Cars like the BMW M5 CS don’t come around all that often, and when they do you’re often stuck thinking about them for days, weeks or even months. That was exactly the position I found myself in after spending two weeks with the BMW M5 CS back in early April of this year. It wasn’t even close to as good as I expected; it was in fact much, much better.

This story actually starts with the also much-better-than-I-expect BMW M2 CS. That punchy, pugnacious little sports car was the first time I’d experienced a BMW with a CS designation. It was mystifying, and apparently interesting enough that a police officer pulled me over just to have me talk him around the car. He knew it was special, and he hadn’t even driven one. There was a truly connected, unfiltered magic about the M2 CS — something I hadn’t really experienced in an M car since my first rip in an 2013 BMW M3.

Then came the M5 CS, and lofty as my expectations were, the M5 gobbled them up and spit them back out at me. It was the most powerful BMW ever when it made its debut, but more than that, it was also the most connected supersedan I had ever driven. I’ve been lucky enough to pedal more than a few, but the Audi RS 6, Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S, and Porsche Panamera Turbo S lack the raw, rude-boy attitude of the CS. It’s safe to say that CS is what M used to be, and BMW has set some very lofty benchmarks with the CS cars recently.

But how could a sedan be that good? I’ll explain. Big, fast sedans often filter your inputs and…