Today’s F90 M5 is 182mm longer, 102mm wider and 61mm taller, and despite being one of the lighter supersaloons, a 1855kg kerb weight gives it 60kg of extra mass to haul about. The E39 was only slightly larger than the E34 – by an inch or two in all directions – but it is dwarfed by the latest car.
It’s hard to make a comparison with its modern equivalent without sounding like I’ve swapped my spectacles for a pair with a rosier tint, but the E39’s cabin does make you wonder where progress has been made. The inner workings of electric adjustment and heating perhaps push the seat a little too high, but not enough to ruin an otherwise fine driving position. The ostrich-like leather seat faces are an interesting touch, and only the Germans could use light grey to ‘liven up’ an otherwise gloomy colour palette – it does at least match those gauges – but few cabins seem so instantly familiar. There’s not much to take in once inside, but that’s not to denigrate one of the most logical cabins ever designed. I was already sold on the idea of lightweight Caterhams and Elises and devoured everything I could on French hot hatches, but it was the M5 that added the concept of a supersaloon to my automotive lexicon. The car on the pages that followed was handsome and imbued with considered aggression, yet apparently capable of mixing comfort and performance in a way few contemporary rivals could muster. One magazine’s opening spread was an over-the-shoulder image shot through the driver’s window, ground rushing below and the orange speedo and tacho needles pointing to improbably high numbers on the grey gauge faces. Nevertheless, the E39 had me hooked from the start. I was 13 when the E39 M5 arrived, vaguely aware of the decade-old E34 M5’s existence but ignorant of its cultural impact within the car industry. Steering, however, was via a recirculating ball arrangement, BMW unable to squeeze a rack and pinion around the bulky V8. Like the E34, it used MacPherson struts up front, now with lighter aluminium control arms, but at the rear was a multi-link set-up, replacing the traditional BMW trailing arm arrangement and giving the E39 a fighting chance of controlling its extra power and torque. In many respects though, the E39 was evolutionary, from its under-the-radar styling inside and out, to its use of a six-speed manual transmission and mechanical limited-slip differential. The recirculating ball steering system – necessitated by the tight packaging of the V8 – is one of few dynamic weak points, lacking in any meaningful communication but proving surprisingly accurate at a flowing pace. That it does so without a plethora of driving modes is perhaps its greatest trick – slot into sixth and the motor retreats, and the M5 finds impressive absorption over broken tarmac. > BMW M5 Touring (E61, 2007 - 2010): review, specs and buying guideīut the best M5s, and by extension the best super saloons, can dial back the lairiness and contort to the driver’s demands at will, and the E39 is no exception. With its long wheelbase and linear torque delivery, it’s a textbook oversteer machine. More importantly though, is that the big-chested delivery and distant baritone rumble invite you to extend it at every opportunity, and its potency feels perfectly matched with the car's responses (and yes, the rear end’s propensity to smear across the tarmac). Hyper hatch numbers today, but supercar numbers back then.
Gone was the trademark straight six that had featured in all BMW M cars since the M1, in its place an all-aluminium S62 V8 delivering 394bhp and 369lb ft to the rear wheels. The E39 arrived in 1998 as a significant, and somewhat controversial, evolution of the formula established by the E28 and E34 M5. In fact, with its naturally aspirated engine and manual gearbox, it’s one of the last traditional super saloons.
BMW’s third edition of the mighty M5 is dripping with understated menace, and from its gutsy 4.9-litre V8 to its intuitive rear-drive balance, it’s as honest as they come.
Today’s super saloons tend to favour fiendish speed and complexity over analogue thrills, but not the E39 M5.