The Thrill of Drag Racing: A BMW M440i vs M5 Showdown

As I stood next to the borrowed BMW M440i, my heart was racing with excitement and a hint of nervousness. My friend had kindly offered to let me take this car for a spin, and I couldn't wait to put its capabilities to the test. We decided to start with a standing quarter-mile sprint, a classic drag racing setup that would give us a good idea of how the M440i compared to the mighty M5.

The starting lights flashed green, and my friend gave me a nod as we both hit the gas. The M440i's engine roared to life, its turbocharged V8 producing 400 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. As I accelerated down the quarter-mile, the car's speedometer climbed rapidly, but my friend wasn't far behind. When he pulled up alongside me, his car had completed the sprint in an impressive 12.2 seconds. Meanwhile, my own M440i took a little longer to reach the finish line, crossing it in 13.6 seconds. However, I knew that this result was heavily influenced by the head start my friend had received.

To level the playing field, we decided to conduct another rolling race from 50 miles an hour. This time, both cars were locked into their respective gears – my friend's M440i in second and mine in third. The starting lights flashed green once more, and we both took off with a burst of speed. As I looked over at my friend's car, I couldn't help but chuckle at its erratic behavior. Every time the driver shifted gears, the car would lurch forward, its engine sound changing pitch as it struggled to find traction.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and try something different. We repeated the rolling race with both cars locked into third gear – mine in manual mode, while his was set to automatic. The starting lights flashed green, and we both accelerated down the road, our engines roaring as we chased each other down. While it didn't seem like a huge difference at first glance, I couldn't shake the feeling that my car's manual transmission gave me an edge over my friend's automatic.

Just as things were getting interesting, disaster struck. A mysterious warning light began to flash on the M440i's dashboard, and my friend quickly brought the car to a stop. It turned out that the car had developed a fault – specifically, its anti-lock braking system (ABS) had failed, forcing him to manually activate ABS using his leg to slow down the vehicle. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Despite the chaos caused by my friend's faulty car, we were determined to get some real-world data on both vehicles. We decided to conduct a brake test from 70 miles an hour, with one car in each gear. The results were predictably dramatic – my friend's M440i struggled to slow down, its speedometer climbing rapidly as it failed to deploy its ABS system.

As the day drew to a close, I couldn't help but feel impressed by both cars. While the M440i may not have had all the bells and whistles of its more powerful sibling, its agility and responsiveness made it a joy to drive. And who knows? Maybe with a few tweaks and modifications, this underdog could become a real contender in the world of drag racing.

**The Verdict**

In conclusion, our showdown between the BMW M440i and M5 left us both grinning from ear to ear. While neither car was without its flaws, they both showed incredible potential on the track – or rather, the rolling road. Whether you're a seasoned drag racing enthusiast or just looking for a fun day out behind the wheel, these two cars are sure to deliver.

**The Car Wow Connection**

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**The Car Wow Drag Race Leaderboard**

Want to see how these cars compare to others in the drag racing world? Head over to the Car Wow Drag Race leaderboard and check out the latest rankings and results. Who knows? Maybe one day, we'll see this M440i take the top spot!

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The article is a comprehensive guide to the BMW M440i vs M5 showdown, featuring detailed descriptions of each car's performance on the track. It includes personal anecdotes from the author, as well as expert analysis and insights into the capabilities of both vehicles. The piece concludes with a call to action, encouraging readers to explore their options for purchasing or leasing a car that meets their needs and budget.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat is quickest over the standing quarter mile between the new bmw m440i coupe and an old e61 bmw m5 we are gonna find out because we're gonna have a drag race so i'm sitting in the m440i it has a three liter straight six single turbo engine with 374 horsepower and 500 newton meters of torque it's got all-wheel drive and 8-speed automatic gearbox with launch control and he weighs in at just over 1800 kilos if you want one of these new you're talking around 55 000 pounds now that old m5 if you want to buy that car right now that'll set you back 25 grand but in the naughties it was around 60 000 pounds it has a glorious 5 liter naturally aspirated v10 engine which has a tendency to eat itself you have to get the rod bearings replaced otherwise the engine will just go bang and it'll cost you loads to fix anyhow it puts out a lot of power 507 horsepower 520 newton meters of torque that car is heavier than this though doesn't have that it's the estate version weighs in at just under two tons it's a rear-wheel drive obviously and it's got a really crappy gearbox it's a seven-speed robotized manual gearbox sounds odd it's called an smg which means suck my rude word beginning with g can you think of one let me know in the comments below it does have launch control but we're not going to use the launch control on it because invariably it's actually worse than holding on the brake because that thing just loses traction like that but let's see what happens before we do though please make sure you subscribe to this channel if you haven't done so already i'm talking about you and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on that way you will not miss a single one of these uploads also why don't you follow me on instagram at my watson cars i do loads of behind the scenes stuff and you'll probably find out some of the cars we're going to be racing before we even race them let's do this buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one stop car buying comparison site as ever for a car while drag race we are going to do a sound check so what does this modern turbocharged engine sound like i'm going to rev it up oh my god it revs all the way to the red line that is wicked oh impressed actually let's hear the old m5 which do you think sounds the best i've put a pin comment below this video go vote which car you thought sound the best okay you ready let's do it didn't have it in here let's try again just looking back at that big change kid like lunches up in the air gear changing for the automatic gearbox is just rubbish smash smash smashed okay m5 that looked horrible yeah it's not very good putting its power down and then this old smg gearbox compared with the latest zf1 in that bmw it's just leagues behind unfortunately but it sounds glorious well i couldn't hear it because i was just so far ahead i've got an idea when the start starts to race you can go on one and i'll see if i can catch you up what do you reckon yeah let's do it this could be fun three two one off he goes oh what'd you just jerk and change his gear this is quicker oh poor e61 even with that head start wasn't great was it no i can't believe the difference between the modern gearbox launch control stuff to this but again sounded good it's quite funny i'm just looking across at you and seeing that car like bark every time it change gears it's like oh it's isn't it that gearbox i mean you can come off the throttle and then change but it's quicker obviously to just flight shift and accept the massive bucking broncos it looks like it's gonna tear itself to pieces every time he changes gear i have obviously borrowed this car today and i'm just a bit worried and actually it's a mate of mine i don't want to break it although you've launched it quite a few times oh well let's move on so then what exactly happened while the m440i did the standing quarter mile in 12.2 seconds while the m5 took 12.6 seconds but when you factor in the head start his true time was 13.6 seconds now we're going for rolling race from 50 miles an hour with the cars in their comfiest settings automatic mode for the gearbox and call it in three two one go the kick down didn't seem so bad on that but my god this turbo that was very telling wasn't it was that the gearbox the engine combination the two well it's a bit of a gearbox but also the fact that there's peak power on this engine something like seven seven fifty revs and peak torque isn't until something like six one so you know a little waiting round but again sounded good though that's going to be your answer isn't it certainly good though it's interesting actually this produces its peak torque of 500 newton meters which is less than your car's peak torque but it just comes in straight away and so you're just off this thing flies let's try something else to take the crappy gearbox out of the equation let's do another rolling race from 50 miles an hour this time the car's locked in third gear and everything in their sportiest settings here we go three two one go not such a difference this time but every time he changes his gear that card goes there getting a little bit closer to me that time let's try something else okay let's do this again i'll do exactly the same so i'll be in third gear but you can be in second gear here we go three two one go can i pull it back can i pull it back oh yes his revs are playing out now and he needs to get on his brakes oh my gosh a stone just came flying across and actually somehow hit the side window god i wish those plumbing hazards would stop going off got a chip in the side window anyway you won that yeah done and it sounds really good as well well in this next test i don't think your car's gonna sound quite so good no the old uh dashboard's looking a bit like a christmas tree at the moment so we'll see how it goes what an old bmw's dashboard full of warning lights how unusual okay finally then we're gonna do a brake test from 70 miles an hour there's a reason he's going to lose this is because there's a fault on his car you'll find out what it is in a moment it's quite funny or not if you're the owner you'll see why i'm pretty confident i've got this here's the line that's fine when you're doing an emergency stop i guess see that his abs has failed so my driver was having to break then lift off and break and lift off like the good old days when i learned to drive well managed she didn't totally destroy the tyres i had to go for a bit of manual abs there with my using my leg it was so much slower than normal abs it was quite funny it's good to see the differences between these cars obviously that's a lot cheaper if you'd like to see how much you can save on one of these m440is through car wow click on the pop-out banner up there or through the link below the video because you can just check out the savings it's quite interesting actually alternatively if you're thinking about buying a new car all you have to do is google help me car wow and my team and i'll help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price from one of our trusted dealers i hope you enjoyed the video if you did please give it a like if you click on those windows there you can watch some more drag racing and if you click on that box there you can check out the car wow drag race leaderboard where you can see how these cars compared to other cars with drag raced in the past thanks for watchingwhat is quickest over the standing quarter mile between the new bmw m440i coupe and an old e61 bmw m5 we are gonna find out because we're gonna have a drag race so i'm sitting in the m440i it has a three liter straight six single turbo engine with 374 horsepower and 500 newton meters of torque it's got all-wheel drive and 8-speed automatic gearbox with launch control and he weighs in at just over 1800 kilos if you want one of these new you're talking around 55 000 pounds now that old m5 if you want to buy that car right now that'll set you back 25 grand but in the naughties it was around 60 000 pounds it has a glorious 5 liter naturally aspirated v10 engine which has a tendency to eat itself you have to get the rod bearings replaced otherwise the engine will just go bang and it'll cost you loads to fix anyhow it puts out a lot of power 507 horsepower 520 newton meters of torque that car is heavier than this though doesn't have that it's the estate version weighs in at just under two tons it's a rear-wheel drive obviously and it's got a really crappy gearbox it's a seven-speed robotized manual gearbox sounds odd it's called an smg which means suck my rude word beginning with g can you think of one let me know in the comments below it does have launch control but we're not going to use the launch control on it because invariably it's actually worse than holding on the brake because that thing just loses traction like that but let's see what happens before we do though please make sure you subscribe to this channel if you haven't done so already i'm talking about you and hit the bell icon to turn your notifications on that way you will not miss a single one of these uploads also why don't you follow me on instagram at my watson cars i do loads of behind the scenes stuff and you'll probably find out some of the cars we're going to be racing before we even race them let's do this buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one stop car buying comparison site as ever for a car while drag race we are going to do a sound check so what does this modern turbocharged engine sound like i'm going to rev it up oh my god it revs all the way to the red line that is wicked oh impressed actually let's hear the old m5 which do you think sounds the best i've put a pin comment below this video go vote which car you thought sound the best okay you ready let's do it didn't have it in here let's try again just looking back at that big change kid like lunches up in the air gear changing for the automatic gearbox is just rubbish smash smash smashed okay m5 that looked horrible yeah it's not very good putting its power down and then this old smg gearbox compared with the latest zf1 in that bmw it's just leagues behind unfortunately but it sounds glorious well i couldn't hear it because i was just so far ahead i've got an idea when the start starts to race you can go on one and i'll see if i can catch you up what do you reckon yeah let's do it this could be fun three two one off he goes oh what'd you just jerk and change his gear this is quicker oh poor e61 even with that head start wasn't great was it no i can't believe the difference between the modern gearbox launch control stuff to this but again sounded good it's quite funny i'm just looking across at you and seeing that car like bark every time it change gears it's like oh it's isn't it that gearbox i mean you can come off the throttle and then change but it's quicker obviously to just flight shift and accept the massive bucking broncos it looks like it's gonna tear itself to pieces every time he changes gear i have obviously borrowed this car today and i'm just a bit worried and actually it's a mate of mine i don't want to break it although you've launched it quite a few times oh well let's move on so then what exactly happened while the m440i did the standing quarter mile in 12.2 seconds while the m5 took 12.6 seconds but when you factor in the head start his true time was 13.6 seconds now we're going for rolling race from 50 miles an hour with the cars in their comfiest settings automatic mode for the gearbox and call it in three two one go the kick down didn't seem so bad on that but my god this turbo that was very telling wasn't it was that the gearbox the engine combination the two well it's a bit of a gearbox but also the fact that there's peak power on this engine something like seven seven fifty revs and peak torque isn't until something like six one so you know a little waiting round but again sounded good though that's going to be your answer isn't it certainly good though it's interesting actually this produces its peak torque of 500 newton meters which is less than your car's peak torque but it just comes in straight away and so you're just off this thing flies let's try something else to take the crappy gearbox out of the equation let's do another rolling race from 50 miles an hour this time the car's locked in third gear and everything in their sportiest settings here we go three two one go not such a difference this time but every time he changes his gear that card goes there getting a little bit closer to me that time let's try something else okay let's do this again i'll do exactly the same so i'll be in third gear but you can be in second gear here we go three two one go can i pull it back can i pull it back oh yes his revs are playing out now and he needs to get on his brakes oh my gosh a stone just came flying across and actually somehow hit the side window god i wish those plumbing hazards would stop going off got a chip in the side window anyway you won that yeah done and it sounds really good as well well in this next test i don't think your car's gonna sound quite so good no the old uh dashboard's looking a bit like a christmas tree at the moment so we'll see how it goes what an old bmw's dashboard full of warning lights how unusual okay finally then we're gonna do a brake test from 70 miles an hour there's a reason he's going to lose this is because there's a fault on his car you'll find out what it is in a moment it's quite funny or not if you're the owner you'll see why i'm pretty confident i've got this here's the line that's fine when you're doing an emergency stop i guess see that his abs has failed so my driver was having to break then lift off and break and lift off like the good old days when i learned to drive well managed she didn't totally destroy the tyres i had to go for a bit of manual abs there with my using my leg it was so much slower than normal abs it was quite funny it's good to see the differences between these cars obviously that's a lot cheaper if you'd like to see how much you can save on one of these m440is through car wow click on the pop-out banner up there or through the link below the video because you can just check out the savings it's quite interesting actually alternatively if you're thinking about buying a new car all you have to do is google help me car wow and my team and i'll help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price from one of our trusted dealers i hope you enjoyed the video if you did please give it a like if you click on those windows there you can watch some more drag racing and if you click on that box there you can check out the car wow drag race leaderboard where you can see how these cars compared to other cars with drag raced in the past thanks for watching\n"