If what BMW is saying is true, M5 owners aren’t using their cars as intended. Motor 1 reports that Daniela Schmid, product manager for the M5, told Romanian auto magazine Auto Critica that most M5 owners don’t take their cars to the track and those who do usually do it once and never go back.
For M5 customers, we know that there is a very small percentage of people who only drive the circuit once,” M5 product manager Daniela Schmid told Romanian magazine Auto Critica. “Constantly… I’d say hardly anyone does. For us, it is important that any M model can be used on the circuit,” Schmid adds. “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. 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.
Schmid also revealed that the M5 buyer base is largely middle-aged men who are “entrepreneurs or high-management” which shouldn’t surprise anyone. Schmid says these buyers go to the M5 as they age, having had prior ownership experience with the M3 or M4. Schmid did admit the buyer base is changing though. There are more women buyers and thanks to Asia, buyers are getting younger.
M5 owners not tracking their cars shouldn’t be surprising. We often give SUV owners heat for not taking their vehicles off-road, but the performance car that doesn’t see track duty hardly gets talked about.