Tuned BMW M5 Comp Drags and Rolls Modded E 63 S. It's Close But Not Close Enough

However, there's an emphasis on 'almost' as it will be a while before we see them out and about on the street, and even more time will pass before fans can snatch their high-performance versions off the lot. So, how do you play with the E and 5 in an interesting and safe manner? Well, if you are Sam, the host of the Sam CarLegion channel on YouTube, that's easy to guess – he always has unrestricted access to a former airstrip now converted as a wind farm.

Luckily, the tarmac is still there, and even though it's a thoroughly unprepped surface with various bumps and pebbles, that has never stopped the host from staging interesting drag-and-roll races. So, after we last saw an excellent schooling between a manual BMW M3 and a manual Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, now it's time to go all German on Sam's Canadian soil. As such, his latest contenders to all-out (unprepped) drag and roll racing glory are a still-young 2021 BMW M5 Competition (F90, sixth generation) with a 4.4-liter S63 twin-turbo V8 under the hood and 617 hp plus a slightly older Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4Matic+ with a 4.0-liter M177 twin-turbo V8 in the bay and 603 horsepower.

On paper, these two compare quite nicely to each other, right? In reality, Bavarian fans and their rivals know that BMW usually grossly underrates the pony count, and those 617 hp are more like wheel rather than crank horsepower. But wait, this M5 Competition versus AMG E 63 S brawl is a little different than the norm because Sam has access to a couple of tuned machines. You can read all about the modifications at the 2:45 mark, but the gist of it is that the heavier E 63 S brags about bagging some 760 ponies under the hood when all is said is done, whereas the lighter and fresher M5 Competition has to do with an estimate of around 700 horsepower.

Well, there's probably a big reason why Sam kicked off the proceeds with the two roll races (both done at 50 kph/32 mph in second gear), as in both cases, the AMG E 63 S lost the skirmishes but still saved face because the difference was of less than a car's length in favor of its M5 Competition nemesis. On the other hand, all hell broke loose when it was time for the trio of head-to-head drag races from the 8:46 mark, as it appears that the M5 was winning the brawls about a bus-length away every time!