Hey man so sorry for y’all’s loss. I hope you guys are hanging in there. All this car business is meaningless in that context….

 

Thanks. Yeah, it suddenly happened quickly. My wife flew to Tokyo three weeks ago and within a week he had passed away at which point I flew there to be with her. Fortunately, she got to spend his final days with him, but at the same time she hasn't really had a chance to process it. It started to hit her at the funeral. I generally grief for only a brief period and then move on with life, but granted it wasn't my own father. Hope now that we are back home with some distance between it, she has time to process it. Didn't wanna take down the mood, so let's get back to the car business....

 

Amen to that! What do you know or think about the M5CS?

 

I used to own a BMW many years ago, but haven't been able to get myself into another one. Their quality went south for many years, but now they are back on top and ahead of Mercedes in terms of build quality. Unfortunately, BMW M kinda lost me when they started to put a torque converter automatic in their models. I come from driving manual transmissions and I just can't do torque converters in performance cars. They are fine in a normal commuter car, but in a performance car I want at least a dual clutch type transmission such as the MCT. A torque converter just numbs the drivetrain compared to a clutch and it's a common complaint about the current M models. The ZF8 is a great transmission in a Buick, but IMHO opinion it doesn't belong in anything with an M, AMG etc. badge. The MCT has its quirks and is not the best experience at slow speeds in the city or stop & go traffic, but I don't buy these cars to sit in traffic.

The M5 at least in recent years has been the performance car in a business suit. As you say, it looks understated, so it passes as a regular BMW until you open up the tap. To me, the CS is interesting, but at the same time strange. The pendulum I think swings too much into the raw performance car territory and takes away from the M5 being the understated executive rocket. The additional NVH can get tiring in a car like this that is supposed to be able to do long distances. One of the things I love about my AMG is that it can make a ruckus and be a beast, but at the same time you can close the exhaust, flip it in Comfort mode with the transmission in automatic and it purrs along in 9th gear on the highway with the engine barley turning over 1000 rpm. So despite being a beast it still has the Mercedes-Benz like wafting along on a road trip. BMW Ms have always swung more towards the track type performance and lacked the grand touring aspect for when you just wanna eat up miles.

 

Valuable insight. Thanks as usual. First world problem: what fancy car should I buy….?!

 

…..I am going to look at. GT63S on Tuesday. Just for the “fun” of it

 

Darn, I am so sorry to hear that, my condolences, my sincere apologies that I thought you went there for holiday or something, I can't believe I didn't read that part : (

 

Ugh, bereavement is a tough thing, I've been through multiple, hope all goes well for you and your family.