Perhaps feeling a little left out in the power war, BMW is planning to upgrade its uber-saloon up to Mercedes AMG levels of power when it unveils the new M5 in 2011. The current generation already pumps out a neck breaking 501hp but still looses out to the Mercedes E63 AMG which pumps out 507hp from a naturally aspirated power plant and manages to outdrag the M5 in the quartermile run unless its in manual mode where it only manages to equal the Benzes figures.
So word is, BMWs engineers have set themselves on the current generation engine with an aim to bore out the current 5 liter V10 to 5.5 liters, and are also dead set on slapping on a turbo, sorry, make that two turbos. Couple that with direct injection and the power levels hike up to a massive 550hp or more. All that power will be channeled to the rear wheels through a six speed manual transmission or the new seven speed M DCT dual clutch box.
But get this straight, you may have thought that the twin turbos’ were contracted to increase total output, well you’re not wrong but the other thing the turbo’s will be used for is to reduce emissions as the next 5 series, due out in 2010 is being taunted as one of BMWs most fuel efficient vehicles. That also means that the start-stop technology will be used on the engine, along with the Efficient Dynamics system that uses regenerative braking to reduce load on the alternator, improving both fuel economy and engine output.
