Get in and you’re treated to a classically pedigree driving position and typically outstanding sports seats. You can't sit quite as touring-car low as in the previous M5, because you are sitting on top of the battery pack, but you're not exactly perched. And anyway, the ultra-low seating position you get in BMWs is quite a recent thing – the E60 5 Series was more upright.
Most of the surroundings are the same as that of any new 5 Series, though. That is to say not as high-quality or measured, let alone easy to use, as the previous generation. Although the big curved screen isn't short visual pizzazz, much of the remaining switchgear has clearly been downgraded.
M division must agree that some settings shouldn't require a menu trawl, because the centre console has gained a couple more buttons that give you direct access to the driving-mode configuration, the hybrid modes, the M modes and the stability control.
The new 5 Series, whether M5 or 520i, is also surprisingly tight in the back for leg room, and while the boot floor isn't as high as in plug-in hybrid Mercedes models, the luggage space is weirdly narrow.