BMW M5 vs Chrysler 300

What's the difference?

Balancing luxury car comfort, hot hatch agility and supercar speed is no easy task, yet that is what made the six previous generations of BMW's M5 so iconic. 

In seventh-generation ‘G90’ guise, the M5 has another skeleton in the cupboard: the toughest emissions regulations that Europe, and now Australia, have ever seen.

A twin-turbo V8 was untenable and going battery electric was not an option. Plug-in hybrid was the only answer. For the new M5, BMW combined a revised 4.4-litre ‘S68’ bent eight with a punchy electric motor for 535kW and 1000Nm. 

Problem is, the G90 is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest BMW M cars of all time, especially in CS trim. And thanks to a circa-600kg weight hike to nearly 2500kg, the new M5's 0-100km/h claim is actually slower than the old 'F90' M5. 

Doesn’t exactly sound like a big leap forward, does it?

A drive through the Central West of NSW and around the iconic Mount Panorama racing circuit gave us answers to two questions. Does the M5 work on Australia roads, and does BMW M's latest super-sedan represent progress?

You may be sensing an increasing level of hype around hybrid and full battery-electric vehicles. In fact, it feels like the automotive world has gone full-fat bananas over ‘electro-mobility’.

At least car manufacturers have, with Tesla’s entertaining antics disrupting the status quo, and causing virtually every mainstream brand to get on board the zero-emissions express.

But of course, the other side of that equation is demand. The rush to meet ever tightening emissions regulations (and save the planet in the process) fails to recognise the fact that not everybody wants a ZEV… yet.

The days of big-bore, more is good, internal combustion propulsion aren’t over yet, and Chrysler, like the rest of the ‘Murican Big Three’ is keeping traditional muscle car enthusiasts happy.

In fact, we’re in the midst of a US horsepower arms race not seen since the late 1960s and early ‘70s, and Chrysler’s SRT (Street & Racing Technology) performance subsidiary is leading from the front with a variety of over-the-top Hellcats, Demons and Red Eyes.

Australia has recently picked up a whiff of that action with the utterly mad 522kW Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, but the only slightly unhinged SRT version, and this car, the Chrysler 300 SRT, have been around for some time.

Launched here in 2012, the second-generation version of the 6.4-litre naturally aspirated sedan was discontinued in the USA in 2014. But sensing a large sedan-sized opportunity as local manufacturing from Ford, Holden and Toyota went the way of the Dodo, the local FCA team negotiated a continuation deal.

Think of the 300 SRT as America’s M5 or E63. A full-size performance sedan with a thick layer of luxury laid over the top, but at around one third the price.