On this episode of Ignition
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00:00 This week on Ignition, we discover the new, more efficient side of BMW.
00:07 Welcome to the BMW 528i. This is the newest large luxury sedan from the automaker, and it represents their latest push for fuel efficiency.
00:27 Where there once was a naturally aspirated straight-six, now there's a turbocharged 2-liter inline-four.
00:33 It's connected to an automatic 8-speed transmission.
00:37 The power steering is now electric instead of hydraulic, so it doesn't get the same parasitic losses.
00:43 There's a setting called Eco Pro, which dulls throttle response and limits the intervention of climate controls.
00:49 It also gives you a display on the dash to help you drive in a more efficient manner.
00:53 When I come to a stop, the engine will actually turn off to save fuel.
00:59 That's all well and good, but this newfound focus on fuel economy has me wondering, has BMW lost it?
01:07 Nope.
01:19 The M5 in many ways is twice the car the 528 is. It has twice the number of cylinders. It has twice the number of turbochargers.
01:27 It displaces twice as much. It also costs nearly twice as much, nearly $100,000 for this car.
01:34 And what do you get for that? Well, if you guessed double the power, you're right.
01:37 This thing makes 560 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque.
01:42 It also benefits from the latest go-fast parts from BMW's go-fast division, from 20-inch wheels with brake rotors, by the way, sized 15.7 inches front, 15.6 inches rear.
01:53 Then you have suspension comprised primarily of forged aluminum. The rear suspension, by the way, bolted right to the unibody without bushings.
02:00 This is the fastest and most technologically advanced BMW on the market right now.
02:09 You also have to think about the miles and miles of wires underneath this car controlling all the systems.
02:14 For example, I have five different buttons here, one for stability control, one for throttle map, one for the dampers, one for the steering, and one for the transmission.
02:22 Now, each of those has three different settings, so there's 125 different combinations in the ways you can drive this car.
02:30 You've got to wonder, all the time programming that, how do they even have time to build the car?
02:35 But on top of that, they also threw in a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, which means we also get launch control.
02:41 Now, here's how it works. Put it in manual mode. Make sure it's on the harshest shift setting.
02:47 Turn off stability control. And here's where it gets tricky. You have to apply the brake with your left foot, hold the shifter forward, then apply the throttle.
02:55 Sometimes it doesn't work.
03:00 I cannot believe how quickly a rear-wheel-drive car can get out of the hole.
03:05 Zero to 60, 3.7 seconds. The quarter-mile, 11.9 seconds.
03:11 This is ridiculous.
03:15 Now, for our 60 to zero braking test, there's actually quite a bit working against this car, and that quite a bit is the 4,300 pounds it's lugging around.
03:26 But let's see how it does.
03:29 Quite well, actually. Pedal feel is very good, and it comes to a stop in a best of 110 feet from 60 miles an hour.
03:36 And now, we begin our figure-eight test. This thing just pulls so hard out of corners.
03:44 Enters nicely, too. It'll push sometimes. If you enter it too hot, it'll oversteer.
03:49 You can play with the throttle, you can play with the steering, and this thing does things a 4,300-pound sedan just shouldn't, like this.
03:56 Steering is firm and nice, controllable. It tells you what the front wheels are doing, and sometimes the rear wheels.
04:04 You've got to be careful with the throttle, though, or else the tail will just come right around.
04:09 You've got to be on your game.
04:11 This car is too much fun.
04:22 So, the M5 performs very well on the test track, but the most important part about the M5 is its duality.
04:29 Can it perform as well on the street?
04:31 You see, for as brightly as the M5 shines on the racetrack, the M5 is a very, very good car.
04:48 You see, for as brightly as the M5 shines on the racetrack, it's equally impressive on the road.
04:55 You can spend a day power sliding it, drag racing it, just generally abusing the rear tires,
05:01 and then you put everything in comfort mode, and the M5 transforms into this luxury super sedan.
05:07 Not only do I have dual-zone climate control, I can adjust the level of its intensity.
05:17 I have TV screens in the seat backs for when the kids get bored on the eight-hour road trip.
05:22 I have night vision. I have lane departure warnings. I have active cruise control.
05:27 This car, like the 528, also has stop/start, which I'll add is fully defeatable.
05:33 So, with all that technology, I can't help but think about what the M5 used to be.
05:42 It started as an exciting, thinly-disguised race car, and while it changed as it aged,
05:47 it always had a high-revving, naturally-aspirated motor.
05:51 Speaking of the engine, now we reach the big point of contention with the M5.
05:56 See, this is the first M5 with turbochargers, and empirically, it's hard to make an argument against this engine.
06:02 In terms of fuel efficiency and power delivery, this engine does things that a naturally-aspirated engine simply can't.
06:09 But a naturally-aspirated engine can rev, and it can sing, and as good as this twin-turbo V8 is,
06:15 I still long for the days of the high-revving, raspy race motors that used to be in these cars.
06:22 Similarly, I have a tough time making a complaint against this engine.
06:27 For one thing, it's really good. Secondly, it's just a product of an ever-changing landscape,
06:32 where we have to take environmental concerns into account.
06:35 Thinking of that, it's almost a wonder that this car exists. I mean, think about it.
06:39 A board of people had to sign off on a rear-wheel-drive sedan that weighs 4,300 pounds,
06:44 that makes 560 horsepower, and that has a twin-turbo V8.
06:48 And then, after agreeing on it, they had to build the thing.
06:51 And while building it, they put in all the luxury, fuel-saving, and performance technology they could throw at it.
06:56 And on top of all that, the car works, and it works brilliantly.
07:02 This is a very different car than what the M5 used to be.
07:06 It's excellent, but in a very different way.
07:09 You see, when you buy an M5, you're actually getting two cars.
07:17 One is a very comfortable, very luxurious 5 Series that happens to have a little bit worse fuel economy,
07:22 and the other is this completely insane supercar that happens to have four doors and five seats.
07:27 This is the kind of car you can take to the office and never feel the edge of its performance capabilities.
07:32 But similarly, you can take it to a racetrack, and there it'll do things that a car of its size and its weight shouldn't be able to do.
07:40 And you can change in between these two characters at the push of a button.
07:44 Now, has BMW lost it? Not at all.
07:46 They've found a way to integrate performance, fuel efficiency, and luxury in a way that makes cars like this still relevant in the future.
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