After the first couple of somewhat cryptic teaser films, BMW allowed Evo Magazine’s Chris Harris to sit behind the wheel of its upcoming 2012 M5 sports saloon and share the video with the rest of the world.
The Bavarian company is still keeping mum on the performance details, but officials confirmed that the twin-turbocharged V8 lump that replaces the outgoing M5’s 507HP V10 will have more oomph than on the X5 M / X6 M. “Do you really think we would give it less than an X6M?”, BMW officials told Harris. In the X6 M, the twin-turbo V8 kicks out 555HP and 680Nm or 501-lbs/ft of peak torque.
So what were his initial thoughts about the car after a quick test drive of a pre-production M5? “It felt like an M-car in the correct sense: purposeful, but not too aggressive,” Harris wrote. “To me this car feels like its DNA has been drawn from the E39 M5. It’s a less frenzied machine than the one it replaces: it has torque and flexibility but still the killer pace every M5 owner requires.”
Source: Evo
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