The 5-Series saloon, which the M5 is based on, was awarded a four star rating in official Euro NCAP crash tests, but this is disappointing when alternatives like the Audi RS6 and Mercedes C63 AMG both achieved the maximum five stars. The BMW does offer plenty of safety kit though including eight airbags as standard, an advanced stability control system, brake drying (which gently applies the pads to the discs in wet conditions to clear a film of water and prepare the car for more effective braking) and brake pre-tensioning which recognises the driver’s foot coming off the accelerator in preparation for an emergency stop and readies the brakes.

The M5 offers plenty of safety equipment including eight airbags and if you’ve specified the built-in phone, then it will even contact the emergency services in the event of an accident. H

The M5 offers identical practicality to the standard 5-Series model and is available as either a saloon or as a more versatile estate. The four-door car offers approximately 520 litres of boot space, which although good is slightly smaller than the Mercedes E63 AMG and Audi RS6 but the rear seats do split and fold down to allow you to carry larger items.

The Touring has a useful load space and with no boot lip, loading and unloading heavy or awkward objects is easy. However compared to the Audi RS6 Avant the luggage area is around 70 litres smaller – and compared to the E63 AMG it lags behind by almost 200 litres. Thankfully folding down the rear seats is straightforward – although they don’t sit totally flat, and this boosts space to 1,650 litres.

The M5 also gets the head-up digital display as standard – this cleverly displays speed and other important driver information (such as gear selection and sat nav directions) on the windscreen so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.