Originally Posted by Kowalski

The new M5 Touring has many talents, but subtlety is not among them: its body is a riot of wings, chins, spoilers and skirts. And while it is outstandingly capable when driven as its deranged creators intended, the opportunities to do so safely are not exactly around every corner on these isles. And the rest of the time the car is not without its issues.
The ride, for instance, is firm enough to put you on permanent pothole alert. I don’t offer this as criticism, for if it were more softly sprung you would inevitably lose some of its fabulous high-speed precision. But if you are thinking about spending the best part of £70,000 it is something to bear in mind.

You need also to come to terms with the gearbox. This is another example of race-car engineering finding its way onto the public road and reminding you why race cars are kept on racetracks. As you drive, you can select any one of 11 settings for this gearbox – six in manual mode, five in automatic – which vary the speed and response of the gearshift according to your requirements. The problem is, unless you’re driving with your trousers on fire, none of them is very satisfactory. There is nothing that would improve the M5 Touring more than the fitment of an ordinary six-speed manual gearbox.