BMW was on a roll in the late 1990s. The E39 M5 blasted into the new millennium with the first V8 engine any M car ever had under the hood. I can’t imagine the E39 M5 without that burbling S62, but it almost didn’t happen. As BMW tells us, the E39 M5 almost stuck with the six-cylinder engines that had always powered its performance models. It even considered a turbocharged V6 instead of a V8 or its classic inline-6.
While a 400-horsepower V8 seems the only natural choice, that was far from the case in 1993 when the M Division began considering options for the upcoming E39. The first two versions of the M5 used versions of the inline-6 first introduced in the original M1 supercar. Horsepower had increased from 277 to 340 over the years, but even BMW M couldn’t squeeze any more out of it. The S50B30 inline-6 introduced in the E36 M3 outside North America made 282 hp right out of the box, so the M5 was going to need a kick in the pants to stay ahead. A V8 would be a great solution.
However, Europe was coming out of an energy crisis at this time, placing an emphasis on fuel economy in addition to high horsepower. Then, as now, turbocharging a smaller engine seemed a good way to achieve both of these goals. But it would be an even more complex, expensive engine than the naturally aspirated one it would replace.
I could’ve had a V8
Meanwhile, BMW North America had serious doubts about the future of M cars. While more than half of the original E28 M5s built had been sold in North America, only 13% of its E34 replacement were sold here. Due to its complexity and expense, BMW NA rejected the E36 M3 that the rest of the world got. Only in 1995 did we get a rather decontented version with a less expensive, less powerful, more reliable engine based on a non-M design. This turned out to be the right move, hitting the sweet spot of top-tier performance that was still somewhat affordable.
At BMW M, the debate between six and eight cylinders for the E39 M5 continued into 1995. It even considered a V6 instead of BMW’s traditional inline-6 design. This would have been a more compact fit under the hood than a long, skinny inline-6, particularly with a turbo on each cylinder bank. In the end, M Division saw the success of the North American E36 M3 strategy. It had also run out of time to develop an advanced turbo engine worthy of the “M Power” badge before the E39 M5’s scheduled release. So it applied a similar formula to the M62 4.4-liter V8 from the 540i, significantly upgrading it to create the 394-hp 5.0-liter S62. While BMW would eventually switch to turbocharging smaller engines across its lineup, we loved these meaty, naturally aspirated beasts while they lasted.
