As made clear in our video review of both the 2003 BMW M5 and the 2010 BMW M5, I have a thing for the M5s. I have driven the Mercedes Benz E63 AMG, its closest competitor and I would take the BMW M5 any day of the week, especially the weekend. In fact, if I had $150,000 to play with and could choose any car, I’d go for the BMW M5 below that top price, although the Mercedes Benz CLS 63 AMG is very tempting.
My point is that I think the BMW M5 is one of the best purpose-built cars on the planet. However, what exactly is its purpose? Its main purpose is to be super fast and handy, and it does that very well.
That brings me to the new 2012 BMW M5 F10 body style, which in my opinion has to be one of the best looking 5 Series ever made. That said, this new BMW M5 looks to kill and performs to kill!
To be more specific, this sedan has the most powerful engine ever fitted to a series-produced model by BMW M GmbH. The new 2012 BMW M5 F10 engine is a newly developed high-revving V8 engine with M TwinPower Turbo (consisting of Twin Scroll Twin Turbo technology, a cross-bank exhaust manifold, High Precision Injection direct fuel injection and fully throttle valve control). variable VALVETRONIC) .
If you missed the above, just know this… the engine produces 560 horsepower at 6,000 – 7,000 rpm and peak torque of 502 lb-ft hits it between 1,500 and 5,750 rpm. The increase in horsepower and torque over the 2010 BMW M5 E60 is 53 hp and 122 lb-ft of torque or increases of approximately 10% and 32%, respectively. The biggest difference, however, is in the torque figure, which is not only up 32%, but peaks early on at 1,500rpm relative to the 6,100rpm peak of the 2010 BMW M5 E60.
Instant power delivery makes the 2012 BMW M5 F10 much more responsive than the 2010 BMW M5 E60 and helps propel it from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds (the 2010 BMW M5 was 4.7 seconds) and hit 124 mph in only 13.0 seconds.
What does all of the above mean combined with strong cornering ability? Well…a lap time at the Nürburgring that makes the 2012 BMW M5 F10 worthy of the “Master Slayer” title from its supercar sedan brethren. Although the time is not yet official, rumors are circulating that the new F10 BMW M5 lapped the Nürburgring in 7:55. That’s faster than the Porsche Panamera Turbo (7:56), the Cadillac CTS-V (7:59), and the Mercedes Benz E63 AMG (8:10). In addition, the lap time of the new 2012 BMW M5 F10 is approximately 18 seconds faster than its predecessor, the 2010 BMW M5 E60 (8:13). What is even more interesting is that the BMW M5 is as fast as the Ferrari F430 F1 (7:55).
Having said all of the above, we can conclude that the new 2012 BMW M5 F10 is a phenomenal piece of machinery. What’s bigger, though, are the minds of BMW’s German mad scientists who keep pushing these cars beyond what initially seemed impossible. So to the German mad scientists I say this: “Keep eating your wienerschnitzels and sausages stuffed with sauerkraut, but most of all, keep making good cars.”