The M5 is an easy car to love. Weirdly, though, that also makes it easy to forget just how innovative they were.

Starting with the very first generation, the E28 had luxury features that wouldn't be out of place in a modern (multiway adjustable seats and so on), not to mention a warbling straight-six whose ending note reminds you of just how good straight-sixes can sound.

But even by the 1988 and the E34, the M5 introduced adaptive suspension to the lineup (on the Nurburgring edition). Then the next generation had variable valve timing and an infotainment screen.

And the innovations kept on coming. When you see them all together, compared back to back, you also get a lovely sense of just how consistent the series has been. Say what you will about highs and lows in the history fo the marque, BMW has always known what it wanted from the M5 and has, to a greater or lesser extent, delivered.

https://youtu.be/2MYCeaQKJEA