Residents reportedly ran out of their homes with baseball bats and some called for a gun after a BMW four-wheel-drive smashed into three townhouses and at least five cars in Melbourne's north overnight.

Police said the driver of the BMW was overtaking a Mazda on Aitken Boulevard at Roxburgh Park when he lost control and hit a pole about 11pm on Monday.

The car then careered into the parked cars and the block of townhouses on Korab Place, while residents were asleep inside.

The BMW flipped onto its roof, before coming to a stop beneath the partially collapsed roof of a garage.