Katha Pollitt

have reason to believe that the next BMW M3, M5 and M6 will be turbocharged. And while some BMW purists now might be lamenting the slow death of the naturally-aspirated BMW, realize that turbocharging is not only the wave of the future, but with turbochargers, you get more power out of less weight, thus leading to better handling characteristics. Now that is true BMW.

The X5M and X6M have been announced, and both of them have a juicy twin-turbo V8. The hopped up version of the X6 XDrive48i's engine throws down 555 horsepower and 501 lb-feet of torque. Both of those numbers are FAR ahead of the 500 horsepower and (seemingly paltry in comparison) 383 lb-feet of torque from the current M5's naturally-aspirated V10.

Which is why I have reason to believe that this exact same engine, is destined for the next BMW M5 and M6. It's far less expensive to pump up and turbocharge their oft-used 4.4-liter V8 than to put together a special V10 specifically for the M5 and M6. Turbochargers allow for both high power, MUCH higher torque, and better MPG than the alternative. Not to mention, take a look at the 0-60 times - the BMW M5 throws it down in a claimed 4.7 seconds. The X5M and X6M, porkers both, throw it down in 4.5 seconds, despite being almost 1,000 pounds heavier each than the M5 and M6.

Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012
Bmw m3 2012