Dan Trent: Real M5s have straight‑sixes

30 years later and AMG has stuck true to big V8s and muscle car dynamics, smoothly adapting the formula to fit developing market trends and technology. The latest E63 takes that to extremes, its twin-turbo V8 now over 600hp and with switchable all-wheel drive you can lock out into rear-wheel drive if you want to live the macho dream. And where’s BMW M? Playing ‘me too’, the M5 having progressed through V8s, V10s, back to V8s and now going tit for tat with AMG with a new M5 using a turbocharged V8 and – yes – switchable all-wheel drive. 

I’m going to make a controversial argument and say the rot set in the day the M5 dropped its straight-six and went to a V8 in 1998. And if I’m to have an M5 it’s got to have a proper BMW straight-six. I love the simplicity of the E28 original but these are now properly desirable modern classics and priced accordingly. To my mind, the E34 that followed is the forgotten M5 and the one I’d love to own. 

The fact it was the ‘new’ version on the scene about the time I was first reading car magazines probably has a bearing on this. I remember loving the combination of super-understated looks with need-to-know distinguishing features like the super cool turbine wheels. In an age before stupid quad exhausts and an M badge on every available surface inside and out the E34 was a proper silent assassin. 

In later life I’ve come to appreciate the qualities of that engine too. There’s no shame in lifting the bonnet of a straight-six BMW M5, the original 3.5 a thing of aesthetic beauty as well as fabulous performance and stirring character. The 3.6 it evolved into for the E34 got a bit more power at 315hp and although it was a bigger and much more modern looking car it was a little bit faster too, 0-62mph coming up in just 6.3 seconds. No jerky SMG or multi-mode dual-clutch auto here either – just a proper five-speed manual in a cockpit angled toward the driver’s seat and very much focused on entertaining its occupant. 

In 1991 the engine was uprated to a 3.8 with 340hp, 0-62 dropping to 5.9 seconds. Later cars got multi-mode dampers, a six-speed gearbox, and compound brakes too – there’s one for auction this weekend with an estimate of £10,000-£14,000 that looks pretty good value for money. Tempting, but I have to admit I find the later five-spoke wheels and this example’s boot spoiler just a little too shouty. 

With just over 8,000 built the 3.6 versions are the most numerous but, oddly, harder to find. This one looks just about spot on, even if its low mileage means it’s double the estimate of that 3.8. You’ll notice it’s an import, Japan an increasingly popular source for 90s European exotica even if quirks like the pose factor of being seen in a left-hand drive car in a RHD market means sitting on the ‘wrong’ side. More important is the combination of original turbine wheels, gunmetal paint and black leather for that perfect understated look. All that’s great about the M5 to my eyes. Well, the proper ones anyway.