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Before the new 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 arrived last year, AMG boss Tobias Moers let slip a little fact about the carmaker’s mid-sized sports sedan—the E63 would not only have standard all-wheel-drive, but like the Ford Focus RS, it would also offer a drift mode. In the Mercedes’s case, however, “drift mode” simply meant a function that disconnecting the front wheels from the engine, allowing the car to shred rubber and slide around as AMGs were born to do.
But if there’s one competition in the automotive world that descends most frequently to the level of Annie Get Your Gun-itis, it’s the rivalry between Mercedes-Benz and BMW. So we at The Drive can’t say we’re surprised to hear a new report claiming the next BMW M5 will also come standard with AWD…and the ability to go rear-wheel-drive on a whim.
The report comes from BMWBlog, which claims to have the inside scoop on the forthcoming version of the German super sedan. The report seems to imply that the rear-wheel-drive setting will be easier to access than the E63’s version, which can only be activated by deactivating stability control, putting the car in manual mode, holding down both shift paddles, cuing up Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” on the stereo, and reciting a prayer to Karl Benz apologizing for leaving his name off the car.
The power headed to either the rear wheels or all four tires will come from a twin-turbo V8 displacing the same 4.4 liters as the outgoing M5, BMWBlog says. For G30 M5 duty, however, the engine will reportedly be dialed up to a little more than 600 horsepower…just like the Mercedes-AMG E63. Between the wheels and engine, however, reportedly lies an eight-speed torque converter automatic, replacing both the mediocre seven-speed dual-clutch and the entertaining-but-clunk six-speed manual.
Otherwise, expect the M5 to more or less be what you’d expect: a (slightly) more aggressive exterior than regular 5 Series models, with a black carbon fiber roof on the options list and some cool new wheels. It’ll probably look pretty damn good…if awfully similar to the M550i xDrive we used for the hero image above. Expect to see it revealed at an auto show before the end of the year.
