V8 AMG

Had a run in with a new M5 at the lights today with my W210 E55 and was surprised that i could keep up with it until 60mph. He was on the inside lane (which ends and merges with my lane about 150m from lights). On amber, i could hear him spool up with his M launch control, so i power braked also (to 1500rpm). On green, we both shot off, with me slightly ahead but became neck and neck as we approached the 100m mark. Only then did he start to slowly close in, but couldn't pass me completely. I could tell that if we both had no regards for life, that a crash would have been iminent, as he would not have sneaked into my lane cleanly. Also at that speed, neither of us would have been able to stop in time, so i backed off.
These M5 are quick, but only once in motion and past the 5000-6000 rpm mark. If i could keep up with one in the P500 mode to 50mph, imagine what the W211 E55's would do to one....
So do u guys think i got lucky or are the new M5's soft in street light grand prix ? I thought I would have been walloped by the current generation M5 considering it's got the "latest and greatest" technology against my primitive '98 E55.

Militant-Grunt

Keep dreaming, the E60 M5 eats the E55, their 0-60 rivals that of the Ferrari F430.. And considering the E39 M5 kills your E55.. You had no chance buddy =P.

aintME

Of course the E60 will continue to pull away..but like you stated their power is more up top 500hp @ 7750rpm, 383 ft-lbs trq @ 6100rpm vs 349/391 @ 5500/3000rpm w/ the E60 weighing ~400lbs more. A short sprint 0-5/60 w/ the 210 E55 staying reasonably close...I can see that. As for the E39 M5 vs 210 E55..was the gap that significant? I thought that match up came down more to a driver's race.

ddtham

I thought the new 0-60 in M5 matches E55's or even slower. The F430 clocked at high 3's.

Everything is possible at street racing mang. Just like your story against CLK55, remember?? :p

Militant-Grunt

Look what the M5 does to a Lambo Gallaro..
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...4&q=m5&pl=true

I think it can do more to a e55, I gotta look for the e55 vs m5 vid.

MB AMG

I think your story is quite believable. It's only when the M5 gets up to speed it's a rocket.

W210

At lower speed much depends on reaction time and the launch.

hydeaway

E55 has the advantage from 0-100mph because of its monster TQ and 469hp - The new M5 shines at 100mph on up. There is not a lot of public place where you can drive over a 150mph and not go to jail. Dont get caught and drive safe everyone!

360_iti

He was talking abt W210 - 349 hp.
Besides, W211 E55 doesn't have 469.. that's just what MB claimed. Based on dyno, it's more like 500.

SL BRABUS

If I am that guy......I be mad at my M5.... ....Good run V8 AMG......

V8 AMG

Well, i've seen this M5 around before so he probably lives around my neighbourhood....hopefully that means another chance to give it a run !
As for the M5's power, shortly after our run in, we got to a roundabout....i was behind him but couldn't launch until he does....so i hear him again spool up M power launch...nothing happens much and then he rockets away...showing off....and boy was it fast.....so much so that during each gear change, i could see his tail hang sideways (maybe by about 0.5-1m) This happened twice as he hooned off, so i guess he must have got to third gear.... As we all know, once the M5 gets going, it rockets away
Lucky for our monster torque that we can make some ground earlier on in the run against the M5 ! And between one traffic light to the next, that may be enough to get away with keeping up with these new M5.

V8 AMG

thanks for the support my fellow Benz and AMG brothers.....

AMG_55

o-60 should be close cause there is more launch error possibility in the m5 and cause the 210 has 390lbft of tq

ash-c32

M5 is slow below 5000rpm

merc655

good story.
It's no surprise that you kept up with the new M up to 60mph, have you ever seen the 60ft times and 0-60 times if you don't get it perfect? It's up top where the M5 shines and will actually beat an AMG (from a roll). The M has no chance from a stop, the 55ks just have too much torque and power down low to even compete with.
As for your w210, it must be a ringer because the M5s certainly aren't slow, but they don't keep up with an F430 with US launch control from a stop.

Improviz

The F430 has been tested by several US mags in the high 11's. The best any US mag has gotten in an E60 M5 is low 12's.

For example:
Car & Driver tests F430:
0-60: 3.5
0-100: 7.9
1/4: 11.7 @ 123

Car & Driver tests the new M5:
0-60: 4.2
0-100: 9.4
1/4: 12.5 @ 118

And the thing is that Car & Driver used a rather difficult launch technique on the car, which was NOT equipped with Euro-spec launch control, to get that time, as they wrote in this forum entry on their website:
So, even the gurus at Car & Driver could not *consistently* duplicate these times w/the US-spec launch control. How well do you think Joe Blow is gonna do in his? The results are entirely plausible: a well-seasoned E55 owner vs. an M5 newbie piloting a car which has to be in just the right shift mode, with just the right launch, to excel down low...not to hard to imagine one or two flubbups on the M owner's part.

As to the "E39 M5 kills the 210 E55" claim: rubbish. The only test in which the M5 scored a significantly faster time than the E55 was the Car & Driver shootout of 2000, wherein they ran a dog of an E55 that could only manage a 5.5 0-60/13.9 1/4 to the M5's 4.8 / 13.3 . They noted in the article that this car was markedly slower than the previous E55 they'd tested, which came in at a 4.9 / 13.5 .

Road & Track also did a shootout between the two cars, wherein they noted that the Benz was traction-limited (remember: it does not have a limited-slip diff; the M5 does), and that it actually seemed to gather speed more quickly from a roll than the M5. They also noted that it carried more speed through the corners than the M5. Acceleration was virtually equal, with the M5 running 5.0 / 13.4 to the Benz's 5.1 / 13.6.

Lastly, Motor Trend compared the two. They again noted that the M5's advantage came chiefly from traction :
And again: all of these were done w/pro test drivers at the wheel. I guarantee you that most drivers are not capable of meeting these times. In my experience, when two cars' times are tested within a few tenths of each other, with one car having an auto and the other having a manual, the auto is going to win, hands down, in most encounters, because most drivers aren't that good to start with, and the added adreneline factor throws them off even more.

The car mags' editors know this, which is why they all assign a "significant difference" rating to their road tests, meaning that cars within this window will have an unpredictable outcome when they run due to the aforementioned factors and production differences, etc....that window is 0.5 seconds. 0.2 is insignificant unless the drivers in question are automatons who drive the same cars used in the tests. Otherwise, it's up in the air.

So no, the E39 M5 didn't "kill" the E55...0.2 seconds, best case, pro driver at the wheel, is nothing of the sort.

Chappy

Yep....many variables on the street. I've beaten several cars that have "better numbers" like the SLK32 and SLK55 as well as E46M3s and E39M5s.

I have no trouble believing a W210-55 kept up with an E60 M5 for the first 100m.

On the street, most driver's don't wring out the car as much as possible (manually shifting), thus an auto with high torque stands an excellent chance on a romp to 60 or 80mph.

JamE55

As what some have already stated the new M5's are not that quick from a dig. It's potential is when you get up to higher speeds. I myself would love to run one of those modified or unmodified. Think either way i can take both with no problem.

Chappy

I could take ya...

JamE55

Go write some more rap songs will ya! Car maybe going back one last time to the Halls of K for some minor upgrades! This should end it to all the 210 haters out there! cough...Chappzilla...cough lol

Chappy

Props, bro! Kleemann S8.5??

JamE55

55K S8C! Somewhat equivalent to K4!

V8 AMG sorry for the hijack.

Kev04C320

The M5 is more like an Autobahn cruiser, which shines in high speed / high rpm applications. It doesn't surprise me that an N/A V8 AMG with its torque was able to hang with the M5 from a dig.

Vomit

Also, remember that the E60 is COMPLETELY dependent upon the driver choosing the proper settings. If the settings are wrong, the E60 runs low 14s at around 104 MPH(as tested by MT or CD, I don't remember. . .it was one of the comparisons with the CLS55).

So, if the E60 driver has not figured out how to properly set-up his car, it is not only feasible that a 210 E55 could keep up with him, but that the 55 could pull him.

Personally, I don't think that one should have to attend a class to learn how to set-up his car for optimal performance, but to each his own.

kostas

sounds to me like the guy in the E60 just didnt have his M button pushed and was only using 400hp instead of the full 500.... who knows