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BMW Secretly Built a RWD F90 M5 More than Three Years Ago

Rumors about BMW bringing all-wheel-drive to the F90 M5 (and dropping the manual tranny, for that manner) have been floating around for quite some years. However, it seems that the current M5 wasn't born in all-paw form.
2018 M5 1 photo
Photo: BMW
The Bavarian automaker simply followed the RWD path when coming up with the first F90 M5 prototype, as Dirk Hacker, Vice President of the M Division, recently told autocar.

The contraption was put together "more than three years ago", back in the days when the LCI (Life Cycle Impulse) mid-cycle revamp for the now-replaced F10 M5 was still fresh.

It was the natural, historic way to go – until we realised we were beyond the limits of longitudinal acceleration. Four-wheel drive was the only option,” the BMW M VP explained.

However, we'll remind rear-wheel-drive aficionados that there's no reason to fret. And that's because the M xDrive hardware of the newcomer includes a driving mode that sees the car relying solely on the rear wheels to put the power down.

This means you can easily use the reworked twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 mill, which now churns out 600 horses, to properly punish the rear tires.

Speaking of (more or less) forbidden 2018 M5 fruits, the Bavarian automaker isn't exactly rushing to deliver a Touring incarnation of the missile.

Sure, sales of the M5 wagon weren't exactly something to brag about, but the family-friendly monster was extremely enticing. And this is why the world wide web simply couldn't leave this lineup gap alone and came up with a rendering of the 2018 BMW M5 Touring, one you can find in the image gallery above.

However, as more and more examples of the new M5 will hit the streets, we could see an overly determined aficionado out there commissioning an M5 Touring and, of course, we'll keep an eye out for such a build.
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About the author: Andrei Tutu
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In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist.
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