Australian fans of BMW's 'bahn-storming M5 ought to get used to the look of this car: chances are this is the only BMW M5 they will see for two years.
BMW Australia this week sold the last of the current generation M5 sedans, and the new model isn't due locally until 2011.
It is surprising that the next generation M5 has been caught on camera so soon; to date the spy shots coming out of Germany have been of the regular models.
The giveaways that this is the high-performance sedan are the massive race-bred brakes we can see through the slim-spoke alloy wheels and, of course, the four massive tailpipes at the rear.
Ignore the tow bar, BMW isn't repositioning the M5 to appeal to the caravan market; the tow bar is used to hitch a trailer which can add load to the car to stress the engine and gearbox.
The engineers were lucky when Carparazzi snapped this test mule: they didn't have to drive around with a trailer attached, although they did get held up in traffic by a Volkswagen Polo.
They should have had no problem with overtaking, though. The new BMW is said to have the same engine as the BMW X6M: a twin-turbo V8 which has a massive 408kW and 680Nm.
For the record, that engine already easily eclipses the current M5's V10 power and torque outputs of 373kW and 520Nm.
If the new twin turbo 4.4-litre V8 engine can make a 2.2-tonne four-wheel-drive sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds, we can't wait to see what it does to a 1700kg sedan. Yikes.
The new generation M5 is also expected to come with BMW's six-speed automated twin-clutch manual (a version of which was recently released in the M3 sedan and coupe), whose seamless shifts should also assist with acceleration.
BMW M5 owners better start going to the gym to get ready to handle the new one.
Official photos of the new BMW 5 Series are due to be released late this year ahead of the car's public unveiling at the Detroit motor show in January.
However, it will be at least another 12 months before we see what the M5 looks like, in time for a 2011 debut.
-- with Carparazzi
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