THE NEW M5:
Sports Car. Luxury Sedan.
Either, or Both: the Driver Chooses.

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, October 24, 2005…M5: Just the name awakens anticipation and excitement. There have been three generations of BMW M’s ultimate sports-luxury sedan up to now; the newest one arrives to perhaps the greatest anticipation ever. Most certainly, it will generate even more excitement than its illustrious predecessors.

That’s because the newest M5 takes the key M5 attributes to an even higher level than its predecessors: more masterful performance, more technical sophistication, more luxury – all achieved by the application of new design, new technology, new engineering. Indeed, one can logically assert that the M5 is both sports car and luxury sedan; and it incorporates new technology that enables its driver to determine precisely his or her preferred balance of these attributes. In its 23/04 issue, the German magazine Auto Zeitung put it this way:

“The 5.0-liter V-10 would upgrade many super ‘sports cars’…The power sport seats meet the highest demands for comfort, provide plenty of lateral support and are upholstered in fine leather…For a nearly 2-ton sedan, it offers outstanding cornering dynamics…

“Yet the fascinating thing about the M5 is its huge bandwidth of comfort, luxury and dynamics, which other manufacturers can cover only with several model series.”

Already proving its command of European roads and Autobahnen, the new M5 entered production for the U.S. market in September ’05 and begins arriving at U.S. BMW centers during October. Though based on the current 5 Series Sedans, the M5 is packed with engineering, technology, design and luxury that are all its own. Like all BMW vehicles bearing the “M” logo, it has been developed by BMW M, the BMW subsidiary for racing and high-performance automobiles, and is produced at BMW’s Dingolfing, Germany plant.

What’s new:
Performance & efficiency
• 5.0-liter V-10 engine – 500 hp, 383 lb-ft. torque (previous M5: 4.9-liter V-8, 394 hp, 368 lb-ft.)
• All-new 7-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox (SMG)
Handling, ride & braking
• M Variable Differential Lock
• Specially modified and calibrated front and rear suspension
• Electronic Damping Control, BMW’s system of electronically controlled suspension in a new and special BMW M version with three modes
• Special steering system, “quicker” than that of the 5 Series and offering two levels of speed-sensitive power assist
• Compound, cross-ventilated disc brakes, BMW’s largest-dimensioned and most powerful ever
• 19-in. alloy wheels with Z-rated performance tires in differentiated front/rear sizes
• BMW M-calibrated Dynamic Stability Control with selectable M Dynamic Mode
• MDrive, a submenu in the iDrive system that allows the driver to “set up” his or her own preferred performance and handling settings for instant recall
Exterior design & function
• Unique front bumper/spoiler/air-intake ensemble
• BMW M “gills” in front flanks
• Special rocker panels with sharp accent line
• Satin Chrome Shadowline side-window trim
• M exterior mirrors, shaped to enhance aerodynamics
• Distinctively shaped lower section of trunklid
• Rear bumper/spoiler/diffusor ensemble
• Four stainless-steel exhaust outlets
• Special BMW M color selection
Ergonomics, luxury & convenience
• Specific instrumention
• Available Head-up Display with BMW M information set
• Short, illuminuated SMG shift lever
• Heated M sport front seats, 16-way driver’s/14-way passenger’s
• Optional M Multi-function Comfort front seats, 18-way plus Active Backrest Width for enhanced lateral support during cornering
• Merino Leather upholstery, available in three treatments
• Brushed-aluminum interior trim standard, two types of wood optional at no extra cost

M Power to the 10th power:
M5’s all-new V-10 engine
Once again BMW M blazes new trails in powertrain technology and performance. The last time a new M5 made its debut, it offered BMW M’s first V-8 engine. This time, it’s M’s first V-10 engine for a roadgoing vehicle.

Let’s begin a description of this amazing powerplant with some key data:
• 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds
• 500 hp @ 7750 rpm, 383 lb-ft. of torque at 6100 rpm
• Redline 8250 rpm.

This new V-10, called S85 in BMW engine parlance, is yet another masterpiece of power from BMW M, setting a new milestone for the performance that can be achieved in a roomy 5-passenger sedan, with generous trunk space and all the luxury and safety features one expects from BMW. So let’s look at the vital attributes of this monumental new engine, and see how they contribute to the impressive outcomes just listed.

Why 10 cylinders? Elmar Schulte, head of engine development at BMW, has a disarmingly straightforward explanation. “We wanted 5 liters. The ideal cylinder displacement is 0.5 liter. To get 5 liters, we needed 10 cylinders.”

In its general layout, the new M5 engine relates to, and was inspired by, BMW’s Formula 1 racing engine – also a V-10. (Both engines’ major castings are done at the same BMW plant.) Though unusual, a V-10 is also a satisfactorily balanced configuration, requiring no balance shafts to make it acceptably smooth. Instead, the crankshaft incorporates two large counterweights. Reporting its driving impressions in the December ’04 issue, Road & Track commented: “Run up through the gears out of a slow corner and the engine pulls with a smoothness that easily rivals the [previous] M5’s engine, arguably one of the finest V-8s around.”

Unique sound is a further attribute of the V-10. Even when idling, it sounds exotic; according to Motor Trend (December ’04), “The yowling twin-five snarl as you sear toward max revs is an experience that etches itself deep in your memory. No, it’s not super-car loud – this car always retains the vestige of sedan refinement, and you could mount a sustained assault on the Autobahn while a rear-seat passenger sleeps.”

High-rpm concept. Like the 6-cylinder M3 engine, the M5’s V-10 was conceived to exploit high engine speeds to achieve high performance. Its redline is 8250 rpm; its maximum power of 500 hp is achieved at 7750 rpm, its maximum torque of 383 lb-ft. at 6100 rpm. This strategy, which avoids extreme torque and instead lets the driver extract super performance by “revving,” allows the use of relatively light, low-mass reciprocating components inside the engine; in turn, this helps moderate overall vehicle weight and optimize front/rear weight distribution.

Like the M3 engine, the M5 unit does not employ the Valvetronic system now found in BMW’s regular-production V-8 and V-12 engines as well as the new N52 6-cylinder unit in the 3 and 5 Series. Though Valvetronic eliminates throttles and their throttling effect, it is not (yet) suitable for a very high-rpm engine like this. Instead, the V-10 employs a typical BMW M valvetrain, with its 4 valves per cylinder actuated via “box-type” hydraulic lifters derived from racing practice. These are small, light and extremely rigid, as they must be for 8250 rpm; they are also specially shaped for efficient valve actuation, with an oblong cross-section (not round like bucket tappets), slightly curved contact surface and guiding tab to ensure a consistent position in their bores.

Also light in mass are the valves themselves, with stems of only 5 mm/0.2 in. And as on the new 6-cylinder, the camshafts are hollow, further reducing valvetrain inertia and enhancing engine response. Altogether, the valvetrain’s reciprocating mass has been reduced 17.5% from the predecessor engine; this is an important facet of the high-rpm concept. So are light but ultra-strong pistons and connecting rods.

As in all recent M engines, a special High-Pressure Double VANOS system varies the intake and exhaust valves’ timing steplessly and ultra-quickly. As on the M3 engine, the VANOS system has its own hydraulic pump; this contrasts with BMW’s regular-production engines, whose VANOS draws its pressure from the main oil pump. The resulting very high pressure (up to 115 bar/1668 lb./sq in.) enables the valve timing to be varied more quickly than on the regular engines – yet another factor in the high-rpm concept.

Four overhead camshafts actuate the valves. Each of the two intake camshafts, positioned inboard, is driven by a simplex chain; from the camshafts’ chain sprockets, the exhaust camshafts are driven by gears. The system is extremely rigid – again, as it must be for this engine’s level of rotational speed. Each chain is hydraulically tensioned and needs no periodic adjustment or replacement.

A throttle for each cylinder. Maintaining a BMW M tradition, the V-10 has an individual, electronically controlled throttle for each cylinder.

“Breathing” – an engine’s ability to ingest and combust air – is naturally a top priority in a super-performance engine. Air is taken in at the vehicle’s front, passes through two large intake silencers and two air-mass meters, and then flows into the voluminous plenum (made of a lightweight compound material) atop the engine. From there, air passes through equal-length intake trumpets and the 10 throttles to the individual cylinders. The entire assembly of plenum and trumpets is attached to the throttle housings via a flange (one per bank) that acoustically and thermally decouples the plenum from the engine itself.

Compared to most engines’ single throttle (or even to the throttle-less Valvetronic system of contemporary BMW engines), these are a costly feature, reserved for the highest-performance engines. Positioned much nearer the cylinders than a single throttle can be, they eliminate a “lag time” inherent in airflow and foster lightning-fast response to throttle movements. Motor Trend characterized this engine’s throttle response as “blazingly urgent.”

Actuation of the throttles is electrically driven and electronically controlled. Each cylinder bank’s five throttles are actuated from a single shaft. Via the accelerator pedal, the driver gives the commands. In turn, these commands are processed by the engine control module and received by a DC servo motor (also one per cylinder bank). The motor drives the throttle shaft through a tiny gearbox.

Via the MDrive system (described later), the engine’s maximum power and the throttles’ response to the accelerator pedal can be set to different levels; see MDrive.

Ultra-high compression ratio. At 12.0:1, the V-10 again notches up BMW’s highest current compression ratio. The higher the compression ratio, the more power can be extracted from a given engine size, so: another factor in the V-10’s performance.

Ionic-current technology. In a “world first” for such a high-revving engine, and a first for BMW, BMW M’s engineers have applied an exotic technology to the knock control that is crucial with such a high compression ratio. Instead of piezoelectric knock sensors positioned in the cylinder block to detect detonation via sound-pressure level, the sparkplugs themselves do the knock-sensing – and do it incredibly quickly and directly.

The air-fuel mixture in an engine’s cylinders has a certain electrical conductivity, which varies – especially as “knock,” or detonation, occurs in a cylinder. Built into the engine’s electronics is circuitry that applies a small voltage across the sparkplug’s electrodes just after it fires; the resulting ionic current is a function of the combustion process taking place. If knock (detonation) is incipient, the ionic current will so indicate; a signal goes to the engine’s electronic control system and ignition timing is retarded appropriately. In all BMW knock-control strategies, each cylinder’s combustion process is measured individually; if only one cylinder is tending to knock, only that cylinder will have its ignition timing retarded.

The advantages of ionic-current technology over conventional block-mounted knock sensors are –
• Ignition adjustment occurs more quickly. The whole process – onset of knock, measurement of ionic current, adjustment of timing – takes place in just 0.8 milliseconds at 8000 rpm, rapid enough to adjust the timing before that sparkplug’s next firing.
• Because of its extreme sensitivity and speed, this technology allows the engine to “edge closer” to its full potential in the upper reaches of power and rpm.
• Helps control fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

Ionic-current technology does not require a different type of sparkplug, nor is the sparkplug’s durability affected by its extra “duty.” The current-measuring voltage is only about 100 volts, vs. more than 25,000 V applied to fire the sparkplug.

Weight-efficient construction. The new M5 engine is of aluminum, with bedplate construction for the lower portion of the cylinder block. This construction is inherently ultra-rigid; for the strength to withstand the massive internal forces of this engine, however, the main-bearing inserts are of cast iron. Sharing a major feature of most current BMW engines – N52 6-cylinder as well as all V-8s and V-12 – the cylinders are silicon-impregnated, with “soft honing” removing just enough of the aluminum to leave the silicon crystals as ultra-hard cylinder surfaces.

The entire engine weighs just 240 kg/529 lb. – almost exactly the same as its V-8 predecessor, yet the V-10 delivers fully 106 hp more output!

G-sensitive lubrication system. Given the 45˚ cant of the cylinder banks and the M5’s cornering ability, special attention has been directed to ensuring natural return of oil to the main sump. There are two sumps, the main and larger one behind the front frame crossmember and a smaller one forward of the member; a baffle separates the two from each other in this “semi-dry-sump” system.

First, the mechanically driven main oil pump is newly of the variable-volume type, an innovation also found on the N52 6-cylinder engine. By varying the output of its pump element according to engine oil pressure, the engineers have achieved a pump that always delivers sufficient pressure to lubricate this demanding engine, yet never pumps more oil than is necessary. Thus it –
• Contributes to the high power output, by requiring less power from the engine.
• Doesn’t require a bypass to divert excess flow; this helps avoid excess oil temperatures and oil foaming.

There is also a recirculating pump that picks up oil from the small front oil sump and transfers it back to the main sump. Additionally, there is an electrically driven scavenging pump for each cylinder bank. In straight-ahead driving, these pumps pick up oil from the rear of the engine and return it to the sump. In hard cornering (0.6g or greater), the Dynamic Stability Control system’s lateral-g sensor switches magnetic valves to different pickup points, at the curve-outer side of either head and the oil pan. This system remains active even if the driver switches off DSC.

The oil level and temperature are monitored by a thermal sensor; a warning is displayed if the level falls low, and an oil-temperature gauge is included in the tachometer face. Oil is cooled by a coolant-oil heat exchanger.

Low-back-pressure, tuned exhaust system. Exiting the engine through stainless-steel exhaust headers that Germany’s auto motor und sport magazine (November 10, ’04) called “an artwork in stainless steel,” exhaust gas from each cylinder travels an ideal length of 560 mm/22 in. before reaching the engine-close first catalytic converter on each side. A high-pressure forming technique is used to shape the headers, enabling them to achieve the necessary strength and desirable light weight with only 0.8-mm/0.03-in. wall thickness. Two additional catalytic converters, one per side, are located farther back in the system.

Further advanced engine electronics. Once again BMW M has developed a new, ultra-powerful electronic control system; called MS S65, this scheme incorporates much of the experience gained from the V-10 racing engine. All the engine’s electronic functions – throttles, ignition, fuel injection, lubrication, dialog with the Sequential Manual Gearbox, and more – are overseen by a central electronic module employing three 32-bit microprocessors capable of 200 million operations per second.

This system also incorporates the MDrive functions, including the three power levels and throttle calibrations described under MDrive.

Variable tachometer warning zone. Pioneered on the previous M5 engine and now found on the 5, 6 and 7 Series’ and M3s’ tachometers as well, this feature reminds drivers that a cold engine should be treated with care. Displaying a yellow “caution” segment and a red “limit” segment, this zone moves from a minimum point with a cold engine to the full 8250-rpm redline as the engine oil warms up.

7-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox:
advanced technology for optimum performance
Initially, the M5 is offered exclusively with this unique SMG transmission, which employs Formula 1 racing technology to help drivers extract the M5’s full performance potential. For M5 customers who prefer a conventional manual transmission, a 6-speed will be offered beginning in the fall of 2006.

This amazing new system does everything a manual transmission can do, plus several things a manual can’t:
• Offers 7 forward gears, which would be awkward for a manual shift lever to manage.
• In high-performance driving, can shift much faster than even an expert driver.
• Can provide automated shifting when desired.
• Offers a wide variety of shift programs in Automated and Sequential modes.
• Engages and disengages the twin-disc clutch, precisely coordinating its action with shifts. There is no clutch pedal.

This is the first SMG designed and developed right from the start as an SMG; Two BMW M generations and the simpler system offered in regular-production BMWs were created by adding SMG controls to a conventional manual transmission. This has sweeping implications for how the concept operates and what it can do:
• The gears are positioned in so that the gearsets with the greatest loads (1st, 2nd and 3rd) are closest to the load-carrying bearings. This promotes durability in a transmission that must transmit immense power and is shifted fast and hard.
• To be shifted by a conventional shift lever, this gearset placement would result in an extremely awkward shift pattern. But this was not a problem, because all shifting would be executed the SMG way.
• Even if the shift pattern were manageable, 7 speeds would be difficult for a driver to manage; a 6-speed is the practical limit for a purely manual transmission.
• And yet with a high-revving, high-performance engine, 7 speeds are ideal and desirable, tangibly helping the driver extract such an engine’s full potential.
• The entire internal mechanism – gears, shafts, bearings, shift rods – could be laid out optimally for SMG’s electrohydraulically powered shifting; it is in no way compromised to allow conventional manual shifting.
• The mechanism allows simultaneous actuation of two shift rods at once, which helps the unit achieve lightning-quick shifts. Additionally, the gear synchronizers utilize carbon-fiber cones, which also contribute to the ability to shift so fast.