The BMW M5 has been one hell of a car since it first stepped onto the sedan scene here in 1988.
Since then it’s gone from an inline-6 with 256 hp, to 315 hp from a similar motor, then to a V8 making 394 hp, over to a V10 that made 500 hp, and now for 2012, a brandy newy twin-turbo V8 making 560 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque!
There are no real details as of right now, just some smaller leaked images, which you can see below. We do know that the new F10 BMW M5 will be equipped with a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox called the M-DCT, the same one in the current E9x M3, as well as a 6-speed manual, for the real men out there who have three legs. Expect a price tag of around $105,000 when the car officially drops between June 23-26 at the VLN 24 Hours of the Nürburgring. BMW is hosting an ///M festival at the race.
The M5 has done extensive testing at the Nürburgring, which is currently home to the amazing lap records of 7:59 for the Cadillac CTS-V and Porsche’s said time for the Panamera Turbo of 7:56. I’m going to go out on a limb and expect the new BMW M5 to best the Cadillac’s lap time by about 4-5 seconds at around 7:54-7:55. That doesn’t seem like much, but believe me, in a day where a lap time is king, going more than a second faster than your opposition is truly winning a battle.
I’m still not convinced the CTS-V is a rival to the BMW M5. More the M3. The CTS-V is marginally bigger than the current 3-Series, but not by much. The 5-Series is quite a bit bigger than the modern CTS. Performance alone, though, the CTS-V definitely tramples on the M5’s territory. Competition is king, and I love it. But I digress.
Anyway, take a look at the 2012 BMW M5 below in the extra sexy Monte Carlo Blue with silver interior. Oh, and check out those blue brake calipers! Maybe BMW will finally offer us the ability to have color calipers…?
She’s probably the sexiest BMW M5 I’ve ever seen.
