Wheels review: BMW M5

At 250km/h the big BMW is covering 67.5 metres every second. The 200 metre braking marker flashes by in my peripheral vision as the speed limiter finally softens the mighty twin turbo V8 at an indicated 267km/h.

The six-piston front calipers bite hard into the 400mm cross-drilled rotors turning 4488kJ of kinetic energy into 1.1g of braking force and around 400-degrees Celsius. Lap after lap the brakes heroically shed 70km/h before the M5 dives into the 180km/h Turn One of the Phillip Island race circuit – home of the Australian round of the MotoGP.

The hydraulic steering, set to its sharpest of three settings, faithfully points the M5’s bluff nose into the corner as the 265/35 R20 front tires find amazing ...