2012 BMW M5: Official Photos leak

The BMW M5 2012 - total photo leak

We receive a batch of 35 official photos of the 2012 BMW M5 ahead of an official reveal due next week at the BMW M Festival at the Nurburgring.

Back in April – after a private BMW event to show off the new M5 – we had some photos sneakily snapped by one of the attendees on their mobile, or so it seemed.

But this leak of photos of the 2012 BMW  M5 is a different kettle of fish altogether – these are low-ish resolution versions of an official set of photos of the new M5.

They’ve probably started life as embargoed images to a magazine – you know, that old-fashioned publishing medium where they bring you all yesterday’s news, and make you pay for it – that have ‘accidentally’ been emailed off by an employee to a ‘friend’.

So car magazines do still have a use, even if it’s not quite the use they would claim. So, as a result, we get the official photos of the 2012 BMW M5 a little early – and a little low-res – but their existence on the Interweb will just chivvy BMW in to doing the 2012 M5 officially.

Do we get anything extra beyond the official photos? Some.

We get more subtlety than perhaps we expected. The 2012 M5 looks aggressive and purposeful but manages to do so without fripperies or appendages. We approve.

We also approve that the F10 mM5 will get 552bhp from its twin turbo V8, although we would have preferred the speculated 600bhp. Still, that will be good for a 4.4 second 0-62mph and a top speed – if you opt for the M-Drivers Pack – of 305kph. All that power, it seems certain, will be driven through a dual-clutch ‘box, although it does look as if a six-speed manual will be an option.

Official reveal is supposed to be next week at the BMW M Festival at the Nurburgring.

We think it likely we might get detail before.

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