Track Test: The New BMW M5
At 250km/h (155mph) the big BMW is covering 67.5 meters every second. That’s 222 feet for you imperial blokes and something worth thinking about the next time you are standing in the end zone. The 200 meter braking marker flashes by in my peripheral vision as the speed limiter finally softens the mighty twin turbo V8 at an indicated 267km/h. The six-piston front calipers bite hard into the 400mm cross-drilled rotors turning 4488kJ of kinetic energy into 1.1g of braking force and around 400-degrees Celsius (750 Fahrenheit). Lap after lap the brakes heroically shed 70km/h before the M5 dives into the 180km/h Turn One of the Phillip Island race circuit – home of the Australian round of the MotoGP.
The hydraulic steering, set to its sharpest of three settings, faithfully points the M5’s bluff nose into the corner as the 265/35 R20 front tires find amazing turn-in grip. With the suspension in the firmest and sportiest setting, the 1945kg (4288lb) BMW sits remarkably flat, and feels like it’s working all four corners equally. By the apex I’m searching for the carpet again with the throttle pedal and the 412kW and 680Nm is starting to make those 295/30 rear tires squirm on the dry tarmac.
Disable both traction and stability control systems and you can paint black lines all the way through fifth gear and up to 150km/h. On the track you want total control in the slow or medium speed corners as even in the MDM setting, ESP is cutting power aggressively on corner exits. However, on the circuits three high speed corners (taken at 180, 200 and 165km/h), there’s so much weight moving around that a little electronic safety net is no bad thing. After one fearful stab of opposite lock catches a 170km/h moment, I opt for the MDM setting for the remainder of my laps.
Curiously for a drive program conducted exclusively on a race circuit, three BMW staff make asides that the M5 isn’t really a track car. But despite the veiled concern, it’s little wonder the M5 feels at home on a fast circuit. According to Brian Watts, sales and marketing boss for the M division, the F10 M5 was, “specifically designed at the Nurburgring. We spent more time at the Ring in this car than any other in M history.” Then Watts got all coy about a specific Nordschleife lap time, suggesting it was sub-8 minutes and that perhaps I could “Google it”. The search engine claims a time of 7:55, which seems about right after 30 laps of the 4.4km Phillip Island circuit. If that number is accurate, the F10 M5 is 18 seconds faster per lap than the V10 E60 M5 and 10 seconds quicker than an E92 M3. Of BMW’s back catalog, only the lighter and semi-slick-shod E46 M3 CSL is quicker with a 7:50 lap.
The M Drivers Package offered in some markets raises the speed limiter from 250km/h (155mph) to 305km/h (190mph). But what if you could let the M5 all the way off the leash? Officially there’s no such number, but cornered later over a beer an M insider says the F10 M5’s ultimate top speed is at least 340km/h (211mph) – deep into supercar country. And given the way the car head butts its Australian-market 250km/h limit in fifth gear, there’s no reason to doubt that boast.
But more than lap times and top speeds, the M5’s amazing performance can be defined by the sheer accelerative force on display from 100-200km/h (62-124mph). The F10 M storms through that benchmark in 8.7 seconds and shows no let up as 200km/h flashes up on the head-up display.