New MH5 900E Touring goes where BMW wouldn't

Power wasn't really an issue with the hybrid M5 - like that was ever going to stop Manhart...

With two turbochargers, eight cylinders, more than 4.0-litres and a near-200hp electric boost, the G99 BMW M5 certainly isn’t short of performance. Maybe it doesn’t feel quite as rapid all the time as might be hoped for with 727hp - thank 2.5 tonnes for that - but it’s easily potent enough to carry the hallowed M tricolour.

Of course, ‘easily potent enough’ is exactly where Manhart likes to kick off from, and it’s no different for the most powerful M5 ever. What you’re looking at here is the German tuner’s take on a Touring, named the MH5 900E. That actually undersells the work a little, too, as this M5 now has 910hp, thanks to the Manhart turbo upgrade and ECU work. Torque is rated at a mammoth 885lb ft, or 147lb ft more than standard. Any qualms about hybrid M5 performance are surely going to be answered by this. And any sound reservations will hopefully be answered by the ‘emotive’ stainless steel exhaust, complete with four 115mm pipes.

The rest of 910E Touring upgrades are familiar from the equivalent four-door, with KW V4 coilovers and huge 22-inch Manhart Concave One wheels fitted. Probably the expensive suspension would work best with standard wheels - or certainly the forged wheels that are offered - but then that would probably miss the point of modifying an M5. It’s all about eyeballs, surely; to that end, Mahart has added its gold decals and not much else, confident that the ‘exceptionally muscular appearance straight from the factory’ is doing enough work. Hard to disagree from here.

Manhart’s parts are available now for the Touring; budget around €10,000 (a little less than £9k) for the ECU tuning and exhaust. Prices aren’t yet advertised for the turbo work, which is going to be the significant spend. Still, if a 727hp M5 appeals, it’s easy to see why a 910hp version might. Especially in BMW Individual paint…