Close to 450 kW is a lot of power to send through the rear wheels only. In a supercar, with clever (expensive) engineering, you’ll be able to get away with it, but in a four-door sedan it can result in a complete hooligan machine.
The current BMW M5 is a prime example. As wonderful and exciting as it is to pilot, the 423 kW (of the M5 Competition) makes it a handful to drive close to the limit.
The footage below shows the new model undergoing testing, but more importantly, it seems an xDrive version will also be offered. This means the new M5 could be offered with all-wheel drive.
Equipped with this system, and offering close to 450 kW, expect the 0-100 km/h acceleration time to tumble to 4,0 seconds or below. During our road test of the Competition model we achieved a very respectable 4,10 seconds on our test strip.
Expect the new model to be revealed towards the end of this year or early 2017.