At full song, the twin-turbo engine's sound ranges from deep and authoritative to nearly whisper-quiet- depending on the model to which it's installed. In the 5-Series it makes scarcely a peep, even nearing redline. Conversely, in the 335 Cabriolet, it's tuned with a proud and powerful exhaust note.

BMW's award winning 3.0 twin-turbo inline engine is also available in the upcoming 1-Series model lineup.

5.0 Litre V-10
Not just any engine will propel a four-thousand-pound car to 60 in under 5 seconds, so when BMW was developing the latest high-performance M5 sedan, something special was in order.

The 400 horsepower V8 engine which served the former M5 model was dropped in favor of a new V10. Carrying the same displacement as the older V8, the new engine has two more cylinders participating in the workload, which results in enhanced smoothness and refinement.


It's hardware driven by some of the most sophisticated software on Earth, and M5's engine management system is the main factor behind the cars impressive emissions and performance figures. It consists of over 1000 components which calculate the optimized ignition point, cylinder fill, injection quantity and throttle butterfly position for each and every cylinder on each and every revolution.

Advanced engine management has also made it possible to add a unique button to the steering wheel which summons the full 507 horsepower brunt with a simple press. The function, when switched off, sees the engine numbed down and more docile- most appropriate in city driving.

In the more gentle setting, M5 generates about 400 horsepower. The extra 107 ponies come to life in milliseconds, eagerly welding occupants to their seats as the engine screams rampantly to over 8000 RPM. Positively staggering acceleration is delivered in the process.

Engineers designed the M5's exhaust system to keep backpressure down while optimizing gas-flow for impeccable performance and torque behaviour. The exhaust system helps the V10 keep clean too, using components that heat up quickly to enable full catalytic effect soon after a cold start.

The two time winner of an international award for "Best Performance Engine of the Year", BMW's 5.0 litre V10 is available in both the M5 Sedan and M6 Coupe models.


Photo Credit : Justin Pritchard