The brand new 2025 BMW M5 has received much criticism since its release, not because it is poorly designed or built, but because of how it handles and because it is almost a second slower and a full 500kg heavier than the model it replaced.
Potential Issue with BMW’s M5
A relatively small YouTube channel could have possibly exposed a problem with BMW’s assertions concerning the M5. The extra mass results from BMW integrating a plug-in hybrid system that can provide up to 69 km purely on battery power. It features an 145kW/280 Nm of the electric motor alongside the 430kW/ 750 Nm 4.4 liter twin-turbo V8 giving an overall power of 535kW and 1000 Nm torque.
However, a video uploaded by IND Distribution cited by Carscoop appears to point that the BMW may have been downplaying the M5’s performance statistics.
This is a less than three minutes video in which a brand new M5 is being put through its test in the dynamometer. Some of these are also known as a “dyno” or “rolling road”, these tools determine amount of power produced which is delivered to the wheels of the vehicle.
Know About The Engine and Wheel Power
What must be distinguished is that car manufacturers indicate engine power, while the actual power which reaches the wheel – as studies show, varies from 10 to 40 percent lower due to mechanical losses in all-wheel drive cars. Electric cars on the other hand suffer much less mechanical loss because the power has little if no interaction with mechanical parts such as the gears, differential and axles.
In this case the M5 was able to churn out an almighty 512kW and 988Nm at the wheels which is equates to 696hp and 729lb-ft in imperial units. This means that BMW has possibilities of underestimating the actual power of the high-performance model as depicted below.
As per our mathematical modeling, keeping a minimum power loss of 5 percent for the electric front axle and 15 percent for the S8’s V8 engine, the real power output of M5 could be as low as 575 kW. Aggressive Car Makers as it is common when BMW understate the performance figure in its M cars .
Performance Claims of Porsche and Japanese Brand
Sports cars of Porsche have long records of boosting their declared power outputs and in the period of the 1990s which is known as ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ Japanese car builders also launched performance models which were undoubtedly producing power much higher than 280 PS or 206 kW.
