EKaru

Today was a typical humid as hell day in DC suburbia and the temp around 90ish. Anyways, I was driving down Montrose Rd. and about to enter I-270 south when I see a quad pipe exhaust on this 5-series. I immediately recognize that it’s an M5 and quickly pass it and the car in front of it as I get on the on-ramp. The moment I get off the ramp I see the M5 fly past the car in front of it and charge after me. I turn off the ventilation and gun it, thinking to myself that he should be pulling on me any second as I top 80-90.. I glance at the rear view and what’s this…? As I’m topping 100 I’m pulling away to 110 still pulling… Then I quickly slow down down to 75-80ish… After the traffic clears I see that he guns it again and gets a jump on me … Because of the jump he gets about half a car length in front, and what the hell is this…? I start pulling on him again on to pass him… We gave each other thumbs up as I took the next exit.… Racing is a once in a blue moon event, but that opportunity was just too good to pass up… Cheers…
Eric….

NVESTMNT

Nice kill

05C55

WHAT????? Take it easy doc!

Doug

noka

The E39-M5 is a great car (394HP, 369lb-ft). Note the C55 has a bit more torque. (Even the new V10 M5 will be relatively low on torque, as BMW prefers the higher revving engine). Having owned an '03 M5, I am not surprised. The 6-speed Getrag tranny can be a bit notchy (especially when cold). Also, assuming he was in 6th, unless you're an expert driver, it's not so easy to downshift two gears and hit the sweet spot as fast as the MB automatic, at least not without some danger of a "money shift".

Rgds,
Norm

Cabby

I saw a black c55 going the other way on Montrose as I got onto 270S yesterday shortly after the heavy rain in that area.... it looked soooooo good. Can't wait for mine to come in.

EKaru

That was probably me.... I've seen a few silver ones and a pewter, but not black.... I always keep it polished
Eric.....

Childish///AMG

Way to "Represent" the 3 point star

EKaru

but as I said earlier, he had a jump (he had already downshifted and was accelerating before I floored it), so in this case I think it was really a test of engine strength.... How do you compare your old M5 to your C55 in terms of highway acceleration...?
Eric...

noka

Well, it would depend on what gear he was in when he stomped on it and how aggressive he was with any downshift. It's been a while since I've driven the M5, however my butt-meter says it would be close at US-legal highway speeds. At speeds well above that, I could not really say because I haven't done that in a while. The M5 was scary fast in 1st-3rd. 4th was a great gear but 5th was sluggish and 6th was a pig. So you need to downshift to really get going with the E39-M5 if you are in the upper gears.

Rgds,
Norm

pokerFACE

what is a :money shift" ?

noka

It is a bad shift that causes a mechanical over-rev and usually some bent valves and "expensive" repairs (e.g. downshifting from 5th to 4th but you hit 2nd instead). Watch that tach climb real fast with your heartbeat ... and you are very lucky if you get your foot back on the clutch pedal in time.

Rgds,
Norm

scovit

I've driven both and my impression is that the E39 body and the unsprung weight is a disadvantage w/ the M5. Don't get me wrong. It's a great car, but the lighter, quicker feeling C55 offsets that 20-30+ hp advantage....in my opinion.

One other thing. The E39 M5 used to burn a quart of oil every 7-800 miles.

noka

If you mean that as a general statement, that is not true. That would be the worst I heard of and far from average. Mine used about a quart every 3500 miles. However, it was somewhat dependent on how hard you drove it.

Rgds,
Norm

scovit

Noka:

No. I can't say that as a generalization, only from the experiences that my brother had w/ his 2002 M5. Yes, I think he probably drove it on the hard side. He used to keep a quart of Castro 5W-50 in his trunk all the time. My impression of that ride was fast but not gut wrenchingly so......

Don't know whether the oil consumption of his car had anything to do with performance. He now drives and S4 which he says is slightly slower that the M5.....

noka

The early M5's required Castrol 10W-60 racing oil (about $12/qt at discount). Sometime in MY '02 there was a piston ring redisgn to reduce consumption. At the same time they spec'd either 10W-60 or regular BMW 5W-30 synthetic (about $3.50 at the dealer with 10% BMWCCA discount). I used the latter and the car was happy.

Interestingly, Europe continued to spec 10W-60 only and the engines were identical in US and EU. Some speculated the 5W-30 was also spec'd for US to reduce gas consumption for 'CAFE' standards.

I should also add that the M5 was a very special car to me and sometimes I regret selling it. Just so many great cars out there. Aren't we lucky?


Rgds,
Norm

mez456

Nice Kill Eric!!!

ProjectC55

Way to go!Lovely kill!

noka

You guys would do well to respect that beast if you meet up with one ... trust me. No way a C55 would "kill". Edge it out in certain situations, ... maybe. With a good driver, I would be inclined to bet on the M5.

Rgds,
Norm

ProjectC55

I love them as well but i'm still dying to race one!

Childish///AMG

Thanx for the "Clarification" I'll instruct mi-espousa to avoid that since she thinks her gear shifting skills are sooo superior to mine :p