The M5 is turning 25 and BMW is celebrating in a very special way because no cake no matter how grand will ever justify 25 years of the Magnificent 5. As a gift to itself, BMW is building a one-off CSL version of the E60 super saloon M5 that Albert Biermann, head of BMW’s M division calls, “the M5 CSL we never built.”
At the heart of the M5 CSL will be the usual 5.0-liter V10 of the regular M5 but to serve the special occasion, it will be stroked to 5.5-liters and will be fitted with a carbon fiber intake, and a secondary oil cooler. There’s no news on power figures but Biermann says the mods are good for up to 580-hp and 400lb-ft of torque over the standard 507hp engine.
Channeling all that power to the rear wheels is a fortified version of the seven-speed dual-clutch Getrag gearbox that is fitted to the current M3.
The car is also 50kg’s lighter thanks to a carbon-fiber roof, a set of lightweight carbon-fiber seats up front, and the removal of the rear seats.
Performance stats may have not been released yet but BMW claims the M5 CSL will lap the Nurburgring 20 seconds faster than the standard model. That puts a lap time somewhere in the region of the 7:50 mark.
So now that I have your attention, it’s time to break your “I want one now” bubble. The BMW M5 CSL will not be available for sale , your millions or billions won’t get you a BMW M5 CSL. But what all that money will get you is the next generation twin-turbocharged V8 BMW M5 (… and some) which is slatted to make it’s debut at the end of next year or 2011.
Source: AutoBlog
