BMW M5 G90 — a saloon that runs on electricity in central Warsaw and on eight cylinders on the S7

In forty years of existence the M5 never once asked its driver which kind of drive to use. The seventh generation asks every time you pull out of a parking space — and in Warsaw conditions the answer changes fuel consumption, the way the car behaves downtown, and how the day gets planned.

In short. The BMW M5 of the G90 generation is the first M5 with a plug-in hybrid system: a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 works together with an electric motor built into the eight-speed automatic. According to the fleet card this is a 2026 car with 738 hp and 1,000 Nm, all-wheel drive, five seats, 0–100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 305 km/h. Its practical peculiarity in Warsaw is the ability to cross the centre on electric power.

The first M5 that can leave the engine switched off

The line began in 1984 with the E28 body, where the Motorsport department dropped the engine of the M1 supercar into a production 5 Series saloon: a naturally aspirated straight-six with 286 hp, rear-wheel drive and a five-speed manual. The model then passed through a naturally aspirated V8 in the E39, the ten-cylinder S85 in the E60 with a red line beyond eight thousand rpm, a turbocharged V8 in the F10, and M xDrive all-wheel drive, which first appeared in the F90 in 2017.

The G90 added electricity to that list, and did so without an alternative: no version with a combustion engine alone exists in this generation at all. The eight-cylinder here continues the previous line, but with an electric machine integrated into the transmission housing. The battery sits under the floor; for the saloon, official material from the manufacturer gives a capacity of 14.8 kWh, and for the Touring estate 18.6 kWh.

The absence of a purely petrol version is a forced decision rather than a stylistic one. Every generation of the line changed its engine under pressure from regulation: the naturally aspirated V10 gave way to a turbocharged V8 for the sake of consumption and emissions, and the next step could no longer be taken the same way — keeping output climbing while staying inside the limits proved impossible without an electric component. Hence the layout: the eight-cylinder develops the earlier line, while the electric machine sits inside the gearbox casing and takes part in acceleration alongside it rather than standing in for it low down.

The claimed electric range is stated differently in different official publications: around forty kilometres to the American specification and sixty-two kilometres on the European WLTP cycle. The spread comes from the measurement method, and it is left as it is here — the exact figure for a particular car is better to confirm when booking.

What the electric motor gives besides economy

The most noticeable effect of the electric component is not consumption but the character of the delivery. The electric machine covers the range in which the turbochargers have not yet reached working pressure, and the gap between pressing the pedal and the boost arriving disappears almost entirely. The first thing reviewers note after a test is that acceleration arrives with an unnatural ease, without the build-up familiar from turbo engines.

Peak combined torque of a thousand newton-metres is a figure that five years ago would have looked like a typo on an executive saloon. M xDrive all-wheel drive is mandatory here: putting that much pull through one axle on an ordinary surface is impossible. The underlying logic of the system nevertheless remains rear-driven — torque goes to the rear axle and the front is brought in as required — and the 2WD mode with the transfer-case clutch fully open and stability control switched off has been kept.

Half a tonne on top

The flip side of hybridisation is mass. Kerb weight for the saloon is given officially as around 2,445 kilograms, which is roughly half a tonne more than its predecessor; of that increase, something like four hundred kilograms belongs to the hybrid system itself.

The specialist press is of two minds about the result. In ordinary driving the engineers disguise the weight impressively: acceleration is effortless, material and build quality are high, the steering is very quick — reviewers call it almost twitchy, though without pronounced feedback. On a circuit the disguise stops working: leaving slow corners the tyres begin to protest, and the front axle washes wide earlier than on the lighter previous car.

Critics separately point to the internal contradiction in the solution: electrification was needed to meet emissions limits while keeping the power, yet it also made the car heavy enough that part of the environmental gain is eaten up again.

For a renter the mass means two practical things. First, braking distance on a wet surface is longer than the acceleration figures suggest. Second, on the broken regional roads that the Mazury lake district has plenty of, a heavy saloon on low-profile tyres rides noticeably harder than a crossover.

A hybrid in the centre of Warsaw

The Warsaw clean transport zone (SCT) has been in force since July 2024 and covers about thirty-seven square kilometres — most of Śródmieście and parts of the neighbouring districts. The current stage, which began in January 2026, admits petrol cars from Euro 3 or built no earlier than the year 2000, and diesels from Euro 5 or no older than 2009. A 2026 car clears that bar with a margin that will not run out soon.

Enforcement is arranged differently from Germany: a physical sticker on the windscreen is not compulsory in Warsaw and serves an informational purpose only. The work is done mainly by cameras that read plates and check them against the state vehicle register and the list of exemptions, with routine checks by the city guard and the police running in parallel. A subtlety for cars on foreign plates: they do not appear in the Polish register, so the camera flags such a plate as requiring manual verification, and the matter is then settled if the car is pulled over.

In these conditions the electric mode is interesting not for any concession — the zone rules contain no separate relief for hybrids — but for silence and zero consumption in dense traffic. Crossing Śródmieście, running along the Vistula embankment and returning to the car park without ever starting the eight-cylinder is entirely realistic if the car was charged in the morning.

Long routes out of Warsaw

Lublin along the S17 expressway and Kazimierz Dolny fit into a single day from the capital — roughly 165 and 150 kilometres respectively. Everything else means an overnight stay: Mikolajki in Mazury is 223 kilometres, Gizycko about 260, Krakow 294 on the through S7, Gdansk 340 on the S7 or 415 via the A1, Wroclaw close to 360, Zakopane 413.

It is over these distances that the hybrid saloon looks more convincing than a coupé from the same segment. Five full seats, four doors, a business-class saloon boot and all-wheel drive make a four-hour run to the coast routine rather than an ordeal. For Mazury, where the last third of the way follows ordinary regional roads through the lake country, a calmer pace is worth allowing for.

There are almost no tolled sections in these directions: Poland has no vignettes for passenger cars, expressways carrying the letter S are free, and classic barrier payment survives on three concession stretches of motorway — and of the routes listed, such a stretch appears only on the longer road to Gdansk via the A1.

Two paperwork details tend to come to mind only at a roadside check. First: since December 2020 Polish drivers have not been obliged to carry a licence, registration certificate and proof of third-party liability insurance, since the data is verified electronically. The exemption does not apply to anyone at the wheel of a rented car, nor to foreign drivers: the originals of all three documents must be in the cabin. Second: the compulsory minimum of equipment in a Polish car comes down to a fire extinguisher and a warning triangle; a first-aid kit is not legally required, and a reflective vest is demanded not as part of the car’s equipment but by virtue of stepping out onto the road outside a built-up area in the dark.

The claimed 305 km/h stays a specification figure on trips like these. The legal maximum in Poland is 140 km/h, and on motorways only. On roads with the letter S the bar drops to 120 where the carriageways are separated and to 100 where they are not; outside town on an ordinary road it is 90, and in a built-up area 50 at any hour. Signs, permanent or temporary, take priority over these baseline values, and temporary limits appear regularly at roadworks on the expressway network.

Who it suits and who it doesn’t

It suits anyone who needs one car for two different scenarios: quiet and economical in town, very fast on the open road. It suits business trips for four or five, transfers with luggage, a weekend run to Krakow or Gdansk. It also suits those who drive into the centre daily — environmental requirements raise no questions about this car.

The charging scenario deserves separate thought. The hybrid part makes sense when the car spends the night somewhere with a socket: leaving in the morning on electric power through the centre and handing over to the petrol engine on the way out of town means both silence and a noticeable saving in traffic. If there is nowhere to charge, the car remains a very fast heavy saloon whose electric component works only as an assistant during acceleration, and part of the reason for taking such machinery disappears.

It does not suit anyone looking for the analogue sensations of the early M5 generations: the steering here is quick but not talkative, and the mass makes itself felt in corners however well the electronics disguise it. Nor does it suit routes dominated by broken surfaces — for the forest roads of Mazury or the approach to Zakopane, a car with more suspension travel such as the BMW X7 40i is easier to live with. Charging options, conditions for taking the car abroad and insurance: confirm when booking.

Current specifications for the saloon are on the model page, and the whole fleet is gathered in the catalogue section.

FAQ

Do I have to charge the M5 G90 in order to drive it? No. The car remains a full hybrid and runs on petrol without any charging from the mains, while the electric motor keeps taking part in acceleration. Charging is for those who want to use electric mode in town and cut consumption in traffic. Whether charging is available on a particular trip, and on what terms, is worth confirming when booking.

Does a hybrid have an advantage in the Warsaw clean transport zone? The zone rules provide no separate relief for hybrids — the requirements are framed in terms of emission class and year of manufacture. A 2026 car clears the current bar with an enormous margin. The practical benefit of electric mode in the centre is a different one: silence and zero fuel consumption in dense traffic.

How much does the M5 G90 weigh, and does it matter? Kerb weight for the saloon is officially around 2,445 kilograms — roughly half a tonne more than the previous generation, of which about four hundred belongs to the hybrid system. In ordinary driving the weight is barely noticeable, but on a circuit the front axle washes wide earlier, and braking distance on a wet surface is longer than the acceleration figures suggest.

Is it realistic to reach the claimed 305 km/h in Poland? No. The legal ceiling in the country is 140 km/h on motorways; on roads carrying the letter S the limit is 120 where the carriageways are separated and 100 where they are not. The stated top speed describes the reserve in the powertrain, which in practice is used during a short burst of acceleration when overtaking rather than in sustained travel.

How does the M5 G90 differ from the previous generation technically? The main difference is the plug-in hybrid: an electric motor inside the gearbox and a battery under the floor have been added to the twin-turbo V8, and no version without the electric component exists in this generation at all. Combined output and torque have risen and acceleration is quicker, but kerb weight has grown by about half a tonne over the predecessor.

How many kilometres will the M5 cover on electricity alone? Official material from the manufacturer gives different values because of the measurement method: around forty kilometres to the American specification and sixty-two kilometres on the European WLTP cycle. For city trips around Warsaw that is enough for a day provided the car is charged overnight; on out-of-town routes the electric reserve plays a supporting role.