FUTURE MODELS
A new era for BMW’s executive bahnstormer
BMW’s flagship M sports sedan is clawing back into the fight with all-wheel drive, writes Michael Taylor
BMW M’s main sports sedan weapon is back, packing a 3.4-second sprint to 100km/h to hurl itself back into the fray against Mercedes-AMG, Audi Sport and Jaguar when it arrives in SA in the first quarter of 2018. Blasted out of the sports sedan race front lines by AMG’s E63 and Audi Sport’s RS6 and RS7, the overweight, undergripped M5 has given way to a sixth-generation, all-wheel-drive rocket that’s capable of 305km/h. The biturbo 4.4l V8 engine has been significantly upgraded, but it’s the switch to all-wheel drive — a move BMW once insisted would never happen with M’s core models — that looks set to steal the show. Besides slashing a second from the 100km/h sprint time of the outgoing M5, the new model now blasts out to 200km/h in 11.1 seconds and is officially limited to 250km/h, though that can be raised to 305km/h with the Driver’s Package. While it always fires up in all-wheel drive, the fully active layout means the driver can switch it into rear-wheel drive at will, and its s...
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