Fast Hyperlinks
- Tremendous Sedan Legend vs Inexpensive Korean Thrills: Here is How They Examine, 15 Years Aside
- Issues To Think about Earlier than You Determine
On the left, it is the 2025 Hyundai Elantra N with a raucous turbo 4, motorsports-sourced upgrades, and little lower than the complete array of Hyundai’s newest go-fast goodies and upgrades. This spiciest of reasonably priced Korean sport sedan dishes serves an enormous turbo, huge variable exhausts, huge brakes, launch management, and even a differential that may suppose. You may order yours with two pedals or three, and it comes with a full guarantee and roadside help. As soon as you’ve got completed peeling off the little plastic covers, you will proceed for years to drive it paying for little greater than gasoline and oil adjustments.
BMW
- Based
-
1916
- Founder
-
Karl Rapp
- Headquarters
-
Munich, Germany
- Owned By
-
Publicly Traded
- Present CEO
-
Oliver Zipse
Hyundai
- Based
-
29 December 1967
- Founder
-
Chung Ju-yung
- Headquarters
-
Seoul, South Korea
- Owned By
-
Hyundai Motor Group
- Present CEO
-
Jose Munoz
On the proper, it is the E60 BMW M5. Bear in mind these? This era of BMW’s tremendous sedan coated the mannequin years 2006 to 2010, was the final era M5 with a free-breathing naturally aspirated engine, and stays the one era M5 propelled by V10. On this period, BMW was constructing application-specific specialty engines for his or her M automobiles, and their engineers had been fairly eager to make these engines spin very, very quick. In the present day, this 8,000-plus-rpm four-door has come and gone, and the most recent unit you can observe down goes to be 15 years outdated.
Someplace between the boosted Korean funds rocket and the 15-year-old V10 tremendous sedan is you: the patron with $35,000 to $40,000 in your pocket and a few fairly critical pondering to do. Perhaps.
We’re evaluating specs, options, efficiency and gas prices of the 2025 Hyundai Elantra N and 2009 BMW M5 on this function, sourcing technical knowledge from the producer. Used automotive pricing comes from AutoTempest.com, and annual gas prices come from the EPA. All efficiency figures are approximate. All the time have a used automotive’s well being checked by an expert before you purchase.
The $35,000 Drawback
Whereas they’re from totally different generations and had been constructed to focus on utterly totally different consumers, the E60 BMW M5 and Hyundai Elantra N are considerably comparable. They’re each high-performance flagships of their respective mannequin strains, they each goal a few of their model’s most enthusiastic clients and drivers, they usually’re each two-wheel drive geared up with the driving force’s selection of six-speed guide or automated transmission choices.

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Particularly, the brand new Elantra N makes use of a contemporary dual-clutch transmission (DCT), whereas the 15-year-old M5 ran the Sequential Handbook Gearbox (SMG III) system, mainly a standard guide with clutch and shifting managed robotically, and in some circumstances, violently. As one Reddit commenter explains, “simply because you might have a V10, doesn’t suggest it’s essential expertise a magnitude 4 earthquake on each gearshift‘. He’d in all probability take the guide mannequin, however sadly, that was a compromised automotive with the E39 M5’s six-speed, which was by no means made for the E60’s high-revving M5 engine, and solely bought within the US as a result of followers bemoaned the absence of a guide M5. Some options had been lacking and the gearbox usually overheated.
In the present day, the massive drawback for consumers set on a sub-$40k rocket-sedan is that each the E60 M5 and the brand-new Elantra N price about the identical amount of cash. They don’t seem to be even massively totally different in bodily measurement and dimensions, and no person can show they could not lap the Nürburgring inside just a few seconds of one another, both.
Exterior Dimensions: 2007 BMW M5 vs 2025 Hyundai Elantra N | ||
---|---|---|
2007 BMW M5 | 2025 Hyundai Elantra N | |
Size | 191.5 inches | 184.1 inches |
Width | 72.7 inches | 71.9 inches |
Top | 57.8 inches | 55.7 inches |
Wheelbase | 113.7 inches | 107.1 inches |
Curb Weight | 4,012 lbs | 3,186 lbs |
Think about the bodily measurement of each machines. The M5 on this comparability is 7.5 inches longer than the Elantra N, and its roof sits 2.1 inches greater from the bottom. Whereas the M5 is greater, the Elantra N is extra spacious in some key passenger dimensions. It has extra legroom in each entrance and rear seats than the mid-sized E60, regardless of being a compact sedan, and in addition has extra front-seat headroom than the M5 regardless of having a decrease roof. Alternatively, the M5 affords extra shoulder room in each seating rows, and extra rear-seat headroom than the Elantra N. That is all to say that both machine will fulfill your want for motoring thrills in a four-door sedan, and that each will work simply nice if you’re hauling the household alongside for the experience. In fact, there’s way more to contemplate.
Tremendous Sedan Legend vs Inexpensive Korean Thrills: Here is How They Examine, 15 Years Aside
Within the Elantra N, it is a punchy turbo 4 linked to the entrance wheels by a six-speed guide or eight-speed DCT transmission. The DCT shifts gears way more rapidly, so fashions geared up with this $1,500 choice speed up sooner. Relating to 0-60 figures, you are in 4.8 to five.5 second territory, relying on the transmission. Within the M5, there is a naturally aspirated V10 linked to a seven-speed SMG III gearbox driving the rear wheels on most fashions, although a six-speed guide was additionally accessible. The M5 is significantly heavier than the Elantra N, however maintains a greater power-to-weight ratio. Within the M5, every of the five hundred horsepower has to maneuver eight kilos of mass. Within the Elantra, every horsepower has to maneuver 11 kilos of mass, about 28% greater than the M5.

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Meaning you are as much as 60 practically a second faster within the BMW, however that benefit will price you on the pumps. Particularly? It is just a few ticks sooner to 60, however makes use of 81% extra of your gasoline {dollars}. On this comparability, in response to EPA knowledge, selecting the Elantra N over the M5 may prevent over $2,000 a 12 months in gas. That is a $10,000 monetary implication in case you hold the automotive for five years, given at present’s gas costs. Annual upkeep will price just a few hundred in your Elantra N normally, whereas an M5’s annual upkeep invoice can simply push previous $1,000, in response to RepairPal.com.
Efficiency Specs In contrast: 2025 Hyundai Elantra N vs 2008 BMW M5 | ||
---|---|---|
Elantra N | M5 | |
Engine | 2.0L turbo I4 | 5.0L NA V10 |
Horsepower | 276 hp | 500 hp |
Torque | 289 lb-ft | 383 lb-ft |
Transmission | 6-speed guide / 8-speed DCT auto | 6-speed guide / 7-speed SMG auto |
0-60 mph | Est. 4.8-5.5 seconds | Est. 4.0-4.8 seconds |
EPA Annual Gasoline Price (approx) | $2,600 (premium gas) | $4,700 (premium gas) |
Value (2025) | $35,000 (approx) | $30,000-$40,000 (approx) |
Issues To Think about Earlier than You Determine
Except for the unbelievable hole in annual gas prices between these two machines, you’ve got acquired another elements to contemplate earlier than making the absolute best choice. Do you want stress? As a result of there is no stress fairly just like the stress of preserving an aged BMW tremendous sedan ticking. That is a generalization, however it’s essential know that sustaining the well being and reliability of a BMW M5 is extra concerned than in, say, a Honda Accord. Additionally, you will in all probability wish to funds a further 10-15% as a contingency fund for M5 possession, simply in case. Some generally talked about expensive-to-fix points embody:
- Connecting rod bearing failure
- Vanos and Vanos pump failure
- SMG transmission and transmission pump points, in addition to clutch put on
- Cooling system points
- Failure of the throttle actuator
Needless to say even the youngest ones are fairly outdated now, and can already endure from lots of the maladies that afflict aged automobiles of any model.

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The Elantra N is well serviceable throughout Hyundai’s total seller community, since it is a brand-new product. A 15-year-old BMW M5 could also be somewhat trickier to care for relating to extra concerned upkeep and restore procedures. It may be trickier to seek out components and consultants to assist care for a automotive just like the M5 on this comparability, in comparison with a brand-new Hyundai.
So, as a naked minimal, you will need the used M5 you are contemplating assessed by a BMW technician or certified knowledgeable earlier than you agree to purchase it, and a few further funds readily available for a pre-ownership tune-up, fluid flush and fill, brakes, tires, battery and filters– all of which may go a protracted option to beginning the expertise off proper. Shopping for and proudly owning a used M5 comes with extra query marks and challenges than shopping for and proudly owning a model new Elantra N, however the rewards are there for individuals who are as much as the duty.
Method your used M5 choice realizing the price of insurance coverage, tires, brake jobs, and ongoing upkeep and inspections important to maintain the M5 ticking over. Observe that some M5 house owners speed up the manufacturing unit upkeep intervals for added peace of thoughts. Be sure to’re in a position to get components and servicing in your space before you purchase, and get an insurance coverage quote simply in case. In fact, all of that prices extra cash and takes further effort and time, however some drivers will settle for the compromise fortunately for the V10 expertise. For the remaining, that shiny new Elantra N will seemingly be the much less hectic selection.
Sources: BMW, Hyundai, AutoTempest, RepairPal.