BMW’s bad-ass M5
I’m not going to waste your time with fancy words or anything, bottom line is this: the new M5 is the most powerful M car ever developed by BMW and it will embarrass many a supercar. There are only but a few thunder saloons out there that can claim to be its equal. However with this, the Competition package the M5 becomes a little more equal than before.
This being BMW the boys at the M division didn’t just up the power, they spent much time improving the M5s handling characteristics by tuning the chassis set up, transforming it into more of a track focused car if you will. Along with new coil springs and damper calibrations, anti-sway bars have also been stiffened. For the BMW M5, these adjustments have resulted in a lowering of the car by around 10 millimetres, which lowers the centre of gravity and roll centre. The potential inherent in the rear axle design – based on the race-derived principle of the rear axle subframe being rigidly bolted to the body – and the even more precisely calibrated bushings for the front axle are exploited with the Competition Package.
Beyond these enhancements, the M chassis control system has been adapted to the Competition Package suspension profile. With the Competition Package, the M Dynamic Mode (MDM) of DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) is re-mapped for even sportier handling characteristics and higher thresholds of intervention. The Competition Package additionally includes unique 20-inch M light-alloy wheels along with a sport exhaust system featuring M quad tailpipes finished in Black Chrome that lend an unmistakable look and the sound to the car.
The new M5 is powered by a monstrous 4.4l twin turbo V8 now developing around 423kW and a massive 680Nm of torque thanks to the added zing. This translates into the M5 hitting 100km/h from dead stand still in about 4,1 seconds and on to 320km/h, its hair-raising stuff. The M5 also has no problem in smoking its massive 20-inch rear tyres, and what of the traction control? Well the traction control light flashes like a little yellow strobe light but can’t really do much.
What’s more the boys in Munich have made the go-faster toys easier to use. There are four main areas you can tweak – throttle response (engine dynamics control in M speak), suspension (electronic damper control), steering (servotronic), and gearbox (drivelogic).
If that’s too fiddly for you then to simplify things the M5 has been fitted with two little M buttons on the steering wheel. You can pre-set them via the iDrive system to your desired taste. I set up the button marked M1 with nothing but comfort in mind. In this mode the car is supremely comfortable and as good as any other 5 Series. As the 5 is class-leading in every respect imaginable, this is the highest praise I can possibly give it. As for M2, well I got a warning from BMW South Africa about this button. The M2 setting was already programmed with everything dialled to 11. This setting is so bad-ass that the car actually asks you to confirm that you pressed the button, as if to say: “Are you really sure about this boytije?”
After stepping on it for the first time, I knew why the car asked me to confirm. Having 423kW under your right foot is no joke. You have to be awake and you better know a thing or a few about how to handle a car. The M5 demands respect, like a Pit Bull, mess with it on the wrong day and you are in for a nasty surprise.
Then there’s what my high-school science teacher used to call the law of physics which, in M5 speak, is what happens when you take a 1870kg object at speed, and try to suddenly change its direction. The M5 is heavy but it deals with its weight well. With everything in Sport + mode or ‘are you insane!!’ mode things are better. The cars suspension stiffens up, the steering becomes nicely weighted and throttle response is sharper. Show the M5 a mountain pass like the Kraanspoort pass on the way to Loskop and you’re just plain crazy. The M5 picks up speed so quickly and trying to shrug off that speed before a sharp right hander is some pants messing stuff, thankfully the M5 that I had was fitted with carbon-fibre ceramic brakes disks which are designed to handle higher levels of heat and don’t fade as quickly as conventional disks.
The M5 is an executive saloon that’s out to embarrass the likes of most Porsches and Ferraris. It’s the best of both worlds. It’s extremely comfortable and insanely fast. I reckon that the M5 can be christened as a supercar. It will hang with the best of them and probably overtake most of them as well. If the devil wanted a company car, it would be the M5 because you would need divine intervention to get away.
