BMW M5

The first M5 used the E28 chassis, and was really a sports-car in disguise, or a Q-Car, as the British call such.

It could do 0-100 km/h in 6.5 secs, had a top speed of 245 km/h, and obtained 286 hp from it's 3.5 litre straight-six engine.

"The M5 was built in order to demonstrate what BMW is able to do and to satisfy the individual request of customers"
- Quote from BMW M PR Manager Mr. Schimpke

Even though quite neat, I'd recommend the E30 M3 of that time as a more common choice for an early M-car.

In 1992, next came the E34 M5, possibly one of the most graceful cars ever made, with handling and braking bettering anything else in its class.

It was made until 1995, with engine (again a straight-six) displacements ranging from 3.6 l to 3.8 l and hp power from 315 to 340 hp, and 0-100 km/h times as low as 5.9 seconds.

The current (this wu was written in June 2001) M5 uses the E39 chassis and is made since 1998, a car Mr. Wolfgang Rietzle (former technical CEO of BMW) chose to drive even after moving to work for Ford.

Its V8 engine pours out 400 hp from almost 5 litres of displacement, permitting to reach 100 km/h from a stand-still in 5.3 seconds.

The only sad part is that the price of one is around USD 70k (new).

You may wish to visit http://www.bmwm5.com/ for pictures or more information.