Photo: BMW
It seems like our earlier report was true, as BMW just took the virtual veils off their special M5, dubbed “30 Jahre M5” or ’30 years of the M5’ in English. The car is absolutely breathtaking, featuring some really impressive specs and a truly unique interior.
From the outside you’ll notice that the anniversary model is wearing an Individual suit, tailored specifically to impose respect. The Frozen Dark Silver Metallic paint wasn’t chosen at random and the Competition Package wheels cover the huge Carbon Ceramic brakes that hide beneath.
Up front, the kidney grille surround is now black while the gills are decked with special “30 Jahre M5” badges that reappear here and there in all sorts of locations such as the dash, door sills and even the backrests of the seats.
Going inside, the passenger and the driver can relax in the M multifunction seats that are wrapped in an Alcantara/leather combination while the centre console and door panels also feature an Alcantara Anthracite trim.
A 16-speaker high-end surround system comes as standard inside while a Harman Kardon 600-watt system and a 1,200-watt Bang & Olufsen one are also available, as optional features.
Now, for the technical details. The 4.4-liter turbo V8 engine was taken above its usual comfort zone this time. Starting from the Competition Package model (575 HP, 680 Nm/501 lb-ft of torque), this version has no less than 600 HP and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque at its disposal to do with as it pleases.
According to BMW, “this power boost has been achieved through carefully calculated tweaks to the engine management and an increase in charge pressure.” Which means it has a new ECU map.
With this new output, this M5 becomes the most powerful car ever made by BMW, toppling everything else before it. It’s also the fastest sedan they ever made, with a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint of 3.9 seconds. Keep in mind that this is a rear-wheel-drive car that weighs around 2 tons!
That’s half a second faster than a stock M5 (560 HP) and 0.4 seconds faster than a Competition Package model (575 HP). Unfortunately, the limited-run model will only be available with the 7-speed DCT gearbox.
But what about the car it celebrates? Well, this special model is here to remind us of the first ever M5 the Germans built. It happened back in the 80s and it was a completely different machine that started a trend and a new segment.
The first M5 (codenamed E28) came to life after BMW conducted a sort-of experiment with the E12 M535i model that used M1 technology. After taking its place, the M5 became the high-powered sedan to have.
Of course, compared to today’s standards it was well behind but for the 80s, it was something the world had never seen before. With 286 HP at its disposal coming from the M88 engine under the bonnet, the 1984 creation was even more powerful than the M1.
With a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 245 km/h (152 mph), it posted almost unimaginable figures for the times. Furthermore, all of them were hand made by Motorsport’s engineers until its demise in 1987. 2,200 units of the original M5 were made.
Coming back to the 21st century, prices for the anniversary models haven’t been announced yet but do expect something well over the $100,000 limit. That’s if you manage to snatch one, as we have a pretty good feeling that they will sell like hot cakes once they go on sale this summer.
Unfortunately, despite telling us all about it, BMW also ‘forgot’ to mention where we’ll be seeing it live for the first time. The Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 26-29) or the M Festival seem the (June 20-22) best bets so far. Production starts in July so we'll be seeing it launched by then.
Up front, the kidney grille surround is now black while the gills are decked with special “30 Jahre M5” badges that reappear here and there in all sorts of locations such as the dash, door sills and even the backrests of the seats.
Going inside, the passenger and the driver can relax in the M multifunction seats that are wrapped in an Alcantara/leather combination while the centre console and door panels also feature an Alcantara Anthracite trim.
A 16-speaker high-end surround system comes as standard inside while a Harman Kardon 600-watt system and a 1,200-watt Bang & Olufsen one are also available, as optional features.
Now, for the technical details. The 4.4-liter turbo V8 engine was taken above its usual comfort zone this time. Starting from the Competition Package model (575 HP, 680 Nm/501 lb-ft of torque), this version has no less than 600 HP and 700 Nm (516 lb-ft) of torque at its disposal to do with as it pleases.
According to BMW, “this power boost has been achieved through carefully calculated tweaks to the engine management and an increase in charge pressure.” Which means it has a new ECU map.
With this new output, this M5 becomes the most powerful car ever made by BMW, toppling everything else before it. It’s also the fastest sedan they ever made, with a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) sprint of 3.9 seconds. Keep in mind that this is a rear-wheel-drive car that weighs around 2 tons!
That’s half a second faster than a stock M5 (560 HP) and 0.4 seconds faster than a Competition Package model (575 HP). Unfortunately, the limited-run model will only be available with the 7-speed DCT gearbox.
But what about the car it celebrates? Well, this special model is here to remind us of the first ever M5 the Germans built. It happened back in the 80s and it was a completely different machine that started a trend and a new segment.
The first M5 (codenamed E28) came to life after BMW conducted a sort-of experiment with the E12 M535i model that used M1 technology. After taking its place, the M5 became the high-powered sedan to have.
Of course, compared to today’s standards it was well behind but for the 80s, it was something the world had never seen before. With 286 HP at its disposal coming from the M88 engine under the bonnet, the 1984 creation was even more powerful than the M1.
With a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 245 km/h (152 mph), it posted almost unimaginable figures for the times. Furthermore, all of them were hand made by Motorsport’s engineers until its demise in 1987. 2,200 units of the original M5 were made.
Coming back to the 21st century, prices for the anniversary models haven’t been announced yet but do expect something well over the $100,000 limit. That’s if you manage to snatch one, as we have a pretty good feeling that they will sell like hot cakes once they go on sale this summer.
Unfortunately, despite telling us all about it, BMW also ‘forgot’ to mention where we’ll be seeing it live for the first time. The Goodwood Festival of Speed (June 26-29) or the M Festival seem the (June 20-22) best bets so far. Production starts in July so we'll be seeing it launched by then.
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