The all-new 2024 G90 BMW M5, when it was launched globally in June, was essentially laughed out of the room for being… well, a bit of a whale. Thanks to its new 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain, and a whole bunch of new additional luxury goodies, the all-new model – unfortunately – weighs in at over 2,400 kg, never mind that it’s actually slower than its predecessor to 100 km/h…
According to BMW, though, all of that aren’t exactly problems at all, because most M5 owners never bring them to the track anyway.
That is, according to BMW M5 product manager Daniela Schmid, who told Romanian magazine Autocritica: “For M5 customers, we know that there is a very small percentage of people who only drive the circuit once… I’d say hardly anyone does.”
Honestly? We’re not surprised either. For one, track day fees (at least here in Malaysia) are getting exorbitantly expensive. But more importantly, most of the BMW M5’s customers are really just buying it for status symbol, anyway.
READ MORE: All-new 2024 BMW M5 is a 727 hp hybrid brute that’s… slower than its predecessor?
“The current [buyer] profile would be that of a middle-aged man, although we also have female customers—but most of them are men, entrepreneurs or high-management who have experience with other M models, maybe M3 or M4, and want an M5 as he gets older,” Schmid says.
Doesn’t exactly shout “track day enthusiasts”, does it? Even in Asia, where the “average age of the M5 customer has fallen largely”, they’re also mostly “young people in IT, software, with a lot of money from a relatively young age” and not much in terms of performance driving experience anyway.
That said, BMW M promises that they still develop their cars for the track. “For us, it is important that any M model can be used on the circuit. If there are customers who want that, they can do it without problems, but that potential is also available to them when they drive the car every day.”
Schmid adds, “For this reason, we still maintain the requirement that the car can be used on the circuit, although we are aware that not many customers actually do this.”
And if you really do want to go to the track, you would’ve chosen something like the BMW M4 CSL, anyway.
ALSO READ: BMW M’s first performance EV to come with fake gear shifts like Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N
[H/T: Motor1]
