BMW M5 E60

The presentation of the sports sedan of the 4th generation took place in 2005 at the Geneva Motor Show. Production of BMW M5 in E60 body began a year later. If the M5 of the first three generations was almost the same car, this sports car was completely different. It is a “charged five” and the differences between sedans were huge.

The Germans started to assemble BMW M5 E60 cars at the assembly line of the enterprise located in Dingolfing. For 6 years of production, the concern has produced 19,523 cars. 1025 copies were produced with a cargo-passenger body. The sports car was exported to 5 countries. The concern sent 8800 cars to S. America, 1776 cars to Great Britain and Ireland, 1357 cars to the Japanese islands, 512 units to Italy, 339 cars to the “Green” continent. For the domestic market the Germans left 1647 sport sedans.

Appearance

The platform of the sports car is the standard E60 model. This can be judged by the photo of the BMW M5 E60. Therefore, there are no visible differences in the exterior of the cars: similar predatory front optics, “nostrils”, smooth body.

From the elements of aerodynamics it is worth noting the BMW M5 E60 dodger, front spoiler and a small air intake integrated into it, yes aft diffuser plus a fin on the roof.

The black matte BMW M5 E60 is a medium-sized car of the Premium class. In length, the sports sedan stretches to 4.86 meters. The width of the car is 1.85 meters, height – 1.47 meters. Wheelbase of M5 E60 is 2.89 meters. The ground clearance of the car is 120 mm, weight is 1.82 tons (the cargo-passenger version has 100 kg more). Such weight is explained by some cast-iron suspension elements, although the element itself is made of aluminum alloy.

Interior

The BMW M5 E60 has an E-class interior. Its trim is made of genuine leather with aluminum inserts. Console, by tradition of the concern, is turned to the driver. Here you can see the on-board computer with a monitor of 6.3 inches. There are deflectors under the display. You can manually adjust (reducing, increasing, changing the direction of air flow) the climate control of the interior. Under it there are regulators that allow to customize on-board electronic systems. There are 43 of them (!) and some of them are controlled through the buttons of multirole with three spokes.

On the instrument panel you can see the speedometer/tachometer scales. The speedometer shows the speed in km/miles and in the same scale the driver can control the fuel level. The situation is similar with the tachometer. The temperature of the power unit is also displayed here. Some of the information can also be available on the windshield.

The rear row of the car can comfortably accommodate tall passengers. There is enough legroom in both rows. But there is more headroom in the 1st row. 994 mm is the distance from the seat to the ceiling, 27 mm less in the rear.

Of the interior features prior to 2005, we note:

• The steering wheel, which has three spokes, is trimmed with three colors of thread and has a 381-millimeter diameter. There are SMG transmission paddle shifters;
• The sports car’s dashboard, with white illumination, red arrows and aluminum framing. The speedometer shows a speed limit of 330 km/h, and at the bottom of the tachometer there is an engine oil temperature gauge;
• Head-Up display of 6.3 inches on the windshield. Some of the information was also displayed on it, which increased the driver’s comfort;
• Merino upholstery. The seats were ventilated;
• Door sills decorated with the “M5” logo;
• 3 finishing options.

With the “M” button, the driver could activate 3 modes of power unit operation. The first one, P400, was started automatically for normal driving, when the engine power was limited to 400 “horses”. For full power, 500 “horses”, the P500 mode was used. To add to it sharpness, SP500 is selected. The selection is made using the IDrive menu.

The sports car is also equipped with a footrest. Here is a photo of the interior of the BMW M5 E60.

The luggage compartment capacity is 500 liters.

Equipment

BMW, together with Teves, developed a DSC system that helped the driver control the directional stability of the sedan. On all cars produced before September 2007, it was impossible to deactivate the system. On later models, the system could be deactivated. The car owner had to update the software. This was done free of charge. As a result, drifting (cornering) and skidding became controllable on the BMW M5 E60.

The M5 E60 car was bought for spirited driving. However, this leads to serious heating of brakes. To improve the quality of their cooling, German engineers decided to abandon the front “fog lights”. This allowed to get a place for air flow redistributor.

Sport sedan of the 4th generation is equipped with ventilated disc brakes. In the “base” the car is equipped with light alloy alloy wheels R19. They are spoke, radial and have the original design “166M”. Option – disks polished and forged, “167M”.

Technical specifications

Now let’s see what are the specifications of the BMW M5 E60.

The sports car is equipped with an atmospheric V-shaped, ten-cylinder unit S85B50. The engine volume of BMW M5 E60 is 5.0 liters, power – 507 horsepower. This motor is a special development of German engineers for rear-wheel drive car. It is the first V10 engine, which was designed by the German concern for BMW M5 E60. Its highlight is electrically driven throttles on each of 10 cylinders! From stainless steel, the Germans have created a dual-flow exhaust system for the BMW M5 E60. Lubrication is provided by 4 oil pumps. This increases its efficiency.

To make this complex system function properly, the Germans have created excellent computing technology. The on-board computer is able to perform almost 250 million operations per second and adjust the working process of the throttle flaps 200 times. Thanks to this engine, the car was in great demand on the car market.

Fans of fast driving could even make jerks with smoke from under the chassis! If the car owner did not want to burn rubber in vain, “Launch Control” was installed.

This system allowed for an efficient smoke-free start. The gearbox lever would move forward, the throttle would be added, and the lever would drop down when starting.

In the beginning, the engine of BMW M5 E60 was combined with 7-speed robotized transmission SMG II. Since September 2006, at the request of buyers from S. America, the concern began to equip BMW M5 E60 for this market with 6-speed “manual” G ZF

Acceleration of the sports car BMW M5 E60 to 100 – 4.7 sec, to 200 – 15 sec. The maximum speed of the three-volume BMW M5 E60 reached 250 km/h (without limiter – 330). Real fuel consumption of the BMW M5 E60 in the city / on the highway / mixed cycle is 21.7/10.2/14.4 liters.

The size of the fuel tank is 70 liters.

The car was equipped with two aluminum suspensions: front independent (MacPherson) on double wishbones and aft multi-lever. The steering wheel had adaptive power steering Sevrotronic. All chassis were equipped with disc brakes (front – also ventilated) with ABS system.

Difference between restyling and prerestyling

In 2007, the BMW M5 E60 was restyled. The changes were insignificant. The interior of the sports car was slightly changed, it received aft LED optics and its daytime running lights were updated.

Only one lightweight car was also produced, the M5 CSL E60.

Also note that tuning of the BMW M5 E60 will allow you to get a Hamann system. In addition, as a result of film experiments, you can create an original body color. This is burgundy chrome. A car with this coloring is popularly called BMW M5 E60 shadow.

In 2010. M5 E60 came off the assembly line. It was replaced by the M5 F10 model. However, even in 2018 on the roads of the country you can meet the BMW M5 E60.

Generations and configurations

4 generation

01.2005 – 07.2010