(car engine revs)
- It's the super sedan that turned the car world
on its head and made BMW the German sports car masters.
While its little brother gets all the racing cred,
this big, fast A F Sedan proved to the world
that you didn't need to be a lil coupe
to have fun at the track or in the twisty.
(car engine revs) (tires squeal)
(bell dings)
It's the undercover super car, the luxury lap time setter,
the ultimate driving machine!
This is everything you need to know
to get up to speed on the BMW M5.
(video game music)
The story of the M5 really begins
with another M car, the first one.
BMW wanted to develop a mid-engine super car
to defeat Porscha at Le Mans in the mid-70s.
Race chassis builders Dallara made the chassis
and Lamborghini was on board to iron out
the details and produce the car for BMW.
They called it the M1.
(lightning charge) (car engine revs)
But the project kind of fizzled out
when the rules changed and BMW couldn't even race the M1
in the class they designed it for.
So that kind of sucked, but they did
get a pretty sweet engine out of the whole experiment
and sweet engines need good homes.
BMW had already made a souped up 5 before
called the 535i, but that 5 didn't have an engine
designed by BMWs MotorSport or M Division.
This new one would.
- Hans we have this in-curt-able racing engine
with great performance that is also
surprisingly reliable for daily driving.
- Oh Klaus, that is wunderbar because I think we should put
an incredible engine with great performance
and surprising reliability into a sedan.
- [Both] Wunderbar!
- The M1's M88 straight-six engine made 273 herse-pers
and one incredible sound.
(car engine revs)
And since it was designed for the harsh conditions
of endurance racing, it was pretty much
overqualified for street duty.
It also had individual throttle bodies which,
if you don't know, are sick.
BMW yanked this engine out of the M! Super car
and shoved it under the hood of their E28 5 Series sedan.
Since this car was an M Division creation, it needed a name.
- What shall we call it, Hans?
- I don't know, Klaus, how about the M5?
- Economy of words, I like it.
- Do you like me?
- Don't be silly, you goose.
Of course I do, you're my best froy-nd-ed.
- Just a froy-nd-ed?
- Please, don't do this again.
- (huffs) Always in the foy-nd-ed zone.
(film crew and James laugh)
- [James] What really set the first M5 apart
from other sedans and sports cars
was the fact that it was completely hand-built.
Bodies were shipped from the main BMW factory
to the BMW M Division's facility
where highly-trained technicians joined the body
with their own tuned chassis and drive train.
The E28 M5 made its debut at the 1985 Amsterdam Motor Show
and it was an instant classic.
When critics and owners got their hands
on the finished product they were blown away by the M5's
razor-sharp handling and epic engine.
Here was a big sedan that could seat five
and also go toe-to-toe with the Ferrari 308.
(80s new wave music)
Nothing like this had ever been done.
It was unstoppable perfor-- (stammers)
It was unstoppable performance in an inconspicuous package.
Just like me, James.
The E28 M5 was only made for three years
and since they were hand-built,
a little over 2,000 of them were sold.
They're pretty rare.
The M5 name took a breather for a couple years
until the release of the E34 5-Series.
The new M5 dropped in 1989 and it was still hand-assembled
at M headquarters with lower ride height,
firmer suspension, bigger sway bars.
Basically anything to make it an M creation.
(tires squeal)
What's even cooler is it came as a wagon.
Everybody loves wagons, whether we're blasting over cliffs
with our stuffed tiger best friend or bringing our son,
Nolan, home in the back of a Ford Taurus wagon.
The M5 Touring was the same pavement pounding,
curve bending, tail slidin' beast that everyone
had come to know and love but now
it had a little hatch in the back.
(tires squeal)
The M5 Touring never made it to the U.S.
Because nothing ever does but that's okay because
the biggest change to the M5 formula was yet to come.
And we would get our stinky little fingers all over it.
(sniffs)
Demand for the M5 was so large now that BMW couldn't afford
to stipple production numbers by having
them assembled by hand so, the new M5 would be built next
to their normal 5 Series brethren.
But don't you think for a second that just because
it wasn't built in isolation like the Winter Soldier
that this M5 couldn't be an absolute monster, like The Hulk.
Because buddy, it was an absolute monster,
just like The Hulk.
- My pants.
- What lurked beneath the E39 M5's hood was perhaps
the biggest departure from the M5 formula so far.
A 4.9 liter aluminum block dual overhead cam V8.
And it kept the individual throttle bodies.
Basically it's like the Cosworth engines F1 cars
used to run in the '70, but it's bigger and lighter.
What's not to love?
With 400 herse-pers on tap, the new M5
had no problem roasting up the rear meats.
One time I sat on the hood of my car
when it was really hot out and I roasted my rear meats.
(audience boos)
But this wasn't some roid raging muscle car, no!
It could still canyon carve with the best of them
and it was better looking than ever.
BMW switch up the styling, it was the new millennium.
Gone were the traditional individual
Beamer lights and rigid lines of the E34.
The new M5 was sleek but muscular,
refined but ready to rip your face off at a moment's notice.
(car engine revs)
Fight me in the comments but I think that
this is the best looking M5 ever.
The E39 was in production from 1998 to 2003
when the M5 name took a break once again.
Big changes were again on the horizon
for the world's premier sports sedan.
Mainly, the engine.
BMW had been dabbling in a little thing called Formula 1,
developing a high revving V10.
Now you'd think that BMW would be inspired by this alone
to put a V10 in the M5 and you'd be 75-ish per cent right.
Apparently, BMW's head of engine development
was obsessed with the number 500
and wanted a five liter engine with 500 cc's
of displacement in every cylinder
and 100 horsepower for every liter.
He locked himself in his office, covering the walls
with equations and math stuff and realized
he couldn't make this happen with a V8.
They needed two more cylinders, a V10.
That's just simple math.
This monster V10 put down 500 horsepower
and had a redline just over 8,200 RPM.
Listen to this engine.
(car engine revs)
The E60 was still a truly race-inspired sedan,
just like the E28.
America was the only region to get
a manual transmission option, which means
we finally got the cool thing for once.
- [Everyone] Yay!
- The touring option also made
a comeback, which we didn't get.
Which is fine, I guess, you know,
like pretty used to it by now.
The 5 Series got a refresh in 2010 which meant, yup, new M5.
It turns out age meant gaining a few pounds and inches
to the waistline. (laughs)
I mean, we all know how that feels, right?
This is what I used to look like.
(yells)
(martial arts shout) (gentle bamboo flute)
The new F10 M5 was noticeably bigger
than the previous model but luckily
the power figure kept up with the growing gut.
The V10 was chucked in favor of a new twin-turbo V8.
M5 purists were a little hesitant to embrace
the new forced induction, longing
for the days of naturally aspirated past.
But, the results spoke for themselves.
BMW claimed a zero-to-60 of 4.2 seconds but some people
claim they were able to make times as low as 3.7
from a car weighing over two tons.
(car engine revs)
The F10 lasted for seven years until another refresh
in 2017 which gave us the current M5.
The F90 raises the stakes with maybe
the most mind-boggling update so far.
All wheel drive.
Other way?
- [Crew Member] Other way. (laughs)
- [James] The M xDrive system scoots
the 590 horsepower M5 from zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds.
Three. Point two. Seconds.
(car engine revs)
xDrive can also disconnect the front axle
so you can do big ol' stonkin' donuts
in your $110,000 German sedan.
(tires squeal)
The M5 has always been the subtle super car
for the undercover speed freak.
If you wanted a car that drove like an exotic
but looks like something your accountant drives
to the grocery store, the M5 was for you.
It is truly a wolf in sheep's clothing.
(yells)
(martial arts shout) (gentle bamboo flute)
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