New M5 v e60 M5

[Welshbeef]

The old E60 could be derestricted to 205mph however the new M5 will do a mere 190mph... Progress?

I'm not sure why it's slower as it has higher power to weight ratio and a higher peak power figure.
Is it simply down to the fact it' revs only to 7,000 rather than 8,000 rpm??

This isn't a dig at the new one as it's irrelevant I the uk and most of the world, frankly it may only come into play a few times on a clear autobhan.

[Mafioso]

Gear ratios?

[rumple]

cant see the old one doing 205, just cant

[Welshbeef]

rumple said:

cant see the old one doing 205, just cant

That's what the mags plus top gear plus remappers state purely on a speed delimiter.

[LuS1fer]

Bugger, that's going to unnecessarily extend my Pan-European trip time at a steady 200mph by 3 minutes. Damn you BMW!!!! Bloody poncy economy cars!

[rumple]

what about the new diesel m5

[dvs_dave]

Most likely gear ratios. The new one will no doubt be heavier again (progress??) making the bhp/kg increase barely noticable from a seat of the pants perspective so it has to be geared lower to compensate. Also, why bother gearing it for 200mph+ when from a factory persepctive its limited to 155?

Further to this is may have a more aggressive aero package producing more downforce which would add drag at very high speeds.

It's not all about top speed you know. Look at the latest generation of lambos for a good example.

[Buzzkill]

Don't forget, the e60 m5 has the mildly ugly stick beating it from behind as it's going along adding at least 10+mph to the top end speed.

[ludicrous speed]

Drag?

[edo]

rumple said:

cant see the old one doing 205, just cant

I know it is a bit lighter, but the M6 will do over 200 derestricted.

[Remagel2507]

I thought the fact it had 8 gears would mean a higher top speed

On another note I think the old V10 sounds better but I haven't heard the new one in the flesh yet so will reserve judgement

[playerone]

Remagel2507 said:

On another note I think the old V10 sounds better but I haven't heard the new one in the flesh yet so will reserve judgement

Something you havent heard sounds better than something you have?

[Seek]

brickwall said:

If we're talking purely about top speed, then the single biggest factor is drag.

Let's assume that both cars are producing peak power at their top speed (in whichever gear that may be). Weight doesn't matter, gearing doesn't matter (producing peak power and not hitting the rev limiter).

I think the most plausible explanation is that new M5 (for whatever reason: styling, aero/downforce) produces more drag than the old one.

Correct.

I asked Alpina exactly this same question as the E60 B5S is faster than the F10 B5 BiTurbo.
The answer was that the frontal area of the F10 bodyshell is larger than the E60 bodyshell.

It also significantly impacts the 100-200kph and 200-300kph times.

[CampDavid]

The new BMW will be too flabby for the first few years of it's life and not as good as the old one. In 2017 or so another new M5 will show up and this version will now be the best.

Has happened with every M5 - they always show up 5 years before the world's ready for them. The E60 is just getting into it's stride now.

[mackie1]

The new 5 is bloody enormous so I can well beleive the frontal area is larger.