I live in South Africa and have a very good friend who is high up in BMW SA. He just went overseas to Germany with a group of the "Big guys" from BMW SA.. He had some NICE things to say when he got back.. He said the BMW engineers are "gona give Merc something to think about for a long time!!" :-) Seems the M Division had been very busy of late.. desinging enigines! He also said dont be surprised when you see the REAL M5 performance stats.. They are going to be better than stated at the moment.. some marketing games aret taking place!! Then the forthcoming M6 powerplant.. The M Division HAS built a 5.5l V10, producing 420 kW and 565 N.m.. What BMW has not yet decided is if this will power the M6 or M6 CSL. They are unsure if they are going to build a CSL version, and so if they DO build a CSL, the M6 will be fitted with the current 387 kW and 520 N.m M5 engine and the M6 CSL with the 5.5l engine.. and if NO CSL version then the 420 kW engine will finds its way into the M6, giving it a 0-100 kph of around 4.2. They have also been developing a 6.0l V10 for a future Supercar.. It will have a MAMMOTH 464 kW and 650 N.m.. No matter what car this powerplant drives it will surely pull a sub-3.5 sec 0-100 Kph. But for this same "supercar" they have also been experimenting with a Twin-Turbocharged version of the E60 M5 engine.. apparently producing "around" 495 kW!!!!! Crazy MPower on the way! When they build the "supercar" they WANT it to be the fastest car on earth! Then for the forthcoming M3/M4 the M Division is devloping a high-reving 4.0l V8 making around 330 kW and 400 N.m redlining around 9000 Rpm. The Z4 M is also DEFINATLEY on the cards.. They are experimenting with 2 options.. dropping the M3 CSL engine and SMG box in, or dropping the X5 4.8is' engine into the engine bay. The M Coupe will be replaced with the Z5 Coupe, powered also by either the M3 CSL engine or a newly developed Twin-Turbocharged version of the new Valvetronic 330i 3.0l engine. The non-turbo version will now make 185 kW and the turochrged M version 295 kW. Although BMW are reluctant to use the "turbo" engines because they want to stay true to their normally aspirated engines, but this will probably be the only "turbo" engine that BMW offer and ONLY on this model if they opt to use it. He had no engine info of the M1/M2.. altough versions are already being tested. Hope you all find this info useful!! http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=44471
