The E39 BMW M5 is a special car. It might not be the best M5 of all time — though there’s a large portion of the enthusiast fanbase that feels it is — and it’s certainly not the fastest. However, it’s one of the all-time great BMW M cars and is a car that excites almost any car enthusiast, regardless of brand affiliation.
Despite that, it’s not a car we see heavily modded quite often. Most enthusiasts enjoy the purity of its naturally-aspirated V8, un-corrupted steering feel and sweet chassis balance. However, when enthusiasts do mod it, a supercharger is often involved. So Evolve Automotive decided to make a supercharger kit of their own and shows it off in this new video.
The stock E39 BMW M5 makes around 400 hp from its 4.9 liter V8. Or at least it did when new. On the dyno at Evolve, it only made around 389 hp, so a few ponies were lost over the years. After some simple mods, such as a new intake and new headers, it made 436 hp, which is a nice gain from just those two things. The supercharger kit really amps things up, though.
With the supercharger fitted as well, the E39 BMW M5 made 529 hp. What’s interesting is that Evolve’s own test car with the same supercharger kit actually makes about 630 hp. The reason for the difference is that Evolve’s car is unrestricted, whereas the customer’s car you see in this video was restricted to just around 500 hp, as requested by the customers. So boost was limited to just 5 psi.
What’s nice is that, after a test drive, it feels like a normal E39 BMW M5, only faster. The powerband is still incredibly linear, just like the stock car, which is one of the benefits of a supercharger over a turbocharger. So it feels more powerful but without any boosty torque or lag. Just instant power.
If you like E39 M5s, check this video out and watch it get a high-quality supercharger kit and over one hundred extra horsepower.
