Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Addicted to the exhaust
Don’t get us wrong, we (ok, I) still think the F10 is the best-looking BMW 5 Series ever, followed by the Bangle-era E60, with the E39 rounding out the podium with its OG design. However, making any car straight, especially a luxury sedan without a V8 engine, isn’t necessarily a good idea. After all, who wants to have a loud vehicle all the time? Oh wait, young people do.
Anyway, you're looking at a 2012 BMW 5 Series. According to the uploader, it's in the 535i trim. That means it came from the factory with a straight-six engine under the hood. The turbocharged unit was originally good for 302 horsepower (ps/225 kW), but we think some of those horses may have escaped the barn in the last 12 years. Thrust was rated at 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque.
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Addicted to the exhaust
This model was the most aggressive non-V8 5er of the era, sitting above the 530i, which also had a straight-six, albeit with less power. The 550i brought a forced-induction V8 to the party, making 444 hp (331 kW) in the facelifted iteration and 443 lb-ft (600 Nm) of torque. The range-topping M5 enjoys 553 hp (412 kW) and 502 lb-ft (680 Nm) of torque from its twin-turbo V8, and if there's an F10 that could sound good with straight pipes, it's either the 550i or the M5.
Mind you, we don’t recommend doing this to your luxury car, no matter how much firepower it has, as there are much better solutions out there that can make it sound louder. However, when you press a button (or flip a switch), the sound will return to its original condition. After all, that’s what we primarily want from our daily drivers: to be quiet, comfortable and relatively fast. Having a 535i with a straight exhaust doesn’t sound (pun intended) appealing at all.
But could it be that I’m getting old and don’t appreciate this tune? Probably. However, my ears work just fine and, in my humble opinion, the turbocharged six-cylinder inline engine that powers this 12-year-old BMW 5 Series doesn’t sound good at all with the straight-pipe recipe. In fact, it sounds like a stuffed trumpet and the only heads that will turn when you rev it are those of people curious to see which tractor makes that noise. So, can we all agree that the straight-pipe on a six-cylinder Bimmer, especially a 5er, is not a good idea?
