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2024 is right here and it means we’re getting a brand new BMW M5 this yr. The seventh iteration of the tremendous sedan is ready to debut probably within the latter half of the yr and can come along with the return of the M5 Touring. Within the meantime, a brand new video takes us again to the Eighties when the lineage began with the E28. It’s the rarest breed contemplating solely 2,241 vehicles have been ever made.
A video posted on the Audrain Museum’s YouTube account places the highlight on a US-spec automobile constructed throughout the 1988 mannequin yr. BMW lovers know People obtained the shorter finish of the stick by settling for the S38B35 engine as a substitute of the stronger M88/3 that powered the first-gen M5 in Europe and South Africa. The catalyzed 3.5-liter inline-six derived from the M1 supercar made 256 hp and 243 lb-ft (330 Nm) whereas its uncorked European sibling had 282 hp and 251 lb-ft (340 Nm).
That sort of energy doesn’t appear a lot by 2024 when even front-wheel-drive-based M Efficiency vehicles have over 300 hp. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t overlook vehicles have been a lot lighter again then. An M5 E28 tipped the scales at simply 1,430 kilograms (3,152 kilos) in European specification whereas its American sibling was barely heavier. The brand new M5 coming this yr will weigh properly over 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs).
It’s not simply the lightness that made older vehicles nimbler but in addition their smaller footprint. The primary M5 was solely 4.6 meters (181.1 inches) lengthy whereas the brand new one coming quickly will exceed 5 meters (practically 197 in).
Whereas it’s comprehensible to be nostalgic concerning the early days of the M5, one important motive why subsequent generations obtained larger and heavier was to enhance security.
As a remaining observe, BMW initially promised to make simply 500 vehicles for the US market however ended up promoting greater than 1,200 models. That had authorized repercussions as homeowners filed a category motion lawsuit in opposition to the automaker. The problem was solved in 1993 after BMW agreed to offer every purchaser a $4,000 transferrable voucher to purchase or lease a brand new automobile.
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