First launched in the 1980s with 200 horsepower, the M5 has become a benchmark among large sports sedans over the decades: today with a hybrid it has the power and performance of a supercar.
The BMW M5 was born in 1984 as a more powerful and faster version of the M535i, and debuted at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
Unlike the M535i, which used the 7 Series engine, the M5 borrowed the 3.5-liter, 386 horsepower 6-cylinder from the M635CSi.
The second M5 came out a few years later, already in 1988, and was also given the Touring bodywork.
Like the first E28, the M5 E34 maintains the 6-cylinder configuration, but increases power to 315 hp, rising to 340 with model updates.
In 1998 the third generation of the BMW M5, the E39, saw the light of day
The E39 had decidedly sportier looks than its predecessors, and bid farewell to the 6-cylinder engine in favor of a larger and more powerful 4.9-liter V8 with 400 horsepower and 500 Nm.
The fourth BMW M5 arrived in 2004 and was identified by the initials E60. The sedan is joined by a station wagon variant, the E61 Touring
The big news for the series is under the bonnet: the V8 has indeed left the scene and been replaced by a massive 5-liter naturally aspirated V10 with 507 horsepower.
The fifth generation of the BMW M5, the 2011 F10, marks a return to the V8 engine, but aided by a twin turbo.
Thanks to supercharging, despite having 2 fewer cylinders, the M5 F10 delivers 560 horsepower and 680 Nm, even supercar performance: from zero to a hundred in 4″4 (with a speed of 250 per hour) From 2014, the competition package brings power up to 600 hp.
The sixth series of the Bavarian super sedan sees the light of day in 2018, and is a close evolution of the previous model, which received a 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 engine.
In its launch version it puts out 600 horsepower, but over the years new, even higher-performance versions have been added: the 625 hp Competition and the 635 hp Competition Sport.
The current generation of the BMW M5 has more recent history: presented in June 2024, it was the first version of the sports sedan equipped with a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The electric unit now works alongside the classic 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8, with a total of 727 horsepower and 1,000 Nm of torque. Performance? Top speed is 305 km/h and 0-100 in 3″5
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