2019-10-01_CAR_UK

OCTOBER 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 141

Our cars

It’s a very talented, very

desirable car, but an M5

Competition is faster, more

entertaining and more practical

unrelated. But all of this barely
holds the M850i back as an
awesomely capable GT. In fact, in
terms of ride quality, stability and
refinement, that weight almost
certainly works for the car.

3

Is a 4.4-litre petrol V8 a
good idea in 2019?
Not really, no. It’s a fantastic
engine, and if you’re very wealthy/
prepared to write off the fuel bills/
living somewhere better than
the UK, where petrol’s almost
affordable, you won’t regret going
for it. But for the rest of us the diesel
840d make a load more sense;
more than £20k less expensive, not
slow (1.2sec slower 0-62mph) and
46.3mpg (official) versus 26.9.

4

£108k...?
It’s a lot of money. It’s too
much money. And it nags
at the M850i evangelist incessantly.
Yes it’s a very talented, very desirable
car, but an M5 Competition is both
of those things, and faster, more
entertaining and more practical.
The 8 has strayed too close to more

Alex Tapley

Count the cost

Cost new £108,405 Private sale

£78,935 Part-exchange £75,250

Energy cost 21p per mile Cost per

mile including depreciation £4.94

rarefied species – on paper, it’s a

bargain Bentley Continental GT or

Aston DB11, but of course it’s neither

a Bentley (sadly) or an Aston (less

sadly, depending on the model)

and, compared with other cars that

aren’t Bentleys or Astons either, it’s

terrifically expensive. Wait a couple

of years, buy used.

5

And what’s it for?

Believe it or not, it’s for

driving. And whether you’re

cruising to work or hurrying to

the other end of the country, the

BMW will cover the distance at

tremendous speed, with very little

effort, and breed a very likeable

sense of calm and complete control

as it does so. It’ll use a load of fuel,

your rear-seat passengers will hate

you, and you may ponder why you

haven’t sunk your pension into an

M5 instead. But you may also be too

content to care.

FORCED ENTRY

Keyless entry is a Pretty

Good Idea. Especially for

single people, who run less

risk of the key winding up

in the missus’ handbag 70

miles from the car you’ve

just switched off to refuel. A

stabbed door handle button

locks and unlocks the CX-5 –

not as touchy-feely as some.

SNATCH CATCH

All too many seatbelts hang

limpet-snug against the B

pillar, making a right-hand

grab impossible, and even

the less satisfactory left-hand

alternative an inevitable

mutter of hot, fidgety fuss.

Not so the CX-5’s, which

considerately stream like

celebratory tickertape.

SCREEN SHOT

Mazda would be the first to

accept that its centre console

screen is a tad off the pace

these days. Yet compare the

simplicity of its turn-and-push

knob operation to systems

which require left index

finger letter-by-letter writing,

and you quickly realise all

that’s wrong is the graphics.

ALL CHANGE

Most of the notch of a

somewhat recalcitrant

gearchange has indeed

worked itself out of the

system as the miles pile

quietly aboard. You can

still feel the weave of the

cable-link trundling over the

pulleys, but that’s strangely

pleasing.

Slicker shifts

and tickertape

Mazda CX-5 2.2D

2wd Sport Nav+

Month 3

The story so far

Still no gripes from the missus, which surely must merit a

medal of some sort for the Mazda engineering department

+Gearchange smoothing out nicely with miles

• Keyless pushbutton unlock inconsistent

Price £29,900 (£30,460 as tested) Performance 2191cc

turbocharged four-cylinder, 148bhp, 9.9sec 0-62mph,

127mph Efficiency 49.6mpg (official), 44.6mpg (tested),

128g/km CO2 Energy cost 8.1p per mile Miles this month

475 Total miles 1888

Logbook

By Anthony ffrench-Constant

In bits