run. But when I tell it to go full M, it becomes a fire-breathing warhorse with leather seats and a Bowers & Wilkins stereo. It’s Jekyll and Hyde with air conditioning and Apple CarPlay.
And let’s talk about that interior. BMW has really leaned into the whole techno-luxury spaceship vibe here. There’s a massive, curved display that stretches from behind the steering wheel halfway to Munich and more leather than an Italian handbag convention. I do have to say though, there is such a thing as too many screens and too many options. It can feel like you need a PhD to navigate the menus and unlock its various drive modes.
On the outside, it looks like an M5. Which is to say, like a 5 Series that has opinions on protein shakes. Not a club bouncer, mind you. More Jason Statham. Muscular, lean and vaguely menacing.
The ride is what you’d expect from a car trying to be both a business-class sedan and a track-day tyrant – surprisingly compliant when it needs to be, but with a flick of a switch, it becomes taut and alert. The adaptive dampers read the road, adjusting faster than you can say “that bump looked expensive”.
Some settings are not for the faint of heart. Five minutes into popping it into M2 mode, I said “you’re not man enough for this” out loud to myself. I later found out this is the track setting, and I am not built for track car performance.
Despite the occasional lunacy of the vehicle, the hybrid part isn’t just a gimmick. You can waft about in EV mode for short trips, going electric to get your drive-through coffee on the supermarket run. Not that you’ll do that, because you’ll want the engine to make angry noises all the time. But it’s there if you need it. Let’s say you’re heading home after midnight and want to be polite to the neighbours. You can make it hum gently for those last few metres.
Of course, none of this comes cheap. The M5 will cost you the equivalent of a studio apartment on Yas Island. But then again, flats in Yas Island don’t do 0–100 kph in 3.5 seconds. Or come with ventilated seats. Or make your heart race just by pressing the start button.
The verdict? The M series of cars carries the tagline “The Ultimate Driving Machine”, and it has been earning it for decades. The M5 remains absurd in the best possible way. It’s still the business-lunatic sedan we know and love – only now, it’s more powerful, more complicated, and, somehow, more sensible.
You could drive it to a board meeting or use it in a high-speed chase to catch international criminals escaping in a fleet of supercars. I didn’t do either of those things, but it definitely made me feel like the coolest person on the school run.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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%3Cp%3E%0DFashion%20director%3A%20Sarah%20Maisey%0D%3Cbr%3EPhotographer%3A%20Greg%20Adamski%0D%3Cbr%3EHair%20and%20make-up%3A%20Ania%20Poniatowska%0D%3Cbr%3EModels%3A%20Nyajouk%20and%20Kristine%20at%20MMG%2C%20and%20Mitchell%0D%3Cbr%3EStylist%E2%80%99s%20assistants%3A%20Nihala%20Naval%20and%20Sneha%20Maria%20Siby%0D%3Cbr%3EVideographer%3A%20Nilanjana%20Gupta%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m, Winner: Zalman, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Hisham Al Khalediah II, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Qader, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Mujeeb, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Shanaghai City, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly
8pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,400m, Winner: Nayslayer, Bernardo Pinheiro, Jaber Ramadhan
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the most popular virtual currency in the world. It was created in 2009 as a new way of paying for things that would not be subject to central banks that are capable of devaluing currency. A Bitcoin itself is essentially a line of computer code. It's signed digitally when it goes from one owner to another. There are sustainability concerns around the cryptocurrency, which stem from the process of "mining" that is central to its existence.
The "miners" use computers to make complex calculations that verify transactions in Bitcoin. This uses a tremendous amount of energy via computers and server farms all over the world, which has given rise to concerns about the amount of fossil fuel-dependent electricity used to power the computers.
Isle of Dogs
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Ed Norton, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson
Three stars
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Read more about the coronavirus
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
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FA CUP FINAL
Manchester City 6
(D Silva 26', Sterling 38', 81', 87', De Bruyne 61', Jesus 68')
Watford 0
Man of the match: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
