Introduction to the F90

 In this post I'll give an introduction to the car I ordered: the 2022 BMW F90 LCI M5 Competition.

The designator "F90" is an internal BMW chassis designator. Originally the chassis designators all started with the letter "E" which stands for the German word "Entwicklung" which means "Development". BMW ran out of two-digit designators and moved into "F" and now "G". The designators are handed out once development begins. So we can conclude that work on the F90 (M5) began before work on the G30 (the regular 5-series) or even the G12 (the latest 7-series on which aspects of the latest 5-series is based).

For a history of BMW, see History of BMW.

For a history of the 5-series, see 5-Series History.

For a history of the M cars, see History of "M" and M5.

The G30 was unveiled in October 2016 and the F90 in September 2017.

Usually the M5's have the same chassis designator as the regular 5-series, but not this time. This is apparently because work on the next generation M5 began before the work on the new 5-Series, whereas usually it is the opposite, although in the end many of the elements are merged.

This car is the LCI, meaning "Lifecycle Impulse", a collection of minor changes and improvements midway through a car's lifecycle. The LCI was released for the 2021 model year.

The F90 is an incremental improvement off the previous generation F10 M5, using essentially the same engine (although further developed). Big differences are

• the introduction of 4-wheel drive (M xDrive)
• a significant increase in torque and horsepower
• a lighter and stiffer chassis
• the adoption of an automatic transmission
• the adoption of an electric power steering system (M EPS)
• a complete update of the vehicle electronics

This generation of 5-series comes in multiple engine styles and performance levels as follows.

• 530i - B46 turbo 4-cylinder / 248 HP / 295 lb-ft
• 530e - B46 turbo (detuned for fuel economy) + hybrid electric / 248 HP / 310 lb-ft
• 530d - 6-cylinder diesel / 261 HP / 461 lb-ft
• 540i - B58 turbo 6 cylinder / 335 HP / 332 lb-ft
• M550i - N63TU2 turbo 8 cylinder/ 455 HP / 480 lb-ft
• M5 - S63TU4 turbo 8 cylinder / 600HP / 553 lb-ft
• M5 Competition - S63TU4 turbo 8 cylinder / 617HP / 553 lb-ft
• M5 CS - S63TU4 turbo 8 cylinder / 635HP / 553 lb-ft

The M cars have a different engine, beefed up components to deal with the power and torque, different steering, and a more rigid chassis.

In the next few posts we'll cover off the big changes from the F10 M5 (the car you can read all about in the earlier part of this blog).