Thursday 24th November 2011

New tri-turbo BMW 550d to get 381hp, 516lb ft

Not so many horses, but plenty of twist for hottest diesel 5-series

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BMW's flagship diesel 5-series will get 381hp and a whopping 516lb ft of torque from its tri-turbo inline-6 cylinder diesel motor.

At least that's the rumour trickling out of a dealer presentation held in the Netherlands last week and onto Bimmerpost.

The new model is also reputedly set to be offered with all-wheel drive only (though this doesn't mean we won't get it in Blighty - the F10 5-series will get AWD as an option in the UK).

The big question, of course, is whether, as original rumours suggested, it will be an M Division-tweaked car, possibly badged M550dX. Time will tell. Because BMW isn't saying anything official yet...

[Dr Imran T]

Interesting, but is it really needed on an in-line engine?

Can't see this happening myself mind.

[Dr Imran T]

christofmccracke said:

I think well over 400 maybe 450bhp would be achievable

Indeed, I actually thought you were joking with the usual 'remapped' joke that gets thrown about on here. However, as this new tri-turbo kicks out 381 BHP from the factory, one would assume that 400+ might be achievable with some tweaking. Regardless of the fuel type, that is an impressive figure which ever way you look at it.