
I just read in two independent German car magazines
(one of them was the
new ams) that the new M5 will be presented to
the public at the Geneva
Motorshow in March.
It will not be on sale before autumn. As we already
know it will have
the new V8 with 5.0l, producing 500 Nm and -
that's new - exactly 408
hp. What means that it equals Porsche's 911 turbo
and will share its
title as "fastest German production car" (till
the new turbo arrives). I
expected the "more than 400 horsepowers" to be
408 hp, because that is
300 kW, what a nice plain figure.
Both papers told the claimed 0-100 km/h time,
which is - a little bit
disapointing - 5.4 sec, what means no better
than B10 BiTurbo and not
really quicker than the E55. So either it is
a really conservative claim
and in reality it will perform better, or the
M5 will be rather heavy
because of all the luxury goodies on board, or
the extra horsepower will
not be as noticable as expected. The last may
be a critical point. As I
ever said: What good are limousines with an awful
lot of horsepower when
they are weighing between 1800 and 2000kg? They
really should
concentrate on saving weight instead of pressing
out the last hp. How
about an M5 with 1500kg and 350 hp? Sounds good,
eh?
Nevertheless, that's all for the moment,
Dear M5 Enthusiasts,
As little as you might believe
me, there are M5s currently being
driven in the good old US of A and I have seen
one myself while driving
down Ventura Blvd. in Encino, California. I know,
you probably think I'm
full of it, well I'm not. It was a different
color from any BMW I had
ever seen, METALLIC PURPLE!!! The car was beautiful,
in addition to the
sleek design of the new fives, it had the distinctive
rear skirt and
lowered front end, but it was one hell of a car.
Sincerely,
Joey
Best regards, SR
KJ wrote;
From what I read, the new M5 was scheduled to
be introduced in the
Frankfurt Motor show this Sept. But problems
with that "sequential"
6-speed gearbox has pushed its debue as far back
as 12 months. So far,
the main (and maybe only) problem is that BMW
doesn't want
to launch the M5 with the conventional 6-speed
gearbox. I really
can't believe this. Considering that Mercedes-Benz
is coming up with
their E55 AMG, which is direct rival of the M5,
in this year's show, the
only explanation for the delay is that the M5
project has been given a
low priority. So the E55 AMG will enjoy a record
year of sales.
A BMW dealer told me that the likely scenario is that the car will debue
at the '98 Geneva show in March. That sounds more
reasonable. My
only hope is that the car be made available with
the "old-fashoined"
6-speed box. With Audi and MB coming up
with better rivals for the
M5, time is of most importance and any delays
can hurt the car's sales
and
fan base (not us, M5 nuts, though).
-KJ-
Hey,
you got a lot of wrong informations on the new M5. I'm 3miles away from the M GmbH and a friend of a friend of mine is already test driving this new car on the Nürburgring since 6 months.
Definitely it will be a V8 engine with at the end 425hp. At the moment they drive 450hp but it will be reduced before market start. It will have app. 4.7 litre.
Best regards, Roland
One of the craziest car fans on earth.
Had several M cars.
Note: This guy has the best car taste in the world. He has put up a homepage over the cars he have owned, such as the BMW-Alpina B10 Biturbo, BMW M3, Lamborghini Diablo and Porsche 911 Turbo 3,6.
Amjad Ali wrote:
Ville Valonen wrote:
It will have at least 408 hp. Sounds pretty good, ha? MB E50 AMG is for wimps....
James Waddington wrote:
I went to the Motor Show in Birmingham, England and spoke to a guy about a new M5. He said that a new M5 had just been signed off and that it would probably be a four litre V8 with in excess of 400bhp.From: "Todd G. Westlie"
Todd G. Westlie wrote:
Concerning the new M5--the rumors abound!
I have heard everything from 4.6 to 5.0 litres, 400 to 460 bhp, a six-speed manual or five speed "tiptronic" type automatic option, 18 and possibly 19 inch wheels. It's all over the map!
The latest that I have heard is the possibility of a `de-stroked' 5.0 litre V12 as the motor for the upcoming M5.
Do you know the magazine `Sports Car International'? The February/March issue has an article on a 5.5 litre V12 318ti constructed by Racing Dynamics! If they can get that big motor in that little car, BMW will have no problem with the E39.