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For a long time, I lusted after the BMW 540i as the perfect 4-door sedan: large enough to be practical, small enough to be nimble and, fitted with its sweet 6-speed manual, sporty enough to be an (fortunate)
enthusiast's everyday car.
 But I must confess. My lust has been redirected by 400 bhp; this, the power rating of the new BMW M5.
This 5.0-liter V-8 product of BMW's M division first appeared at the 1998 Geneva show, then Frankfurt, then Turin. The M5 is now entering series production, though, alas, it'll be Europe-only at first with the U.S. version coming in the fall of
1999 as a model year 2000 car.
I can hardly wait, my appetite whetted by a couple of days on Bavarian roads ranging from farm paths to Autobahnen. In fact, this variety of driving conditions showed off the M5 in brilliant light as an automobile of utterly high
performance, yet one that's equally at home just toodling around as well.
Heart of the M5 is its all-new all-aluminum powerplant that pays homage to BMW's smaller V-8, though it's more than simply a punched-out version of the latter. The 5.0-liter has four valves/cylinder actuated by double overhead camshafts, each
of which features BMW's variable valve timing via continuous optimization of the camshaft/drive pulley orientation; "Double-VANOS," BMW rightly calls it.
The engine's 400-bhp peak arrives at 6600 rpm. And even more relevant to my manner of driving is its 395 lb.-ft. of torque available as low as 3800. The way I figure it, accelerating hard up to moderate speed is an everyday occurrence; probing
a car's top-speed capability comes only once in a while.
I had splendid opportunity for both, however. A Good Neighbor policy with Bavarian farmers kept me from repeatedly verifying BMW's claimed 5.3 seconds to 62.5 mph, but I'll bet this figure is a conservative one. And, once away from muddy roads
and Herr Bauer's hay wagon, I found the M5 displaying uncanny stability—and relative tranquility—on the Autobahn, even with its speedo touching 260 km/h, a slightly optimistic interpretation of the M5's electronically limited
155-mph maximum.
Aiding this mixed-mode driving is the M5's Sport control, a dash-mounted button that invokes more aggressive operation of its throttle-by-wire and also reduces boost of the car's Servotronic power- assisted steering. With a given twiddle of the
accelerator providing enhanced throttle stroke at an increased rate, I believe the Sport button would be just the thing for precise control of power and attitude.
Another M innovation used in the M5 is its quasi-dry-sump lubrication. The engine is fitted with auxiliary oil pumps, one pressure and two vacuum, their operation keyed to lateral-g sensing. In hard cornering, these pumps activate automatically
and keep oil from accumulating in outer crannies of the sump and heads.
In traditional Q-ship fashion, all of these technicalities are clothed in 5 Series bodywork that's tweaked in only the most subtle manner. The front air dam has integrated oval foglights and a larger intake scoop. The BMW kidney-shape grilles
are widened a tad. Xenon headlights are standard (and I'm sure getting spoiled by xenon's super-white illumination). The side mirrors are different, an underbody diffuser accelerates airflow and helps cool the final drive, and four tailpipes of
polished stainless steel provide all the right sounds.
Within the cabin, the handsome instrumentation displays an interesting M innovation as well: The orange region of the tachometer is defined by an illuminated arc that's keyed to engine coolant temperature. On startup, a sensible 4000-rpm limit
gradually rises in 500-rpm increments as the engine warms up. There are two choices of ambience: Exclusive, with leather and burled walnut; and Sportive, replacing the wood with aluminum finished to a titanium luster.
As you might guess, I'm the Sportive sort myself.
By Dennis Simanaitis
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