2013 BMW M5

Practically every automaker has an R or a GT or a V or an S or a Spec-Something-or-Other sexing up its catalog. But nobody commits to the job with the fervor of BMW’s M division GmbH. Granted, the gulf between track and street that opened up years ago means that BMW’s speed shop no longer puts motorsport specials on the road with detuned race engines. But that doesn’t mean new M’s are nothing more than Big Macs with barbecue sauce.
But take the example of the new 560-hp “M TwinPower Turbo” M5—Bimmer-nerd code: F10—that goes on sale in the U.S. late next summer as a 2013 model.

In the F10 M5, you get: a unique engine [see sidebar]; a unique, reinforced and re-ratio’d, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission; and a unique, electronic limited-slip differential with a unique aluminum horse-collar mount for added rigidity. There’s a unique suspension with forged aluminum components and nary a part number shared with any other BMW; a unique variable-ratio steering gear with hydraulic instead of electric boost as in other 5s; unique, iron-and-aluminum brake rotors clamped by unique radial-mount, monoblock front calipers housing six asymmetrically sized pistons per wheel; and a unique front crossmember, stiffened and attached by two additional bolts because somebody thought that was important. A unique rear-suspension cradle is rigidly mounted to the unibody to eliminate the weight and flex of rubber bushings, unique stiffening rods and shear plates underneath serve as extra bracing, and the car runs enough special software to land it on an asteroid.

You may scoff upon learning the M5’s price, expected to fall near $92,000. To that prodigious sum we say: How can BMW possibly sell a couple thousand copies per year so cheaply? What does the dedicated tooling cost, anyway? How much is it to change 10 things about an engine, including the induction system and compression ratio, and then recertify it? It’s a lot of Big Macs. Maybe not as many Big Macs as creating a bespoke V-10, as in the previous E60, but a lot.

The new M5 will assuredly be profitable. But whether it is spectacular or merely great—many people would put a 4300-pound luxury sedan that hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds firmly in the former category—it’s definitely no parts-bin badge job.

The previous V-10 had an 8250-rpm redline. With the M TwinPower Turbo, Elvis pretty much leaves the building at 6000, though the revs go to 7200 rpm, supposedly for track-day lappers who like to hold gears longer—and, we suspect, to uphold the M tradition of making spin-dizzy engines. The tall gearing of the seamlessly proficient seven-speed, with its two overdrive top gears handing off to a 3.15:1 axle ratio, is well matched to the M TwinPower Turbo’s torque curve, or lack of curve, as it were. The torque “peak” of 502 pound-feet is more of a mesa, arriving just off idle at 1500 rpm and not fading until 5750 rpm, ­figures for a gasoline engine that would make even Herr Diesel envious.

If the M5 achieves its stated goal of a 30-percent gain in fuel economy, combined mpg could reach 20 when the EPA gets around to rating it. BMW is also strongly hinting that the U.S. market will again get a manual-transmission option.

Change, like cold gazpacho, always has its haters. Atavists will doubtlessly cry out that M has abandoned them with all this turbo madness. To paraphrase a recent comment on our website: When the M5 got a V-8 for 1998, people said they missed the inline-six. When it got a V-10 for 2004, people longed for the V-8. That is all true, as is the fact that the new M5 remains a delectably sweet reward for personal financial success. And if the next M5 is a diesel-electric hybrid that hits 60 mph in three seconds flat, will we say the same? Maybe, but only if BMW comes up with an even better name than M TwinPower Turbo