At the beginning of June, BMW M workshop manager Hans Rahn confirmed the next-generation M5 will get a plug-in hybrid V8 setup shared with the XM. He refrained from going into any other details since the super sedan is still a couple of years away. Seeing as how it’ll utilize the same powertrain as the potent SUV, it means the newly developed S68 engine will work together with an electric motor.
This combination between a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V8 mild-hybrid and an e-motor is good for 644 hp in the standard XM and 738 hp in next year’s XM Label Red. It looks as though the M5’s setup will roughly split the difference by packing a rumored 525 kW / 715 hp. Well-known BMW insider ynguldyn shared the yet-to-be-confirmed output in a recent post on the Bimmer Post forums.
Details about the amount of torque delivered by the PHEV V8 setup are not available for now, but we’ll remind you the regular XM has a combined 800 Nm (590 lb-ft) while the hotter XM Label Red will pack a mighty 1,000 Nm (737 lb-ft). Chances are the new M5 will use the same eight-speed M Steptronic transmission and xDrive system as the dedicated M model, but likely tuned differently.
Although all spy shots so far have depicted the sedan (codename G90), M boss Frank van Meel recently suggested there will also be a wagon. It apparently has an internal codename already – G99 – and unlike the M3 Touring, it’s coming to the United States. The saloon is allegedly slated to enter production in July 2024, with the wagon to follow in November of the same year.
In the meantime, the regular 5 Series (G60) will premiere in the first months of 2023 and will be followed shortly by a G61 Touring. The former has already been confirmed to spawn a fully electric i5 and there are reasons to believe it’ll also be available in a long-roof format. In China, a locally produced 5 Series Sedan with a long wheelbase is due in early 2024 with the G68 codename.
Source: ynguldyn / Bimmer Post
