E39 M5 dyno results with graphs - U.S. Specs - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

M Baker · 15th June 2009, 15:31

I took it to the Dynojet at the BMW Puget Sound Club Dyno Day June 13 and I was able to see what kind of power I have under the hood. This is a stock 2003 E39 M5, no modifications whatsoever, with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires. Stock speed limited to 155MPH and 7,000 RPM rev limiter. My M5 has 54,780 miles on it although BMW replaced the engine under warranty at 22,000 miles. I use 92 octane Shell or Chevron. The "Sport" mode was turned on.

We first tried running it up with DSC switched off, but on both attempts the computer would shut off fuel around 5,700 RPM due to no movement on the front wheels - evidently the computer thought I was trying to do a burnout and was shutting things down.

We removed the ABS fuse and we were in business. We did two runs (runs 3 & 4) in fourth gear to the 7k fuel shut off redline and the final (run 5) run in fifth gear to the speed limiter of 155MPH at which the speed limiter cut out the engine at about 6,650RPM.

Max speed in fourth gear at 7,000 rev limit was 134MPH.

Not counting the first two aborted runs, the final three runs were very consistant, with the best run at 10:25AM, temperature at 73 degrees with 41% humidity, in fourth gear. Each run would start from approximately 2,500 RPM with WOT.

On a dyno that historically has shown stock E39 M5's anywhere from 305 to 340 rear wheel HP, here are my run 4 results:
Horsepower started at 150HP at 2,500 RPM and went up to 357 Max Horsepower from 6,000 to 7,000 RPM.
Torque arc starting at 330 lb-ft at 2,500 RPM reaching a plateau of 346 Max Torque from 3,400 to 4,600, and ending down at 265 lb-ft at 7,000 RPM.

Unlike the 2.5 liter S14 engine in my M3, with the S62 engine neither HP nor torque had any steps, they were very smooth lines to the peak power. Air/Fuel was flat between 12.5 and 13 from 3,600 to 7,000 RPM.

2003 United States M5 Brochure says (at the crank) the engine has 394HP at 6,600 RPM and 368 lb-ft at 3,800 RPM in a car that weights 4,024lbs.

Thank you to www.carbconn.com for hosting us.

Dyno run graphs - left click to view full size
Best fourth gear run, run 4, is first image.

Second image is runs 3 and 4 in fourth gear and with the ABS fuse removed so we could go until we hit the 7,000 RPM rev limiter.

Third image is same runs 3, 4, adding run 5 in fifth gear and showing Max HP and Max torque numbers for each run.

Fourth image is the air/fuel for runs 3 and 4.

Mfreakin5 · 15th June 2009, 18:06

that comes out to 420 bhp and 407 lb/ft of torque for your Beast. And your car is completely stock? Wow. I guess BMW puts a little "special sauce" into it's reman'd motors...

Thanks for posting your results though, I'd love to get my Beast onto a dyno but she's running like poo right now thanks to a MAF problem.

Neighbour · 15th June 2009, 21:05

I think he is talking about bhp not whp...
I dynoed 307whp few weeks ago. I`m looking for a problem and it seems solenoid is on the way out...

jt2ma71 · 15th June 2009, 21:29

Wow if those numbers are at the wheels thats incredible!! No wonder i can break my 285's loose at any speed in first gear and get them going crazy on the 1-2 shift!!

KevN23 · 15th June 2009, 21:33

Those are very good numbers for a stock M5, congrats!ffice

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I had my car dynode a couple weeks ago and my was 306whp and about 302wtq. My car is also pretty much stock…
It is interesting to see that the air/fuel mixture never went below 12.5 in the higher rpm range. On my dyno, it dipped down to 11.5 passed 5500-6000rmp iirc.

Did they use a BIG fan with the hood open in your case during the dyno?

Blockdoc · 15th June 2009, 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by jt2ma71

Wow if those numbers are at the wheels thats incredible!! No wonder i can break my 285's loose at any speed in first gear and get them going crazy on the 1-2 shift!!

Any dyno graph will show WHP...because that's where it is measuring! The CRANK HP is only an estimate (unless you take the engine out and put it on a stand to dyno!) People typically use 15% drivetrain loss for a manual tranny (pretty arbitrary as you can guess).

350 WHP is VERY strong for a stock M5, but still fits into the "10%" variability between beasts (stock is charted at 335 WHP)

ALSO, keep in mind that dynos can vary tremendously between machines. (even within the same brand). THat's why many tuners don't really car nearly as much about MAX numbers...more about the CHANGE on the same machine/same car after adjustments.

FWIW...after you see a live dyno run, and see the variance between runs...on the SAME car, SAME machine (and read Steve Dinan's treatise on dynoing modern cars)...you can see why aftermarket mods claiming 5 or even 10HP gains with their products are LAUGHABLE!

Brian

Blockdoc · 15th June 2009, 21:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevN23

Those are very good numbers for a stock M5, congrats!ffice

ffice" />

I had my car dynode a couple weeks ago and my was 306whp and about 302wtq. My car is also pretty much stock…
I

Did they use a BIG fan with the hood open in your case during the dyno?

Cheers Kevin!

jt2ma71 · 15th June 2009, 22:05

I think lots of it depends on how long you let the car sit for after driving it. I know with my maxima, i was done 20WHP because of heat soak. Drove for an hour, soon as i got there, i pretty much drove right in. Came back a week later, it was busy so the car sat for 3 hours with the hood open, pretty much same atmospheric conditions dynoed right where i should be, about 18whp higher then last time.

Heat is your enemy, and the M5's engine/engine bay does a magnificent job of keeping that heat in. This car has by far got to be the worst ive ever seen for keeping heat in. I swear, everything is burning hot, even after sitting for an hour or two.

M Baker · 15th June 2009, 23:22

That is correct, the numbers are for rear wheel horsepower. My experience with this dyno has shown it to be consistant. Back to 2001 my 1997 540 posted nearly identical numbers over a month apart on the same dyno. And he has history for several E39 M5's that showed anywhere from 305 to 340 at the rear wheels, nothing higher - the owner (guy standing next to door in video below) was double checking things to see if what he had recorded was correct because he hadn't seen that high of numbers for a stock E39 M5 - we tried different gears and different runs to see if anything would change.

This car is completely stock, I had the Inspection II in March and my tech would confirm it is indeed stock (I bought it in January so I was curious) It has the stock speed limiter and 7,000 RPM limiter in place. I cannot drive the car above 155MPH actual (NOT indicated speedometer - that is higher) nor can I rev the engine above 7,000 RPM. In both instances the engine cuts out, which is the factory setting.

The seat-of-the-pants comments I have gotten from friends driving this car have been that it seems quite strong, this test just puts it on paper to view. The reeeaal long high torque numbers (352 in 5th gear) and 1,000 RPM range of peak HP were impressive to me, and again, serve to substantiate what I feel when I drive the car.

After this dyno test IF I could have a software update that would allow a couple hundred more revs and remove the limiter and not touch another single point of software, I would do it!

They had a big fan in back of the car to blow out the engine exhaust away from the car. A new M3 was present, and he was a bit miffed that I posted significantly higher numbers than his V8. And his car is no slouch! His is mis-labled as an E36 M3, but you can see a video of it here: E36 M3 on Vimeo

I'm trying to see if anyone got a video of my car - I would love to hear it!

M Baker · 15th June 2009, 23:45

I was just told that the 18% drivetrain factor has proven to be very accurate on this particular dyno over the years the club has been using it for tests for race cars and for dyno days. They have been doing dyno days for the BMW club for years on this dyno. The organizer said 18% is considered to be accurate _on this dyno_.

He used 18% to calculate these estimated crank numbers for my car.

Hp 421.98
Tq 408.63

That's all well and good, and frankly I would rather be conservative so 15% would be fine with me. But really what matters to me is what I already have experienced - this car is just AWESOME on drives to Eastern Washington over the twisty mountain passes and on the long straight deserted county roads with wheat fields as far as the eye can see. If it was alive it would be jumping around in the garage in anticipation everytime I get ready to take it on a driving trip to/through Eastern Washington on a midweek day.