Dyno Test Reveals New BMW M5 Produces Way More Than 600 HP

But if history has taught us anything, it's that German cars have grossly underestimated output numbers. You've heard of Dieselgate? Well, this is Powergate, the all-out war to see who can turn regular cars into vicious monsters.

With some manufacturers, the official HP number is the highest you are ever going to get. If a butterfly flaps its wind in China, your air filters will clog up, and you are going to get 10 HP less.

But with a BMW M car, that number is like an all-time low, achieved under trying conditions. It's been that way for many years. For example, the 4.4-liter M60 was rated at 282 but actually produced 300 ponies.

Its modern-day equivalent is a twin-turbo monster under the hood of the all-new M5. Everybody knows about the beautiful, rounded number the F90 is supposed to deliver. However, IND Distribution strapped their model to the dyno after breaking it in.

They measured 625 ponies at all four wheels. Even factoring in a modest 10% drivetrain loss, that would put the V8's crank output at around 690-hp. Convert that into the metric system, and you're left with about 700 HP.

The fastest production BMW in the history of the company has as much power as a Lamborghini V12. Should we really be surprised?

Torque? Well, according to the dyno numbers, BMW is underrating its 4.4-liter engine by about 100 lb-ft. The same thing happened many years ago when Motor Trend tested the old M5.

The difference between that one and this is that it also has the RWD drive mode. With two fewer drive shafts sucking up power, the M5 might be capable of some devilish top-speed runs.