By John Karlsson | Exotic Car News
There’s a particular kind of silence that settles in just before you mash the throttle on a BMW M car. It’s the silence of a machine waiting to be unleashed — and at BMW’s Gen M event, I got to break that silence three times over. The 2026 X5 M Competition, the new M5, and the M3 Competition were all on the menu, and after a full day pushing each one through their paces, I left with sore cheeks from grinning and a renewed appreciation for what the M division is doing in the era of hybridization, AWD, and ever-tightening regulations. The excitement of being behind the wheel at BMW Gen M is truly unmatched.
BMW’s Gen M program is part driving school, part marketing showcase, and part love letter to the enthusiasts who keep the M badge sacred. The format is simple: real cars, real instructors, and real road and track time — no PowerPoint slides, no marketing fluff, just keys in your hand and a cone-lined autocross course or open back road in front of you. Here’s how each one stacked up.
Experience the Thrill of BMW Gen M
Attending the BMW Gen M event was an unforgettable experience, highlighting the innovation and performance that BMW delivers in its M lineup.
2026 BMW X5 M Competition — The 617-HP Family Hauler That Shouldn’t Work, But Does
Let’s get one thing out of the way: a 5,500-pound SUV has no business moving like this. The X5 M Competition rolls up looking like an angry wardrobe — flared arches, gaping intakes, those signature quad exhaust tips poking out from a diffuser that means business. The new generation has tightened the styling considerably, with subtler kidney grilles than some of its M division siblings (a relief, frankly) and a more aggressive stance courtesy of the standard 21/22-inch staggered wheel setup.
Slide into the driver’s seat and you’re greeted by the carbon-trimmed M Sport seats, the chunky M steering wheel with its red M1 and M2 customizable buttons, and a curved display that’s surprisingly intuitive once you’ve spent ten minutes navigating iDrive. But you’re not here for the cupholders. You’re here for the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 making 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, paired with an eight-speed M Steptronic and BMW’s xDrive system with a rear-bias 4WD mode.
On the road, the X5 M does a remarkable impression of a sport sedan that happens to seat five adults and swallow a Costco run. The launch control is borderline absurd — BMW claims 3.7 seconds to 60 mph, and from the driver’s seat it feels every bit as quick. But the real revelation is mid-corner. The active anti-roll bars and adaptive M suspension keep the body remarkably flat, and the steering, while not the most communicative thing BMW has ever built, is quick and accurate. The brakes — massive M Compound discs with optional carbon-ceramics — pull this thing down from triple-digit speeds without a hint of fade.
Is it the most engaging M car? No. Is it absolutely riotous when you flick it into Sport Plus, kill the stability control, and let the rear end work? Absolutely. It’s the kind of car that makes you laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all.
2026 BMW M5 — The Hybrid That Silenced the Skeptics
Now we get to the controversial one. When BMW announced the new M5 would be a plug-in hybrid weighing well over 5,300 pounds, the internet did what the internet does — it lost its collective mind. “They’ve ruined it,” the comments said. “It’s not a real M5 anymore.” I went into this drive with low expectations and a chip on my shoulder. I left convinced that the haters need to actually drive one before they keep typing.
The numbers tell part of the story: a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 paired with an electric motor integrated into the eight-speed transmission, producing a combined 717 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. There’s roughly 25 miles of pure-electric range, which is genuinely useful for short commutes and creeping out of your neighborhood at 6 a.m. without waking the neighbors. But the moment you flip it into Sport Plus and bury the throttle, all 717 horses arrive in a way that feels less like a hybrid and more like a rocket sled with leather seats.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: the hybrid system makes the M5 better in low-speed driving, not worse. The instant electric torque fills in any turbo lag, throttle response is razor-sharp, and the seamless handoff between electric and combustion is genuinely impressive. On a twisty back road, the M5 shrinks around you. Yes, you can feel the weight when you really lean on it — physics is still physics — but the rear-biased AWD, the active rear differential, and the tuned air suspension conspire to make this thing rotate like a car 1,000 pounds lighter.
Steering feel is improved over the previous generation, the brake pedal is firmer than I expected for a regen-assisted system, and the V8 still sounds menacing when you wind it out. The M5 isn’t the same car it was twenty years ago. It’s heavier, more complex, more expensive. But it’s also faster, more capable, and — and this surprised me — more usable as a daily driver than any M5 before it. Lovers of the E39 will scoff. Anyone who actually drives one will get it.
2026 BMW M3 Competition — Still the Soul of the M Division
After the X5 M’s brawny absurdity and the M5’s tech-laden brilliance, climbing into the M3 Competition felt like coming home. This is the car the M badge was built on — a sport sedan with a screaming inline-six, a manual gearbox option (yes, still!), and proportions that just look right. Love it or hate it, the controversial grille has grown on me, and in person the M3’s stance is genuinely menacing.
The S58 twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six in the Competition trim makes 503 horsepower and 479 lb-ft of torque, sent through an eight-speed automatic to either the rear wheels or all four via xDrive (my test car was the AWD variant, which is now the default for Competition models in North America). 0–60 happens in about 3.4 seconds, and unlike the bigger M cars, the M3 still feels lithe and tossable — at around 3,900 pounds, it’s a featherweight in 2026 terms.
On the autocross course set up at the Gen M event, the M3 was the easy crowd favorite. The chassis is just so dialed. Turn-in is immediate, the limited-slip diff puts power down out of corners with zero drama, and the brakes — even the standard steel setup — are progressive and tireless. In the AWD variant, you get a 4WD Sport mode that biases torque to the rear and lets you steer with the throttle in a way that feels more like a 911 than a sedan.
The S58 makes a proper noise too. It’s not as theatrical as the old naturally-aspirated S65 V8 from the E92 M3, but it’s a snarling, mechanical sound that crescendos toward the 7,200-rpm redline and sends shivers up your spine on a downshift. Inside, the M Carbon bucket seats are a love-it-or-hate-it proposition (the central protrusion that splits your, ahem, sit-bones is still there), but they hold you in place like nothing else.
If I could only take one of these three home, it would be the M3 Competition. No question. It’s the Goldilocks M car — fast enough to scare you, light enough to dance, and small enough to fit in a normal parking spot.
The Verdict — M Division Is Still Cooking
Walking back to my own (decidedly less powerful) car at the end of the day, I had the same thought I always have after driving modern M cars: the rumors of M’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, they’re heavier. Yes, they’re more electrified. Yes, they’re more expensive than ever. But every single one of these cars — the absurd X5 M, the genre-bending M5, and the still-perfect M3 Competition — drove with the kind of focus and intent that you can only get from engineers who actually love the cars they’re building.
The Gen M event isn’t just a marketing exercise. It’s BMW’s way of putting the keys in the hands of skeptics and saying, “Try it. Then come talk to us.” After a full day at the wheel, I’m here to tell you: the skeptics are wrong. The M badge is in very, very good hands.
Discover more about the BMW Gen M
QUICK SPECS AT A GLANCE
2026 X5 M Competition: 4.4L Twin-Turbo V8 • 617 hp / 553 lb-ft • 0–60 in 3.7 sec • AWD • 8-speed M Steptronic
2026 M5: 4.4L Twin-Turbo V8 PHEV • 717 hp / 738 lb-ft combined • 0–60 in ~3.4 sec • AWD • ~25 mi EV range
2026 M3 Competition xDrive: 3.0L Twin-Turbo I6 • 503 hp / 479 lb-ft • 0–60 in ~3.4 sec • AWD • 8-speed M Steptronic
© Exotic Car News | All photography by John Karlsson
