Competition BMW M5 vs Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S Comparison Test

The guys from MotorTrend wanted to find out if the M5 with the ZCP can match up to the more powerful E63 S. For that, they went at it the smart way. Since both German manufacturers are known for lying about the power outputs of their cars, they took them to the dyno to see the real results.

So, the Merc put out, at the wheels, 541 HP and 505 lb-ft (685 Nm) of torque out of the 5.5-liter V8 engine under the bonnet. Since the car was AWD, when calculating how much power the engine makes at the crank, the numbers don't look so good for the Benz.

With a 20% power loss, the car makes 676 HP at the crank and 631 lb-ft (856 Nm) of torque. That's a lot! The Stuttgard manufacturer lies a lot when it's saying the car only has 585 HP and 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) of torque.

The BMW, on the other hand, made 508 WHP and 452 lb-ft WTQ (613 Nm) out of a 4.4-liter V8. Now, the RWD setup allows you to lose around 15% of the power on the way, that means the BMW returned 598 HP at the crank and 531 lb-ft WTQ (720 Nm). That's just 25 HP and 40 Nm (30 lb-ft) more than the official numbers.

The numbers don't lie! Therefore, the BMW has 70 HP and 136 Nm (100 lb-ft) less than the Mercedes and only rear-wheel-drive (that's 100 HP over what Mercedes claims officially). However, that meant exactly nothing on the figure 8 and almost nothing on a drag race, where the Mercedes won the sprint to 60 mph by only 0.3 seconds.

On the road, there's so little between the two cars, that even the hosts were really struggling to find a winner. The Competition Package is a definite improvement over the standard M5 and you'll feel it on the road.

They chose the Merc but we surely can't agree with them. Take the following into account: less power, less torque, smaller engine, RWD. The Mercedes has everything to its advantage and yet there's so little difference. What would you pick?