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VIDEO: What To Expect From the Twin-Turbo 2012 BMW M5

 
1,193 views Mar 4, 2011
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Those crafty Germans have released zis teaser video of the upcoming 2012 BMW M5, their highly-anticipated sedan that could boast more than 575 horsepower in its twin-turbo V-8 when the car debuts at the Shanghai Auto Show this April.

The video is an extended version of the tunnel teaser that popped up earlier this week, and shows the new M5 shredding up snowy hills, probably through the Nebelhorn or Swiss Alps or some other awesome place.

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Thanks to the camoflauge graphics, it's still a little tough to tell what kind of design to expect. But following the automaker's current styling cues, expect the M5 to resemble a very aggressive 550i (like the image at right) but with sharper and larger intakes. It will no doubt be a welcome facelift over the previous generation M5, which suffered from the goofy curves of nearly all 2005-09 BMWs.

What we do know is that the car will lose its former V-10 engine. In its place, a more powerful and more environmentally-friendly 4.4-liter twin-turbo V-8. Also standard is the BMW 8-speed automatic transmission to handle the nearly 600 horses.

Writers across the blogosphere are holding out hope for a manual transmission option, but that is a longshot at this point. More than any other brand, BMW cars have been growing larger with each passing year, to the point that the current 5-series is now as large as the previous 7-series used to be. The shift toward luxury and away from sport has also priced out plenty of enthusiasts, and made the M5 accessible almost exclusively to the executive crowd. It's become very little "ultimate driving machine," and mostly "frighteningly-powerful CEO taxi." Don't be surprised to see an MSRP somewhere around $80,000 or more.

Still, the M5 is viewed by many as the pinnacle of BMW engineering and that makes a new model relevant, even to the thriftiest driver. The upcoming 2012 edition will surely feature state-of-the-art technology and innovation, and we can't wait to see it in the flesh.




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