BMW’s new M5 puts Cruise in control

Ethan Hunt is a lucky man, and – given that he does most of his own driving stunts – so is Tom Cruise. Mission Impossible: Fallout is Cruise’s sixth M.I film and, fittingly, he gets his hands on the sixth generation BMW M5. Powered by BMW’s remarkable M TwinPower Turbo V8, this new M5 produces 600hp and is the fastest accelerating M5 ever. The headline figures you’re after are: a governed top speed of 155mph and a 0-62mph dash in just 3.4 seconds.

Sometimes, your best intentions can come back to haunt you and in M.I: Fallout, Ethan Hunt finds himself in a race against time after a mission goes wrong. Fortunately, he still has a BMW to help him, and this time it’s the new M5. This is the first M5 to be fitted with M xDrive, BMW’s intelligent all-wheel drive system, for optimum handling control (meaning it still feels like a rear-wheel drive car, but with added traction) and once you’ve seen the film, you’ll understand the difference it makes!

Fans of the franchise will remember how hard Hunt has pushed his BMWs in the past and nothing has changed. From thrashing the M5 down narrow city streets to smoking the rear tyres across a runway (one of the car’s six, selectable driving modes includes RWD-only), there’s no doubt Cruise and his new BMW got on well.

BMW’s partnership with M.I stretches back to 2011 when the i8 hybrid featured in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. But it’s not all about four wheels. In M.I: Rogue Nation, Ethan was involved in a high-speed chase across mountainous Moroccan roads on a BMW S1000RR superbike. In Fallout Cruise’s character is back on a BMW bike, this time the retro-styled R nineT scrambler, a great pick from BMW’s four-stroke / two cylinder boxer-engined line-up.

At the heart of every BMW M model is an engine that delivers ultimate performance but there is always so much more to it than that. There is evidence of M-Performance design and engineering throughout the new M5. From the distinctive new-look M kidney grille at the front, across the weight-saving, all-carbon roof to the distinctive M twin tailpipes at the rear (that help make this new BMW sound simply sensational), this latest M5 truly justifies the description: The Ultimate Driving Machine.

Mission Impossible: Fallout is in cinemas from the 25th July. Find out more about the new BMW M5 at www.bmw.co.uk