The BMW M5 is actually a more powerful car than the German automaker likes to let on.
We’re already well aware that the BMW M5 is a powerful car and has been for quite some time. What we’re not aware of is just how powerful, since apparently BMW likes to lowball their power figures. By a lot.
The stock BMW M5 began life with a 4.4 L S63B44T4 twin-turbocharged V8 producing an advertised 592 hp and 533 lb-ft of torque. In 2018, that number got bumped up to 600 hp although BMW didn’t actually provide any reason why the M5 suddenly has 8 more ponies at its disposal.
Well, thanks to Evolve Automotive (by way of Motor1) we have an idea of what the BMW M5’s true power really is.
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Evolve has plans for their M5. They want to make the German performance sedan into a drag race monster the likes of which the world has never seen. But they need to get an accurate idea of where they’re starting in order to have any idea of where they wound up. Slapping new gizmos and tech under the hood doesn’t count for bupkis if it can’t be quantified.
So, Evolve brought their almost new M5 to the dyno for some testing. And it turns out that BMW’s advertised figures aren’t all that accurate.
According to Evolve’s dyno test, peak power is way over 600 ponies--it’s actually 631 hp at 5700 rpm. That’s a 5% power boost and one that would certainly be significant enough to update BMW’s marketing.
Even crazier was the torque curve. The dyno readout actually put peak torque at 550 lb-ft, and it was accessible from the low 2,000s all the way up to nearly 6,000 RPM. Max torque was actually around 600 lb-ft, which is way more than the 533 lb-ft BMW advertises.
So what gives? Well, it’s often less embarrassing to underestimate power figures than overestimate. Plus, power figures are a nebulous thing that changes with whatever the engine is doing, so some carmakers prefer to lowball in order to ensure the driver knows the minimum of what they’re dealing with.
Or it’s so that BMW can constantly bump the power figure higher every year without doing anything.
As for Evolve, we’ll have to wait until they’re done to see what madness will happen under the hood. We’re hoping for more than 631 hp.