BMW really wanted a six -cylinder engine for the E39 M5. This was not unusual on his face; The E28 and E34 M5s both had straight six strength, but as we all know, the E39 M5 ended with a 5.0-liter V-8. However, it took a while before BMW would get there, and the company even considered something unthinkable V-6.
BMW blog Located our attention Unpleasant This story of BMW Noord -Amerika About the development of the E39 M5. In it, Alex Hildebrandt, the chief engineer of the E39 M5, unveiled that BMW, before setting up on a V-8, a V-6, a straight six and even turbo charger for the third generation M5.
“We were at the end of the energy crisis in Europe, and there was some doubt about whether this kind of car would find a further requirement on the market,” Hildebrandt said about the M5. “[Karlheinz Kalbfell, then leader of BMW M] Wanted to play this card with fuel efficiency, which did not mean that we would not have powerful engines, but that the efficiency of the engines should be excellent compared to power. There was no way to get that with a V-8, because ultimately eight cylinders have to be fed. We had many discussions about Turbo, but at that time Turbo charging mainly added fuel consumption and power at the top of the speed range, rather than to increase in the middle. “
Photo by: BMW
BMW started working on the E39 M5 in 1993 and Hildebrandt said that the company spent two years with the consideration of a customized motorcycle for the car. BMW has not revealed any details about the straight six or V-6, so we don’t know how far the idea has come. Other car manufacturers left their straight sixth for V-6s in the nineties, but BMW remained steadily in favor of holding his six cylinders in a row.
Kalbfell apparently did not like the idea of a V-8. He believed that the Straight-Six was the heart and soul of BMW, and he also felt that M-cars should have high-renewed engines. An M5 should not be a muscle car with a lazy V-8.
But the idea of six cylinders just didn’t work. BMW was not satisfied with TurboLing and management did not want to spend much on developing a complicated, tailor -made engine for a car with a low volume. The first MW-cars from BMW were extremely expensive sales disasters, largely because of their raced engines that pushed MSRPs far beyond their non-M against the pendants. In the meantime, the US-Spec E36 M3 with its more pedestrians, production-based straight six and reasonable basic price was sold in huge numbers, making a template of success for M-cars.
Photo by: BMW
After years of Dilly Dallying, BMW M finally bit the bullet. It cost the 4.4-liter M62 V-8 in the 540i, enlarges it to 5.0 liters, fitted a dry lake oil system and individual gas valves. The S62 V-8 for the M5 brought up to “only” 6,600 rpm, but reached the target of 400 hp. Nobody really cared about the low redline, and in practice the S62 was anything but lazy. With that kind of power connected to an improved version of the already excellent 5-series chassis and a manual six-speed gearbox, the BMW M feeded a nice recipe to the perfection with the E39 M5.
BMW eventually sold 20,482 examples of the E39 M5. No tons of cars in the large schedule of things, but much more than one of his predecessors. And with a price of just under $ 70,000 in the US, the E39 M5 was a huge hit in America, with about half of the total production that the States reached. BMW sold about three times as many E39 M5s as E28S and E34s combined.
“Without the V-8 we would not have had a chance to get the US on board,” said Hildebrandt, “and without our volumes the project would not have been profitable at all.”
The BMW M brand is now well established, thanks to a large role for the E39 M5. BMW M returned to its high-renewed ways in the 2000s with the V-10-powered E60 M5 and E63/E64 M6 and the V-8-powered E90/E92/E93 M3, but those days are over. The competing needs of more power with a better economy and emissions forced to embrace turbo tie and now electrification.
Perhaps perhaps a few years ago maybe unthinkable. But not as unthinkable as a BMW V-6.
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