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Attention! This site is for information purposes only, does not promote any driving style and is not of a training nature. All cars covered by the descriptions and photos posted on this site are used in accordance with traffic regulations and with the highest security measures in order not to cause any damage to road users. The author of the blog is not responsible for other road users who in a manner inconsistent with traffic regulations or with the exposure to the health and life of others, will use vehicles on public roads and outside them.

„M-uscular 5"

Can you imagine a car that already with its name evokes strange, extreme internal emotions? A car that despite fears attracts us like an invisible magnet, whose enormous strength we feel whenever we approach it. Have you ever what kind of feeling is it when getting into the car you suddenly stop believing in your own skills?.. This is how the magic of cars with the BMW M logo works, which leave the factory in German Dingolfing. I remember that at the beginning of the new millennium, car manufacturers intensified the competition for the title of the designer of the best mechanical sprint champion in the race from 0 to the first 100 kilometers per hour. It was a time when turbo diesel began to rule, whose performance going hand in hand with economics aroused admiration visible to the naked eye, on the faces of their users. Everyone who has ever drove VW Golf 4 once in their life with a 130 horsepower motor knows what we are talking about. With time, faith in the TDI power was so great that the owners of these cars could hardly imagine the existence of something faster and more technically advanced on earth.., but something like that existed, and everyone who saw the black object with four round lamps in the mirror tried to step the gas down without realizing what they are dealing with. Just then, the M-five was bitting „Golf” the most painfully whose 9.6s to the first hundred looked at least pale at less than 6 seconds the M-5 boasted. Already in 1992, for a trifle of 125,000 German marks, you could buy 340 horses loaded into a 3.8-liter gasoline power unit, which neatly inserted into a rather small limousin, was able to crush most of the serial cars that were on the road in those days. For many years, the BMW M GmbH sports department ruled its own laws not allowing to change the concept, according to which their cars were to be fast, crazy, undercharged with turbochargers and.., only rear-wheel drive. I once read an article in which it was mentioned that the main designer in the M car department fought fierce battles with the BMW management so that the M style packages did not end up in classic versions of the vehicles produced by the Bavarian company. Just thinking about the 4x4 drive in the "M" Albert Biermann probably fell into sadness and despair, which could be suppressed only by a solid dose of Bavarian beer served during the biggest holiday event, taking place at the turn of September and October, each year in Munich. But did such a rule by such a leader make any more sense? On the one hand, yes, because for years cars with the M logo were reserved for tough guys, who had considerable skills in driving rear-wheel drive sports cars, on the other hand such a policy dettered many potential buyers who could afford such a car, but simply fear did not allow them to make a purchase decision. In that case, did it indulgence and good heart prompted the BMW to change the concept according to which the "M" was built over the years? In my opinion, it's not the heart, but reason and economics have prevailed over it. I believe that the losses resulting from the limited availability of M styling packages in” classic" BMW cars have been carefully calculated. The second issue concerns the performance of the rear-wheel drive, namely, you can not infinitely increase the power and torque of the engine counting on a proportional improvement in the performance of such a car due to limited tire adhesion to the ground. Today's strict exhaust standards that apply to car manufacturers limit the possibility of increasing the engine capacity, as exemplified by the BMW M5 E60 and F10 models. In the first one a ten-cylinder engine with a capacity of five liters and a power of 507 horses was installed. The successor to the E60 model was the famous F10, which was equipped with an eight-cylinder double-turbo engine that already generated 560 horses, but with a capacity of 4.4 liters. Of course, the F10 model was in favor of performance ... and what if the bar was raised even higher? Let's raise ...

The latest M5 (F90) debuted in 2018 and caused quite a stir among fans of the Brand due to the four-wheel drive mentioned earlier. Personally, when I saw this car for the first time, I thought it slightly calmed down compared to previous generations of the thoroughbred "M". The huge 20-inch alloy wheels and large six-piston brakes caught my attention. At first glance, it was quite difficult for me to distinguish a normal five from an M5 and only four exhaust tailpipes, a carbon roof and a characteristic diffuser left no doubt what car I am dealing with. The interior of this car is a masterpiece, I haven't found a single annoying piece of the equipment. Instead, I found carbon fiber, heated and ventilated leather armchairs with illuminated M5 logo, which, moreover, resemble bucket seats in the cockpit of a plane. The whole is complemented by a multi-functional sports steering wheel with perfectly profiled paddles to shift gears and just nice-looking, electronic and legible clocks (I never thought I would say that one day). The position behind the wheel is very comfortable and you do not need to manipulate too much with the chair settings to find a place for yourself. The only thing that bothered me was the hard, not very pleasant headrest. The menu with which we control the car's functions does not differ much from the one found in the usual five series. An important difference is the range of configuration of driving modes, which we can find a wide range in this car. On both sides of the steering wheel there are two red buttons with the words M1 and M2, which are fully programmable. Entering the vehicle settings we will find the function described as the M configuration. After clicking, we will see setting options for individual buttons on the steering wheel and this is where the fun begins. In the menu, we can turn off, limit interference or re-enable the traction control, we can change the characteristics of the work of the sports, eight-speed M Steptronic gearbox (we have a choice of D1, D2, D3 in automatic gear mode and S1, S2, S3 in manual gear shift mode), we can interfere with the operation of the steering system (comfort, sport, sport + mode), in a similar way we can set the suspension hardness and change the engine operation characteristics. An absolute novelty is the option of switching the 4x4 M xDrive to rear-wheel mode, and here there's a catch.., quite big catch, which means that to do this we have to turn off the traction control. If we decide on such a desperate step, we still have to confirm in the menu whether do we really know what we do. When the traction is off, we can also turn on the sports four-wheel drive mode allowing even controlled drift. The gear shift jack characteristic of the M5 is equipped with two buttons at the top, with the help of which we can adjust the speed of the gear change on a three-point scale while driving. On the middle tunnel there are another four buttons, thanks to which we can easily change the suspension work parameters, the steering system and engine while driving, or simply enter the programming menu of said M1 and M2 buttons. With the next button you can set the volume of the exhaust system. We have two options to choose from; loud or quiet :) Once we have set absolutely everything we have no other option but to press the brake and "engine start button" ...

"The sports class"

The sound of the running BMW M5 engine leaves no illusions that we are dealing with a huge, V-shaped engine, fitted perfectly, down to the last millimetre under the hood. We can press the accelerator pedal harder in our four-cylinder “bee” enjoying every shot of the pipe like children. Here, as we gas harder, it shakes the whole machine pretty well and it booms like a cannon. The M 5 distinguishes something else, namely the way we switch gears. In a standard BMW with automatic transmission, just press the brake pedal, and a button on the side of the gear stick and move it up or down thereby engaging the desired gear. In M5 you have to press the brake pedal and move the stick to the right if you want to turn on D (drive), while reverse gear is started by moving the stick left and up. I drove the first kilometers in this car in a very quiet configuration, almost everything works in efficiency and comfort mode with sports exhaust sound off. If not for the characteristic details in the interior reminding the travelers about the pedigree of this car we can forget that we are driving a thoroughbred M-Power. It is quiet, comfortable like in an ordinary 5 and only from time to time when we touch the gas harder something will „bubble” under the hood. Impressions straight from the standard 5 series end with the first turn. In the "M", the M Servotronic steering is extremely precise, and the suspension even in comfort mode, does not allow for greater car inclination on the curve of the road. Turning the steering wheel we feel as the whole car goes millimeter by millimeter in the direction of the movement of our hands. The new M5 weighs less than 1,900 kilograms, but even when driving sharply I didn't feel it. Moving ahead at the pace of a retired gardener on Sunday afternoon, I was able to achieve fuel consumption of 13.8 liters per 100 kilometers .., yes, but the M5 does not ride like that. Already in the parking lot I configured the M1 button very sportily, but with 4-wheel drive and full traction control. That is power! Even on a straight road with 4x4 drive on, the car can lose traction. The sound of the engine is more bass, and from the inside of the exhaust pipe you can hear shots especially in the lower RPM range when when we go down from the upper tachometer values. I honestly admit that I was expecting something more from the M sports exhaust system. I think that Mercedes AMG GT and GT4 perform better in this matter and that's my opinion. Let's just say that once I made friends with the machine and gained more courage, I started to drive bolder in the bends. In my opinion this is the force of nature in which this car performs best. Not only that I felt every bump under the wheels but when tightening the corner I got the impression as if an invisible force was loading the front of the car, allowing me to do more and more. When I was playing bolder "more and more" game, suddenly I felt warm inside because I do not know when and why the back of my car slipped a lot, as if I got on the smooth, oiled piece of paper. It turns out that the DSC in the "M" cars is tuned in such a way as to give sports fun while driving - literally. Here, the system allows much more and does it so efficiently that if we perfectly feel the car then we can go in a slight slide on the bend and the traction control will not react at all! This car is very oversteering and this is how it should be here. The suspension, steering and gearbox I put as a role model, but I have some doubts about the engine. During my test, I didn't run the launch control procedure firstly because I couldn't turn it on, secondly, because I don't have the habit of turning off traction control in a city, not driving my car, and thirdly because I was just scared to move it at all. However, I mean something else. I set up the car on the "line" (straight road over a distance of 1/4 mile) hoping that in a moment I see with my own eyes which means accelerate in 3.4s to the first hundred, I clicked what I could the Sport, I set the gearbox to S3, I switched on the first gear with the paddle and I pressed my foot ino the floor ... and nothing. It took a while for the car to fire with such force, that if I had dental crowns they would probably fall off my teeth ... Ah this turbo bi-turbo. The tachometer has been scaled to 8,000 RPM, and its pointer ends its run somewhere around seven thousand. The computer cares for our engine because full drive power will be available only after warming up the engine. Everything's okay, but I noticed one important detail, namely the manufacturer recommends changing the oil between the first and second service after 30 thousand kilometers. Is it not too long in such a „heavy”, powerfull and precise power unit??? The average fuel consumption during my test did not exceed 24 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, so it's not bad considering my heavy leg :)

Would I buy a BMW M 5? This is my dream, after all, I was brought up on Series 5 and these cars led me straight to the adult automotive world, and M5? I've been waiting for this car for 36 years of my life, it happened that "M" was somewhere next to me, but I've never had the opportunity to meet it alone on our dream automotive rendez-vous. Undoubtedly, it was possible to create a car that is able to stave off the conflict between the tough guy, which until now only considerd rear-wheel drive and an ordinary, average bread eater, who always wanted to make his automotive dream come true, but until now he was afraid to do it ... Well, with this ordinary bread eater I exaggerated a bit ;) because this car costs over 130,000 thousand Euro in the basic version.

At the end, kisses, confetti and handshakes, so thank you very much BMW Bońkowscy Szczecin dealer for sharing this rare copy. „ Fist bump” for the owner of Rajkowo Palace, on which terrain I took a series of photos of this car ;D

Artur Rojewski

"The dynamite"