Mercedes-Benz C350 E vs BMW M5

What's the difference?

They're doing it again! Actually they've been doing it again for a bit now. It’s Mercedes-Benz Australia and plug-in hybrid tech.

The Ross and Rachel, or Jim and Pam of the premium automotive world.

It's been a will they, won't they for a while, and in the past Mercedes has dipped its proverbial plug into the electrons a few times and gotten cold feet.

But now it says it’s all in. There are others, the GLA and GLC SUVs, plus there’s the new C63 performance car, but this one feels like a bit of an arrival.

Yeah, the C-Class is no longer the Mercedes-Benz in terms of sales, but it might be the best way to make the most of a bit of battery power.

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?