The fifth generation of the world’s most successful performance saloon, the BMW M5, will be seen for the first time at The Goodwood Festival of Speed 1-3 July 2011. The new car will make its UK debut in the BMW pavilion along with a selection of the Bavarian manufacturer’s hottest current cars and some famous racing cars celebrating anniversaries from its glorious heritage.
For more than 25 years the BMW M5 Saloon has defined the high-performance saloon. The new model raises the concept of the premium executive saloon, combining track-car dynamics and supreme touring comfort to an even higher level.
It features the most potent engine ever devised by BMW’s high-performance M division along with race-bred chassis technology that includes, for the first time, an Active M differential and electronic damping control. The unique exterior design has been dictated by the technical requirements of the car, while the luxurious sports car-like cockpit offers an extensive range of innovative driver assistance systems and mobility services.
For the first time an M5 features a turbocharged power unit – a high-revving 4.4-litre (4395cc) V8. Developing 560hp from 5750-7000rpm, it is the most potent series-production engine ever to emerge from BMW’s high-performance M division. Incorporating the company’s M TwinPower Turbo technology, twin-scroll turbochargers, high-precision direct fuel injection, VALVETRONIC variable valve control and a cross-bank exhaust manifold, it guarantees the legendary BMW M-car thrust with seamless lag-free delivery from little more than tickover speed – thanks to 680Nm of torque from only 1500rpm.
Compared with the previous V10-engined M5, maximum power is up by around 10 per cent and peak torque by more than 30 per cent. As a result, the latest M5 can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 4.4 seconds, and 0-124mph in only 13 seconds. The voluntarily limited top speed is 155mph. With BMW’s seven-speed M Double Clutch Transmission Drivelogic and Efficient Dynamics technology, including engine Auto Start-Stop and Brake Energy Regeneration, the M5’s fuel consumption has been reduced by more than 30 per cent to 28.5mpg, while CO2 emissions tumble to 232g/km.
The new M5 Saloon will be available in the UK in November 2011, priced at £73,040 on-the-road.
Joining the M5 on the BMW pavilion will be TV and radio star, Vernon Kay, who will be available for interviews and to sign autographs on the Friday. On both Saturday and Sunday, the BBC’s expert anchor for Formula 1 coverage, Jake Humphreys, will be on stand too. He will be joined by legendary Formula 1 commentator, Murray Walker.
Le Mans ace Dirk Müller to drive the BMW Z4 GT3
Straight from the Le Mans 24 Hours, and a podium finish for BMW Motorsport, Dirk Müller will drive the BMW Z4 GT3 against the clock on the famous Goodwood 1.16 mile hillclimb.
Müller achieved third place for the BMW M3 GT in the GTE class at the 79th staging of the Le Mans 24 Hours, along with fellow drivers Andy Priaulx and Joey Hand. In the hard-fought LM GTE class, the number 56 BMW M3 GT crossed the finish line at the “Circuit de la Sarthe” after 313 thrilling laps and having covered a distance of over 4,200 kilometres.
Dirk Müller clocked the fastest GTE race lap with a time of 3:58.876 minutes in the race, which was at times dramatic and overshadowed by several spectacular and alarming crashes.
The BMW Z4 GT3, which competes in the FIA GT3 European Championship, has proven to be competitive, with a one-two finish at the first race of the year in Portimão in May 2011. It had already secured outright victory at the Dubai 24 Hours, earlier in the year, its first ever win in a marathon race of this scale.
The BMW Z4 GT3 was launched in March 2010 and, with its elongated bonnet, driver’s compartment towards the rear of the car, long wheel base and narrow wheel arches, boasts an unmistakable appearance. The difference between the road-going production and racing car can be found under the bonnet: while the production version of the BMW Z4 is driven by a six-cylinder engine, the GT3 car is powered by a 4.4-litre eight-cylinder engine.
Icons sharing an anniversary 50 years apart
Goodwood will host two significant anniversaries for cars that can boast the title of icon in the pantheon of the great cars of automotive history – the BMW 328 and the M3.
Both these cars, separated by 50 years of automobile history, share characteristics that have helped elevate them to the highest platform of four wheel nirvana. Both appeared on the race circuits before they were widely available to the public; both dominated their competitors on the great race circuits of the world; both were designed for racing first and for the road later; both were feted by the motoring journalists of their day and both are still revered as milestone cars.
To celebrate the 328’s 75th anniversary, a beautiful and truly historic example will ascend the famous Goodwood hill on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The BMW 328 Kamm Coupé, named after the German aerodynamics pioneer Wunibald Kamm, and recreated by BMW Classic, comes to Goodwood for the first time.
Five BMW 328 models contested the 1940 Mille Miglia, but the Kamm Coupé disappeared without trace in1953. With the 70th anniversary of BMW’s famous Mille Miglia victory fast approaching, BMW Classic reproduced this legendary racing car to take part in the 2010 race and to highlight an important milestone in both motor sport history and the development of vehicle aerodynamics.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the M3 going on sale in the UK, a BMW M3 Group A DTM will be driven up the hill by one of the UK’s best ever international racing drivers, Steve Soper.
BMW 328 – racing heritage
The BMW 328 first appeared at the 1936 Eifelrennen held on 14 June at the daunting Nurburgring. A single example driven by Ernst Henne started the race among a field of larger sports cars but proved its agility and performance by totally dominating the event at an average speed of 101.5kmh over the tortuous 70 mile race.
Built between 1936 and 1940 a mere 464 examples of the 328 were made but its innovative engine formed the backbone of many post-war racing engines under the Bristol name. It powered countless racing machines including those of Cooper, Frazer Nash and Veritas, as well as a whole generation of 1950s sporting road cars including Bristol and the AC Ace right up until the early 1960s, a full 25 years after its debut.
The 328 won its class in just about every race in the classic sports car calendar of the day – the Le Mans 24 Hours, Tourist Trophy and the Mille Miglia included. In total it won 141 victories from 172 starts in national and international races. At its zenith, special streamlined 328 roadsters and a coupé built by Superleggera Touring of Milan raced in the 1940 Mille Miglia and finished first, third, fifth and sixth, the winners covering the 1,000 miles at an average speed of 104mph.
As befits a car that is prized among collectors, top quality BMW 328s are today valued at close to half a million Pounds.
The road-going M3 started a racing trend
Although the M3 made its public debut at the 1985 Frankfurt Show, customer deliveries did not start until late in 1986, and it didn’t reach the UK until 1987 and then only in left hand drive. Customers started to read about the new M3 in motoring journals which to a man proclaimed the tactility, agility and performance to be quite unlike anything before in its class.
The E30 M3 made its racing debut at Monza in March 1987 and took the first six places in the race, until all were disqualified for insufficient roof metal thickness. Its major competitor, the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, was also excluded for homologation discrepancies. These two cars, piloted by a panoply of touring car driver greats, battled out the next two seasons – the M3 using finesse and poise, the Sierra punching out much higher power from its turbocharged motor.
The results presaged the reasons why the M3 would be held in such awe. Roberto Ravaglia won the 1987 and only World Touring Car Championship (until it made its return in 2005), the M3 winning five of the season’s races, while Winnie Vogt won the European series with the M3 winning all but one round. 1988 was the same with Ravaglia winning the European series again. In the Donington Park race, M3s finished first to eighth unmolested.
The M3 is the most successful racing car of all time winning a huge number of races and over 40 championships between 1987 and 1992. But it was not only a winner in sprint events. It won the Nurburgring 24 Hours three times and the Spa 24 Hours four times. The M3 was versatile too. It won the Corsican round of the 1987 World Rally Championship – a car developed and entered by Prodrive, the company responsible for the MINI John Cooper Works WRC that made its WRC debut in 2011 – and will also go up the hill at Goodwood for the first time this year. The M3 still races today in GT2, Le Mans, ALMS and the Intercontinental Cup.
M3 GTS to storm the hill
The M3 story was brought right up to date this year with the introduction of the BMW M3 GTS, the most powerful version of the high-performance M3 Coupé.
The car, only available in Fire Orange, will bring a frisson of colour and brightness to the Sussex countryside, as it steers its way up Goodwood’s hill in the super car run.
The M3 GTS features a 450hp engine that offers the ideal preconditions for use at club sport events, while still being road-legal. In addition to a larger and more powerful V8 engine, exclusive tuning of the seven-speed M Dual Clutch Transmission with DRIVELOGIC and modified suspension technology, the M3 GTS has also been specifically optimised with regard to aerodynamics and lightweight construction.
The sporting potential of the BMW M3 GTS is underlined by a power-to-weight ratio that has been lowered to 3.4kgs per hp. Featuring a transmission and suspension configuration which has been optimised for the racetrack, the BMW M3 GTS accelerates from zero to 62mph in a mere 4.4 seconds. The car covers the standing kilometre in just 22.5 seconds before going on to a 190mph top speed.
Limited production of the BMW M3 GTS for the UK market in right-hand-drive form commenced in January, 2011, with all 15 examples now sold.
BMW in the Moving Motor Show
For only the second time, The Goodwood Festival of Speed will present the Moving Motor Show on Thursday 30 June. This exclusive event enables participating manufacturers to invite selected customers, media and corporate clients to a privileged preview of the Festival and to drive production cars up the hill.
This year, the new BMW 1 Series M Coupé and M3 Coupé will be action whilst at the BMW Moving Motor Show stand, the legendary M1 will be showcased with unique examples of BMW’s super sports car. This includes the BMW M1 Homage, built by the BMW Group Design team, to mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1 supercar and first shown at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2008.
Sitting alongside the Homage will be the BMW Turbo by Paul Bracq, a revolutionary concept car created for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The Turbo Concept was an extreme version of the M1. Like it, the Turbo had a low profile, mid-mounted engine, and long sloping nose with many unique touches including a more rounded front nose, gullwing doors, rear fender skirts and a more sculpted rear end.
