BMW has announced that it will cease production of two of its top-end models at the end of June. The cars concerned are the high-performance M5 sedan and the Z8 luxury sports car, the Munich company’s most expensive model. The main reason for the demise the of two prestige products is the fact that the new 5-Series, previewed in TCC last month, will not use the 5.0-liter V-8 that powers these cars, and there is no reasonable alternative power unit in the current range. A secondary reason for killing off the Z8 is that it has been neither an image-builder nor a commercial success.
That is a charge which cannot be aimed at the M5, which has established a legendary reputation among high-performance luxury sedans, creating a benchmark against which competing models from such marques as Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes must measure themselves. In terms of power, handling and sheer performance, the M5 still sets the standard, while at the same time offering top levels of comfort and equipment to its occupants. The new 5-Series will spawn an ‘M’ version in time, but it will be a year or two before it comes to market.
The Z8, first shown as a concept at the 1997 Tokyo auto show, went into production in 2000 but has never been accepted as a true sports model capable of hacking it at the very top end of the market. With styling influenced by the elegant 507 model of the 1950s, it failed to capture the imagination of well-heeled customers, despite BMW’s expenditure of a great deal of promotional money on having it featured as James Bond’s car in the film The World is Not Enough. Fewer than 6000 Z8s have been sold worldwide, but the M5 has been a better performer. Around 20,500 of the current E39 series cars have been sold since it was introduced in 1995.
That is a charge which cannot be aimed at the M5, which has established a legendary reputation among high-performance luxury sedans, creating a benchmark against which competing models from such marques as Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes must measure themselves. In terms of power, handling and sheer performance, the M5 still sets the standard, while at the same time offering top levels of comfort and equipment to its occupants. The new 5-Series will spawn an ‘M’ version in time, but it will be a year or two before it comes to market.
The Z8, first shown as a concept at the 1997 Tokyo auto show, went into production in 2000 but has never been accepted as a true sports model capable of hacking it at the very top end of the market. With styling influenced by the elegant 507 model of the 1950s, it failed to capture the imagination of well-heeled customers, despite BMW’s expenditure of a great deal of promotional money on having it featured as James Bond’s car in the film The World is Not Enough. Fewer than 6000 Z8s have been sold worldwide, but the M5 has been a better performer. Around 20,500 of the current E39 series cars have been sold since it was introduced in 1995.
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