Facts and figures
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Power Pack - Official Autocar road test
01.10.2004 |
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Hail the boss. The template for European super-saloons is set by the BMW M5. The benchmark since the 1984 286bhp first-generation car, the M5 has consistently tossed aside rivals from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar. Now, after a 15-month hiatus that left E55 AMG Mercs, RS6 Audis and R-type Jags to roam unhindered, and saw a revitalised Maserati make a welcome return with an all-new Quattroporte, BMW's response simply blows the sector apart. Mark this down as the return of the status quo.
The outside lane has a new hero: a new M5 that's every bit as thrilling and accomplished as the old model on any road you care to throw at it. Five litres, 500bhp, a quad-cam V10 engine that spins beyond the 8250rpm red line, a seven-speed sequential manual gearbox, a beautifully honed chassis and trick electronics that allow the driver to personalise steering, damping, gearchanges, throttle responses and even engine power. Once your personal preferences are stored via the often unfathomable complexity of the iDrive control system, touching the M button on the steering wheel delivers all.
The specification and figures tell just part of the story. What matters, what makes the new M5 a truly great car, is how BMW's M-division has skilfully mated all these often disparate elements together. The new M5 is - hasn't it always been? - both sports car and luxury saloon. Precision and agility meet refinement and comfort meet pure speed and tantalising performance. The M5 is boss. Again. If you hadn't already guessed, you now know the result of this group test.
Six months after pitching E55 against XJR and Quattroporte (30 March) - Maserati's new saloon was the emotional winner - we're back for a dose of autobahn, rural German B-roads and one of our favourite mountain passes, a brilliant sweeping climb and descent close to the Austrian/German border. This time M5 replaces XJR, to fundamentally change the engine equation. Now we have AMG's 5.4-litre supercharged V8, shoving out 469bhp with a monstrous 516lb ft of torque at just 2650rpm, the engine revs limited to 6500rpm. Maserati's normally aspirated 4.2-litre
V8 relies on revs to achieve its 400bhp at 7000rpm and 333lb ft at 4500rpm, and sprints easily to 7500rpm red line and cut-out. The M5 goes one huge high-revving, high-specific output step further. M-division's first clean-sheet engine, a 90deg V10 that makes 500bhp at 7750rpm, is red lined at 8250rpm with the fuel being shutdown at 8500rpm. Even with BMW's double Vanos variable valve timing, peak torque of 383lb ft isn't reached until the 17deg offset crankshaft hits 6100rpm.
Sounds peaky in the extreme. Not so, and not because the M5 allows the driver to choose between the (comparatively) mild-manned 400bhp mode and the instant responses of 500bhp. Each cylinder has its own throttle and butterfly, the P500 (500bhp) mode sharpening both right-foot reactions and introducing another level of acceleration.
Push the power button and you instantly feel the difference. P400 is quick - Quattroporte quick - but P500 dispenses an altogether more aggressive performance. So close is the acceleration to the new Porsche 911 Carrera S's - DC Germany's other automotive champion of 2004 - that driving ability and manufacturing tolerances will surely be the deciding factor. Work all the revs, as the engine belts through the incredibly close-ratio box, and the M5 is as quick as the effortless E55 to 100mph. Meaning around 10 seconds.
Above that, the BMW gradually begins to ease ahead, running to an indicated 165mph (to make sure the M5 is just a bit faster than a 155mph 535d) before electronics softly intrude, 40mph below its true v-max ability. Switch off the DSC stability system and the M5 spins the wheels in third gear on a dry surface.Yet the power never intimidates the driver or overwhelms the car, so well balanced and progressively controlled is the entire package.In either P400 or P500 mode the engine's tractability is extraordinary. Try pulling from 1500rpm in seventh: there's no strain, no driveline shunt. It's a remarkable achievement when equated with the V10's rev-happy abilities and linear power delivery.
It's a measure of the M5's all-round talents that Munich's new top-end Five makes the E55 seem one-dimensional - a very powerful, very fast cruiser.
But not even the M5 can equal the AMG's massive, hang-on-to-the-wheel-for-support, mid-range urge. This instant accessibility of the E55's numbing performance, regardless of the rev-counter needle's position, combines perfectly with the Mercedes' more relaxed, far softer and luxurious character. It's not even remotely as sporting as the M5. Of course, the E55 is extremely quick, and mostly acquits itself superbly on the test roads, yet I doubt you'd detour from the autobahn to go looking for great roads like an M5 driver would.
The Merc's steering is lighter, both slower and more vague on- or off-centre, and consciously demands more wheel movement through any given corner. The E55 would surely benefit from adopting the new Merc CLS's faster steering. Compared to the M5 and the Maserati, the driver is left feeling remote, isolated - as if being seduced by the refinement, plush default ride and insulated steering was the engineers' prime objective. The perception of being disconnected applies to the entire car. No criticism is intended - plenty of buyers ask for exactly this recipe, as the massive success of the E55 and SL55 prove - it just limits the E55's driving appeal.
Thanks to a strict weight-limitation policy, the M5 has a substantial mass advantage (alloy body panels in front of the windscreen, alloy suspension, an engine that weighs just 240kg). At 1830kg (35kg more than its predecessor, not the 50kg less originally claimed) the BMW undercuts the Mercedes-Benz by 92kg and the all-steel and notably bigger Maserati by a massive 200kg. The impact is obvious in so many aspects of the M5's behaviour and counts heavily against the Italian's ability to compete.
So the Maserati is, predictably, at the other extreme in performance and in opposition to the E55's character. In isolation, the Quattroporte feels quick and always sounds fantastic - more melodious to our ears than the M5's purposefully gruff and ever-so-slightly uneven V10 exhaust note. Next to the E55 and M5, however, you wonder if the handbrake has been left on, or go looking for a 'power' button to unleash DC another 100 horses. The Italians, overwhelmed by the ongoing German horsepower and torque race, prefer to give the Quattroporte a distinctly sporting personality.The Maserati's power builds in line with the induction sound volume, so the driver has no need to refer to the instruments, aware that for decent performance a diet of revs is the only answer. The fluency of the engine and the fervour of its spirit are utterly Italian, but low gearing means the engine's hum is a constant accompaniment. This, and a measure of wind and road noise that would have no place in the E55 or M5.
Working with possibly the most powerful automotive ECU in a production car - the Siemens MS S65 is capable of 200 million calculations per second - BMW has also developed the best robotised manual gearbox this side of VW/Audi's dual-clutch DSG. BMW's SMG - the M5's only gearbox - offers an almost ludicrous range of programmes in Drive (five modes) and manual (six), but the driver can store his two preferences to reduce iDrive fiddling. Initially, the gimmick is fun and you can't help testing the extremes. The reality is that most drivers will use one auto mode, one manual mode and an extreme setting in the event of taking it to a track. Unlike Chris Harris, who drove the M5 last week, I had no problem with the steering-wheel paddles and instinctively ignored the stubby selector. The new SMG is not as smooth as the E55's torque-convertor auto, but it's sufficiently flowing that business types - who've clearly arrived, given the anticipated £61,755 price tag (about £500 below the E55 and £8000 under the Quattroporte) ' will find the compromise acceptable.
Maserati introduced a third iteration of software for the Quattroporte's Cambiocorsa gearbox with the car's US launch this month, but it's a couple of months away from production in UK cars. Despite obvious improvements in the fluency of changes, especially in auto mode, where the previous jerkiness has virtually been eliminated, it can't quite match the SMG. At the same time, the Modena engineers have opted to give American cars a softer suspension set-up, fitted to the test car. They're still playing with final revisions for a forthcoming chassis upgrade 'mostly damper software' for the European Quattroporte. The US-tuning improves initial impact harshness at low speeds, but at the cost of increased lateral roll, and without displaying any improvement in the suspension's ability to filter out minor irregularities. The Maser's fidgety ride finds bumps that can't be felt in the BMW or Mercedes.
The steering is lighter than either the M5's or E55's and delivers constant feedback, some of it unwanted. This is a car that continually involves the driver, whether they want every sense to be engaged or not. Where the E55 does most of the work, and often feels microchip controlled, the Maser demands concentration. Good or bad? You decide.
But neither approaches the M5's ability to cross between both roles. It can't quite match their extremes, nor does it need to, because its middle course proves you don't have to go out to the limits. The BMW, so superbly planted on the road, rides firmly yet smoothly - I happily forgot anything but the normal (of three) electronic damper setting - while the steering in either of two modes is meaty and quick at just 2.3 turns lock to lock. The entire driving experience imparts an agility and precision that makes the Maserati seem darty and restless and the E55 lethargic.
Not only does the M5 deliver a more compelling drive, but it is faster and simply more capable everywhere. Yes, there are gimmicks in its make-up, but the fact that the M engineers chose to ignore Active Steering, run-flat tyres and Dynamic Drive - all engineering highlights of the 5-series - points to the M5's honesty of purpose and development. It also has the best seats, driving position and interior finish of all three cars.
None of these cars has perfect brakes. The E55's pedal is touchy and difficult to modulate, but the brakes are incredibly powerful. The Maserati's brake pedal feels dead and stopping distances are longer than either rival's. First impressions are that the M5 strikes the right balance between progressive feel and stopping ability, but really hard driving induces a touch of fade.
You'll buy the Maserati for its exclusivity - just 2000 a year versus hundreds of thousands of E-class Mercs and 5-series BMWs - the beautiful styling, the sheer presence, the sound of the V8 and the spacious and comfortable interior. But there is plenty of room for improvement. Not just to the ride, but also to reduce general NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels to make the Quattroporte a more suitable, less tiring, long-distance travelling mate.And the dashboard is messy, the satellite navigation ridiculously slow and fussy to use, and the tyres are too quick to squeal when the driver's having fun. Which is often.
It's easy to understand the appeal of the E55. It demands so little to go so quickly. It's the impeccable choice for those who don't understand, or care, about what makes a good car great.
But seldom has there been such a gap between the also-rans and the winner. The arrival of the new M5 brings the limitations of its competitors into sharper focus.
Even the M5 is not perfect. It has one hugely frustrating flaw: a 70-litre fuel tank (the E55's is 80 litres, the Quattroporte's 90) is near-useless in a car with its potential for 13-15mpg fuel consumption. Most drivers will struggle to stretch the range to a puny 200 miles. Pathetic. And my test car stalled five times when shifting between reverse and first gear. Since nobody else complained of this at the launch, put it down to a one-off fault.
But nobody beats BMW at this game. The M5, one of the great cars, demolishes its rivals and assumes its rightful position standing alone on top of the super-saloon pile.
By Peter Robinson (Autocar)
