Depends how lenient they are in the early days. Be prepared to ask them to check the recording to see that you did not stop. My experience with these kinds of things is - they bill first and don't ask questions - or give answers - when I had a run in with the London Congestion Zone.

Heathrow appears not yet to have clarified the previous ambiguity as to whether the charge is for actually dropping off a passenger, or simply for entering the drop-off zone.

On one hand, it states "There is a £5 charge for vehicles entering the drop-off areas" (my emphasis); on the other hand (and on the same page) it says "Pay for a single drop-off or pre-pay for multiple drop-offs"

Terminal Drop-Off Charge

East Midlands Airport has also recently introduced a fee of 5 quid for dropping people off :rolleyes:

There's a message from the police that patrol the M25 & M4 near Heathrow, they're seeing an increase in people stopping on the hard shoulders there. Presumably to drop off passengers.

It's a VERY long walk from the M4 (even the spur) to any of the terminals

I do love watching the Law of Unintended Consequences play out! Before Covid, you used to see similar things at Luton where the drop and collect is charged for.

The drop off/pick up at Luton is £5 for 10 mins then £1 per min after that , drop off in the car parks followed by a shuttle bus ride is free for short amounts of time.
It states on their website cctv is in operation and a £95 enforcement charge (reduced to £55 if payed within 14 days) is payable for drivers dropping off on approach roads. The airport is council owned so in theory could issue parking "fines"

Interesting that Luton, unlike Heathrow, gives a significant discount on its drop-off charge to EVs.

Interesting, i wasn't aware of that, does it work on ANPR or do you wait at the barrier and speak to a human

Neither:

"To take advantage of this reduction, EV drivers must park in the dedicated electric vehicle spaces on level 2 of the Terminal Car Park 1 and take their parking ticket to the Priority Parking Office on the same floor to have their ticket validated."

Only 100% EVs qualify, not hybrids.

Priority Drop Off Information - London Luton Airport (london-luton.co.uk)

How does it work if you have a Lamborghini with foreign plates ? Do the licence plate readers work ?
Would it look suspicious if I fitted foreign plates ? Asking for a friend :)

ANPR cameras are set to the UK license plate font and may not be able read foreign ones. I remember a traffic cops tv episode where they pulled someone over for having plates with German style lettering.

How much is the bus from the hotels on Bath Road (ie end of M4 spur) to the terminals ?

If you mean the regular TfL buses, then it will be the standard £1.55.

If you mean the hotel courtesy buses, then (assuming you can blag your way on board) it will be free.