BMW’s new M5 saloon has been out and about for testing in Scandinavia. You can get a preview ahead of the launch, expected later this year, with their official teaser video.
Viewers of BMW’s official YouTube channel will now find that they can get a first glimpse of the Firm’s new M5 sports saloon car, expected to be released in the UK by the end of 2011. The video features the car being tested in the Scandinavian snow, and includes commentary from Kay Segler, the boss of BMW’s M Division.
The video provides a nice preview, although much is still unknown about precise specs and features that the new M5 will have.
What we do know, as Segler tells us, is that it will be “a bold business car that at the push of a button turns into a sports car”. What he is talking about is almost certainly the ‘M button’. Mounted on the steering wheel this nifty little feature will activate new, more aggressive settings for the throttle response, engine power, steering, traction control and dampers.
The engine in question, which will replace the naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V10, is expected to be both cleaner and to have increased power and torque – coming in at 570bhp. It is likely to be an upgraded version of the firm’s 4.4-litre V8, featuring two turbochargers that will be located inside the ‘V’ of the engine block.
The current incarnation of the M5 comes with BMW’s SMG automated manual transmission only in the UK (although you can get it with previous version’s six-speed manual gearbox in the US). Many pundits are expecting a dual-clutch set up for the new version, however BMW have made it known in the past that they think this is overly heavy and unnecessarily complex, so it may be that that decide to go for an upgrade of their 8-speed auto instead.
The next time you see the M5, and get answers to all of those unanswered questions, will be when it debuts at the Frankfurt Motor show in September.
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