Car guys never cease to amaze me: enough is never
enough! But that’s what passion is. Like
a bolt from the blue a BMW M5 appeared in our Motorsport workshop. Not just any
ordinary M5 mind you but the brand new F90 version – with XDrive
all-wheel-drive. And it left just as quickly – and very loudly too! While we
wanted to get in some ‘after’ acceleration numbers the customer was
understandably keen to get his car and we simply ran out of time. But we did
get Before and After dynamometer numbers, which will give you an idea of just
how wicked this car is!
MIGHTY M5
RGMotorsport’s first upgraded F90 BMW M5 has been delivered,
and it’s a monster. In standard form the latest xDrive-equipped Bavarian super
sedan wants for little in the way of power and torque but that doesn’t mean
that more can’t be had.Proof of this is
plain to see in a set of impressive new numbers: on our state-of-the-art
all-wheel-drive dynamometer the ‘after’ figures are 515kW at the flywheel
compared to a standard car which is rated at 441kW. We’ve found 74kW, or if you
speak American, 100 horses. Torque on the engine surges to 907 from 750Nm and
there’s no compromise on the delivery either: at just 1 500 rpm torque has
already climbed from 355 to 420Nm. At 6 000 rpm, there’s still 735 on tap,
almost as much as the standard engine’s maximum, achieved at 4 000 rpm.An all-new RGM-Techniflow downpipe/exhaust
system, and an imported JB4 management system (already highly regarded for its
ability to work seamlessly with highly-sophisticated electronic circuitry) are
key to the gains.The dual exhaust
measures 76mm in diameter and follows the route of the original system, though
wherever possible the radius of the bends has been opened as much as possible.
A combination of mandrel bends (which leave interior diameter unchanged) and
pre-formed sections are used to achieve this. Literally dozens of individual
pieces of 304-grade stainless steel pipe have gone into the construction.A number of sub-sections are bolted together
to create the whole which of course makes assembly a whole lot easier. The tail
end, which is a massive, pre-assembled unit with a pair of transverse
silencers, continues to utilise the original dual-tone exhaust volume control.
This bypass function creates a deep and rich sound which leaves no doubt as to
the car’s performance credentials! MIGHTY
QUALITY & CONSISTENCY
Our workshop manager is the Swiss
army knife of automotive technicians, capable of doing almost anything in a
workshop. Steve heads up our Motorsport division and will soon be celebrating a
decade in the role. But his time with RGMotorsport goes back a few more years
and this is in fact his second stint at the helm, his previous one cut short by
back surgery which forced him to find a less labour-intensive job. He was away
for over three years but then found himself back in his old ‘office’. Because
he is so multi-skilled he’s the perfect man to steer the day-to-day
affairsin our Motorsport department. A
fully-qualified automotive technician with more than 25 years’ experience, he’s
done everything from custom exhausts to building competition-spec turbocharged
and supercharged engines, to fabricating once-off components. “There’s plenty
of pressure in this job and there’s never a dull moment,” says Steve. “But there’s
a lot of satisfaction too and the sheer variety of the work iswhat keeps it interesting. The people who
come to us are generally car-crazy so understanding their vision and making it
a reality is what it is all about. “I also have a great team to work with and
while they are specialists in specific fields the fact that I understand those
skills enables me to oversee them effectively. I also like to share knowledge
so when new blood joins we upskill them as quickly as possible – there’s no
point in knowing an answer to something and when someone is grappling with that
question, holding back the information.”