I just got the car back couple days ago after wife backed the car into fire hydrant.

Not driving the E55 for a while and having been driving the M5 for last couple days, I found new appreciation for E55.

Despite that E55 still feels like a heavy weight, not too great dynamic. There is something that E55 really does well and more suited for daily driving.

For the last couple days, I had to pay extra attention around town because M5 ground clearance so low. That makes entry to parking lot/spaces quiet a chore as I don't want to screw up the front end or have my front bumper sitting on the groud. Also I am getting a little bothered by SMG's quick release of gear. Everytime I am slowing entering a parking space or lot. The SMG thought I am coming to a stop and release the gear. I am really bothered by this.

2nd, the lack of trunk closer is now a major pain. I had to drop of my kid to her numerous after school classes. So in the E55 i can simply push a button to open and close the trunk. Making my drop off pain less and quick. My kid is young. The E60 trunk lid opens way too high and she can't reach the stupid trunk lid. So i have to get off the car and close the trunk. Kind of bad if you are in a moving line to drop off the kid. DUMB! This is really BMW dumb.

3rd. Totally lack of low end punch. The E55's low end power is simply so addicting and easy to obtain. M5 on the other hand is rather weak at low end. I was commenting to my wife last night that I am so frustrated driving the M5. In order for M5 to shine i must drive it hard. But i am not going to be able to keep my license if i drive it hard. At least with E55 i can still enjoy the quick launch without going way over speed limit. The M5 gets cooking at too high of RPM for you to really enjoy its power, thus making it impossible to experience the power during everyday driving. You really can't enjoy driving the M5 around the town. The car begs you to drive it hard, but you simply can't. I haven't been this frustrated with a car. Even with my M3, i can still rev a little before I hit serious run in with the law. I simply can't do that with the M5. The E55 on the other hand is quiet nice to run around the town.

4th. Gas tank issue. I am very unhappy with this. After mere 165 miles, my full tank of gas in M5 is down to reserve and i need a refill. The gas mileage does not bother me. But the tank is so damn small that I need to stop for gas too many times. This is annoying.

E55 is much pratical to live with. Gas mileage is much better for around the town driving. I really think DCX's decision to only engage S/C past certain RPM is really a good idea. No only that, the low end pick up is so nice. Moreover true automatic still has its benefit too.

May be i was a little too harsh on the E55's lack of dynamic for the last 2 years. But certainly it does have an area that it does good on. Personally driving it around the town on daily basis is more easier to live with. Sometime less involving could be a good thing.

That being said, i still would take M5 over E55 because M5 can do more things. But around the town, E55 is much easier to live with.

BTW- here is my shameless plug to EMC. If anyone needs to have body job done, EMC is the best in bay area. Although slow. Their skill in matching the paint and painting skill is 2nd to none in the bay area.

 

Wow, quite the turn there . Can you clerify one thing?
You said; "Even with my M3, i can still rev a little before I hit serious run in with the law.". Shouldnt the closer gearing in the M5 make it be more in the high rev range at lower speeds than the M3?

 

No really. M5 has significantly more power than M3. The speed you attain in the M5 builds up much quickly than in M3. Hence you really can't enjoy it without getting a ticket. At least in M3 i probably can rev a little and back off. But that simply does not exist in the M5 (unless i want to drive my car in 1st gear or 2nd gear all the time).

 

deleted

 

Hello Krispy, Krispy, Krispy!!!!!! Is that you???

My God................... You are either shell-shocked from your last posted thread, or Impoviz has found your house and is standing behind you with a gun to your head.

My bet is on the latter.

 

Lol!^^^^^

 

Personally i feel the same way about the M3 you cant enjoy the power without getting a ticket. i wish they had an option for the M3 SMG to have the gears closer together so you could redline it and shift more. thats the only thing i like about SMG is shifting at the redline and having the shift lights come up its makes you feel good...

 

Haaa.... well said. Not try to be on either side but I do believe cars are like people. They have their own characteristics so you cannot really say which one is better. Even if you could, it's very subjective and you have to be open minded for other people's opinion.

Anyway, EMC does a good job if and only if they do it right at first time. I had a horrible experience w/ EMC (despite good customer service... and Armind is a true gentlemen). They got some paint bubble (possibly b/c of dirt or uneven drying) on my max after 1st repair... so I brought it back couple weeks later.... and then they only repainted the front door (where the bubble is)... they didn't do paint transition on my rear door and front fender (they did it at 1st repair) so the color difference is quite visible... especially under the light.

So I came back again.... Armind offered me a settlement (b/c his shop was very busy that time)... but heck, he only offered me $500... not enough for my sore eyes looking at the paint difference (despite my car is old already anyway). So I decided to have him fix it again..... but hell.... this time, they took a month (yes, 1 full month) to finish the job. In the end, the paint is excellent.... but the hassle to get it right was hell.

 

KK

how far does the E55 go on a tank of gas for the same trips u make?



FK

 

Improviz is an idiot. What do i care about what he thinks.

For all i concern he can kiss my rear any day.

 

Really depends on how fast i am driving. However, I have never gotten below single digit ever. The furthest i drove on the E55 was down to bimmerfest in 2004 (i think- can't remember). And i think i got almost 300 miles per tank at that time. One thing i can be sure that so far with about 4k miles on the E55, i have never have to dip into reserve with only 165 to the tank.

M5's gas tank is really too small.

 

Aww, that's sweet....I love you too, honey!! :p :p



But I am enheartened by your realization that there IS no perfect car, and that ALL of them sacrifice somewhere. Shoot, I'll even buy you a donut if I ever see ya!

 

Compared to the E55, there is no low end power with the M5. It's true that you can throw yourself back into the seat at a stoplight with the E's torque and then let off before exceeding the speedlimit. With the M5, I have to wind out 2nd gear before feeling any fun and that's just squeeling the tires from 2nd to 3rd.

No problem with the truck since I don't have kids or the trunk closer. No problem with clearance. Taking it to Roebling Rd. this weekend for 3 days of hard driving since my Noble is in the shop.

I applaud Krispy not for his new found appreciation for the E, but for posting without picking a fight. It's not as often the substance as the delivery.

 

KK, i go to ohlone college...i havent seen no m5 around there ! you must live around the mission area! i'm going to try to spot you hahaha ummm about EMC yea they do a good job but those bums mest up the interior of my honda oh well they fixed one and polished the other side of the interior -- i didnt want to argue so i just left it like that since its only a commute car....hey maybe someday we can catch coffee together or something ! i usually have class from 7-2 then i go study at the library till 6 or 7 soo yea ! if your ever around during lunch time call me (phone number deleted by moderator at poster request) we can go to starbucks or something and i can admire your cars while you drink up hahaha...

 

Wow, I don't know if I even want to pick up my M5 this coming week. 1st, I wasn't even excited about the car due to the lack of visual differetiation between the 545 and M5, 2nd I was shocked that the M5 cost more than the E55, 3rd the SMG, and now this?

I have to admit, that I was expecting A LOT of low end punch from a V10...and I too don't have too many opportunities to go above 80mph on a daily basis.

This is pretty dissapointing, especially coming from KK.

 

Thanks for the good review, I realize that there is no perfect car, as stated, but this really gives me at least somewhat of a better view of the M5. I knew it wouldn't be as user friendly in everyday traffic and the seat of the pants excitement, but hey, that's why they make different cars.

About the SMG thing, is this a normal thing with the new SMGIII? I used to have an M3 with the SMGII gearbox and when i was lurching slowly forward or whenever i would slow to a crawl, it would never take itself out of gear. That is a really interesting thing to hear about, but either way I am sure that gearbox is a s***load of fun, at least my old M3 was.

 

I'm trying to lurk KK also.... just want to see how the M5 looks in the real life.

If you see a black W210, it's me. Give me a honk or a beam, so I know it's you.... Don't expect to see me on weekdays as I work from home most of the time. Expect to see me around the St. Joseph church on Sundays.

I've seen plenty AMG's around Mission (SL55, CLS55, S55, E55) both old (< 2003 or new 2003+) but owners don't seem to belong here.

 

actually, you can spot me quiet easy as my house is only one or two block away from ohlne college.

But i rarely heads out that way.

You can spot me probably more frequently at Q-cups at milpitas. Sad but true. I spend too much $$$ at there. It's kind of sad when you know the owners of Q-cup for being a good customer.

BTW, i am probably the 1st M5 that has CA tags on it. So if you see a silvergrey M5 with license plate ends with 078. That's moi.

 

This was new to the SMGIII. I had a E46 M3 and it never for once take itself out of gear even if i was crawl like a dog. This never happened to me.

I am not sure why the change was made. But i think it may have to do with how my wife burned my M3 clutch.

My wife took the M3 out to SF for a day trip and when i got the car back the clutch is pretty much burnt. What happens was she kept on using gas to hold the car on steady on the steep hill. I guess in SMGII it will keep the car in gear and you are simply grinding your clutch excessively. May be that's the reason why they made the change on SMGIII. But this was something new to me.

 

"So if you see a silvergrey M5 with license plate ends with 078. That's moi"


I think I've seen it!

 

krispy,

I know, as another former E46 M3 owner, that one of your qualms with the E55 is it's handling. If I may be so bold to ask, are you on stock rubber and the stock ride height?

If you are, from one AMG enthusiast to another, I would strongly recommend a set of PS2s and a 1" drop from our friend Steve @ MBenzNL. The lower center of gravity along with the added feel and handling characteristics really help the E55 by leaps and bounds. It is still not an M5, but I think you would be extremely pleased with the results. It isn't a solution, but it's an improvement.

I felt my old M3 was the same thing, too much effort required on a day-to-day basis. It was a fanstastic car to open up on an open road or through some twisty roads, but that simply was rarely the routes and conditions I experienced while driving the car. I live in a major metropolitan city in the midwest that is flat and straight

-m

 

KK...do you live on meadows ct ? lol the ex house was the first one down meadows ct...do you live towards the mcdonals ? by the church ? i know theres like 3-5 houses that are least like 5 mill there hidden behind that nun thing... or do you live towards warm springs area... up in the hills then again those houses cost a smack load of money too...darns i need to drive around tomorrow! and look for your cars lol leave one outside in your driveway!!! so i can spot you HAHAHA


btw when i lived in fremont i use to live on 900 pebblewood right outside avalon hills...

 

hey, there is a huge meet in fremont this weekend. i will be there.

you should come.

 

Acutally, for what E55 does, i think the handling and grip is okay. (BTW, i did switch to pilot per recommendation from scorchie).

I just never liked the steering response on the W211. Thinking back, i think the biggest problem i had was that the last BMW i dumped was the M3. Hence I was very accustomed to its steering. Then i went to E55 straight after that. Just never gotten used to the steering feel (still has not gotten to use to it).

 

I think that's the biggest issue. The E55 is not necessarily a "bad" handling car, but there is a lack of feedback that you get with say, the M cars. I remember commenting to Rob Allen at last year's AMG challenge that don't you think MB would tire of reading the same negative in EVERY review? lack of steering feel/feedback.

One thing to remember the order of importance for MB for all it's cars is: safety, comfort, performace.