The engineers, designers, and technicians at M lead a double life. They're known mainly for souping up 20,000 street cars per year into testosterone-injected racers. The Formula One-style high-revving engine they've placed inside the M5, for example, makes it the fastest, most frightening sedan BMW has ever made, capable of 190 mph. But the 500 employees at M are also the engine driving the wheels of performance, prestige, and profit across the whole BMW group--the reason the Bavarian carmaker can boast that it creates the "ultimate driving machine."
Löcker, a thin, gray-haired BMW executive who has served the company for more than 30 years, closes his eyes momentarily as he listens to the car's V10 engine. "You wouldn't believe it's a 507-horsepower car, would you? Now it's just a normal, everyday car for driving to the office or collecting your mother- in-law, yes?" But before I can agree, the m button, which unleashes 100 of those horses and stiffens the suspension, has been pressed again. As we're catapulted along the autobahn once more, Löcker grins like a teenager who has just been handed his license.
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