If you’ve been saving your pennies, you may be interested to know that BMW will be officially launching the new F10 M5 in North America next summer, 2012. Expect cars to begin hitting showrooms in August; those of us who haven’t been saving our pennies will have the opportunity to drool on more frugal driver’s rides throughout the summer.
BMWBLOG can also put our name behind the hunch that the M5 will be offered in North America with the option of a manual gearbox, as well as trick carbon ceramic brakes. From our experience on Ascari race circuit, the new M5 hardly needs more powerful or fade resistant brakes to burn off speed – but those who count tenths on a track day will appreciate the weight reduction in un-sprung mass, and the better fade resistance after dozens of hard laps. It would be very difficult to improve upon brake feel from the steel-rotor baseline, but expect a slightly different feel under your right or (if you’re particularly talented) left foot.
The M5 displays massive stopping power from all speeds – the deceleration will hang you from your seat belt. Front rotors are a massive 400 mm (15.7″) in diameter, clamped by powerful 6-piston calipers. The discs are cross-drilled at all four corners to dissipate heat. Speaking of heat, it seems cooling has been a major engineering focus on the new M5, what with 6 separate radiators behind the front fascia, and various cooling passages carved into the bodywork.
Stay tuned for BMWBLOG’s racetrack review, first drive review, and forthcoming technical articles. And don’t forget to start saving your pennies.
