UPDATE, 19/05/2020:
The production-readiness of all the M5 prototypes seen in the past couple of weeks certainly implied the car was close, though now we have confirmation: BMW will show a new 5 Series, including M5, next Wednesday, May 27th.
The news came via BMW Korea's Instagram feed, which is where the car will be shown. Even in this teaser image, it's clear we can expect a noticeably different 5 Series, with revised grilles and lights clear even through the camo. As has become the norm for these sorts of things now, precious little additional info is currently available.
That means we're no closer to knowing the spec of these M5 prototypes, and whether the car that's purported to be a CS is indeed something more interesting than the standard car. Still, there isn't long until we find out - full details next week!
ORIGINAL STORY, 13/05/2020:
It was noteworthy in Markus Flasch's recent interview
with Australian media
the current M5
was cited as the example of how docile super saloons have become. "Now, I can give an M5 this 625hp and give it to my mom to drive, in winter, and she'd still be okay", was the exact quote. He's right, too; an M5 is no more taxing than a 520d to drive, and quite remarkably easy to go very fast in.
Might, therefore, the facelifted M5 - spied here as a prototype for the first time - boast even more power from its 4.4-litre, twin-turbo V8 than before? We know the engine is capable of much more in light of what the aftermarket has achieved, and it would sure as heck lay down a marker to Audi and Mercedes about who was top dog, power wise at least, in the segment. An update for the AMG-E63 can't be far off, either, given how close the two were in launch timing, and BMW M will want to keep pace. There may well be an argument about diminishing returns when packing so much power into cars so large, but when has that ever been part of supersaloon logic?
Obviously it's impossible to detect any changes in power purely from spy pictures, though there are one or two interesting details. There are the expected tweaks, with what are likely sleeker new lights still camouflaged, but also a grey test car, one that our sources say signifies the introduction of an M5 'CS'.
Familiar from the M2, M3 and M4 ranges, the CS sits above the standard and Competition models to deliver a tangibly more exciting M car. We don't whether that's absolutely true yet for the M2, but as far as a the M3 and M4 were concerned, their CS models really were very good indeed - steep price notwithstanding.
This prototype is marked out from the black M5 by its more pronounced spoilers front and rear, additional camouflage (suggesting there's more to hide) and wheels from the Competition. It could well, therefore, simply be an update for the existing Competition model, perhaps putting more space between it and the standard car, though given BMW's apparent fondness for the CS badge it doesn't seem the daftest idea to have it on an M5 as well.
Naturally that's all speculative for now, even more than is usual for spy shots, but a refreshed M5 is certainly on the way. First drives of the F90 were at the end of 2017 after all, and time moves quickly in world of the German life cycles. Expect, as a result, something close to a production car seen before the end of this year. That said, those happy without the new lights and (potentially) more power might be pleased to know that four-wheel drive M5s depreciate just as savagely as the rear-drives ones did; a little less than £60,000 buys a standard car, a little more than £60,000 gets a Comp. And they're pretty damn good already...
Images: S.Baldauf/S.B.Medien
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