EX-BEEMER

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Ya gotta be kidding me...

E55 launch control is so much simpler...

#1 - Advance right foot with extreme prejudice.

#2 - Grin from ear to ear.

I am SOOOOOO glad I bought my E55 when I did and didn't wait around for that. Way too much BS for what should be a simple procedure.

No offense to the M5 guys here but I'd be complaining.

skratch77

its alot quicker than you think.All it takes is a few min to program the m button and your then a few steps closer.

say you program the m for p500 s6

start car hit power

at a light hold shift knob up and floor car

let go

its the same setup on the m3 minus the power mode

xraymd

Yeah, and that guy in the next lane in a Hyundai you thought wasn't going to race decides to floor it. Now what? Oh yeah, I press that big button on the floor with my foot and watch him in the rearview mirror.

If a drag isn't anticipated by the M5 driver, I guess it's over. Can you summon up launch control once in motion? I wouldn't think so because you've already "launched."

SoulBladeZA

M5 isn't made for drag-racing anyway. No-one really cares about 1/4 mile times if they buy an M5. Besides an M5 will cream most cars without LC. Take it from someone who actually DRIVES one.

NdnMbLova

Who are you? Gustav's brother from South Africa?

lbE55

Mardeth

Do you seriously think that the M5 wont move without LC? You only use the LC when you need the greatest performane you can possibly extract from the car. Say you get suprised in a E55 by a 911 Turbo, like the M5 you wont be catching it, at least not within "normal" road speeds and if you will so will the M5.

enzom

C'mon. He has a different view, that's all. A 13.0 1/4 mile is still fast for a sedan.

The M5 has highway bragging rights; and the E55 will have drag strip and light to light bragging rights. Harmony in the universe. :p

NakedLunch

To be fair, how many of us actually smoke the tires and get that kind of launch when street racing????

that'll just land u in jail. 99% of the time you start slow, see if the other guy is racing u and then punch it. This does not require launch control.

Rock

Yeah, it's about the same as an M3 with SMGII, and it is not as complicated as it sounds. I spent a couple of years with one and never once used it in a street confrontation. The only time I ever utilized it was to demonstrate to my friends how cool an "F1 gearbox" is. It is definitely not a practical innovation for the street but it does make you feel like a race car driver.

lauer87

I also drove an M3 with smg II for over a year and a half. I used launch control about a dozen times, it was a rush everytime, and wasnt hard to use.

Chappy

Does the M5 have the full 500+hp available on a roll (say highway speeds) at all times, or do you have to press buttons to make that happen?

xraymd

Well, that's what I'm wondering. As Ex-Beemer points out, the full potential of the E55 is always on tap. In the M5 it's not, at least not from a red light.

Soulblade - Do you really think NO-ONE buys an M5 for 1/4 mile times? I know somebody who bought an Accord over a Camry because of the 1/4 mile. The whole debate on these boards between M5 guys and E55 guys (looks of the car aside) is about performance. Why did you choose the M5 over the E55? Performance, right? Well, as more information comes to light on the "peformance" of the M5, I'm pretty happy with my choice. In my day to day driving, good performace is about finding holes in traffic and blasting the guy in the next lane. The 1/4 mile time is real important, and the easier it is to call on the power, the better. You'll argue about your performance around a track, but that means nothing on my daily drive, and I expect the vast majority of others' daily drives as well. Faster around a track means as much to me as my friend's better off-road performance in his Cayenne.

krispykrme

Let's get everything straight.

1. Pre-progam the M button on the steering wheel. (about 1 minute) and once done you don't need to do anything else. In my case M button is now set at P500, S6, and EDC at hard setting.

2. For me to use launch control. All I need is push the M button (probably take less than a second. and step 1 to 3 is finished).

3. It takes about 5 second to push the gear selector forward and hold on to the gas pedal.

The whole process take no more than 10 to 15 second to do. If you want to launch the car at stop light, the time is more than enough.

True, without launch control, E55 will win (not by much) in acceleration. But E55 loses steams with speed build up, while M5 builds up more steam as RPM goes higher and higer and the pull on the top end is just amazing.

As i have said in the other post. Both E55 and M5 are fast. Each just does it differently. M5 will walk away from E55 easily past triple digit speed. 0-60 really depends on whether LC is being used and how many mistakes the M5 driver makes.

Both car are different. The more i drive both the more i think that these two car should never be compared to each other. The difference between the two is night and day and actually compliment each other very well.

I would still choose M5 over E55 easily, simply put the M5 dynamic is far superior than E55. E55 has very addicting low end punch that is not present in the M5 and is far less involving to drive. But as i said in another post, sometime less involving is a good thing for every day use. E55 and M5 simply bring different stuff to the table, to compare the two really makes no sense what so ever.

krispykrme

No true. Ex-beemer does not own a M5 and he is incorrect in his statement.

M-button on the steering wheel can be programmed. And once that is done. You will never have to do it again. LC can be enabled in about 10 second or so or you can go without LC.

LC was designed in because BMW took away the clutch pedal on the M5 hence you no longer can dump the clutch at RPM you desire.

Other than that you can leave the car in P500/S6/EDC hard all day long. So in that sense the full potential of the M5 is on tap as well.

LC simply allows you to dump the clutch at high RPM that you normally don't get to do. E55 being a pure automatic and you can't really control lauch RPM either (of course you can uses brake to hold the car in place and up the rev- then this is extra step you have to take, and same as LC- one extra step).

Chappy

Does leaving the car in P500/S6/EDC have any negative impact on fuel economy?

krispykrme

Of course, by leaving in that mode, you are driving the car harder. I haven't taken the time to run this for entire tank. I will probably do that beginning with the current tank.

I just got the car back from 1200 miles service so i really can't tell how bad the gas mileage would be if i left it in this mode. It also really depends on how hard i am pushing it. But then again, there really isn't any room for you to take advantage of this for every day use.

As i posted earlier. While playing with LC last night, I actually hit 80 in 2nd gear at 8000 RPM. Unless i am insane or have no regard for other people's life, I really don't think it is wise to mess around with it like that in residential area or on public street.

VelocitE55

I dont care who you are, at the average stoplight, there wont be time to do all that. Not only that, you really need to save it. Imagine using it(LC) on some other car earlier and now its disengaged! That would suck and it will undoubtedly occur often. As many have said before, for this kind of money, you should be allowed maximum performance at any given time. Looks like the 55's will still enjoy utter superiority under 100, where most races take place!

krispykrme

Average stop light is more than 10 second. I am not sure how many brain cell that i need to dedicate to press one button, push the gear forward, and hold on to the gas. To launch, i simply let go of the gear selector.

Compare to E55. True, I don't need to push a M-button. But in order to launch at high RPM. I have to press both gas and brake at same time. To launch, I simply release the brake and off i go.

So the only difference between the two is actually M5 requires you to push an M button. I really fail to see where I wouldn't have time to do this.

As far as LC being disabled after use and needs time to cool down. Guys, keep in mind that M5 is a manual without clutch pedal. It still has a clutch. A clutch would not last a day if I am keeping on abuse it by dumping clutch at 4000 RPM. I will probably replace the clutch on daily bassis.

As far a utter superiority goes. It is not really there. E55 will win 0-100 battle from dead stop without LC. With LC, both will be very close. From a roll in which use of LC is pointless (because you are already rolling and if you are in right gear in the M5) M5 should win out in under 100 as well.

I think Gustav used rolling start instead of complete dead stop launch to compare the two to hide the fact that gearing and launch RPM really matters for the M5.

0-100, E55 should win. From roll-100. Really depends on speed, RPM, and gearing. Also M5 will require a much more skilled driver. So driver mistakes in M5 is also a huge factor. E55 on the other hand really requires no skill what so ever to launch it hard. Again, different car for different niche.

WayneE

I don't understand the purpose of P400/P500 modes. Why would you drive around intentionally limiting HP? I could see a valet or P500/P900 mode, but 500hp in a 4000lb car isn't much, especially with the low tq numbers the M5's V10 produces.

I think KK hit the nail on the head - the M5 is a much more engaging car to drive. While I love my E55, if I couldn't have other cars in the garage to fulfill my need for speed and handling, I would probably have given the M5 more consideration when I purchased my E55.

Competition improves the breed and it's great to see BMW stepping up. I'd like to see Audi get off their *** and produce a car that competes with the E55/M5.

enzom

to be fair, is anyone really going to program their M button to eliminate the stability control? Seems to me that 99% of drivers will always drive with the stability control active. In theory, you could decide that every time you push the M button you will not have stability control. Or you can decide that for the ten or so times you will use launch control while you own the car, it is not worth having to reengage the stability control every time you hit the M button. So it is not really accurate to say it is as simple as one button, IMO.

Chappy

Will BMWNA be able to determine how many times LC is used?

krispykrme

The problem with your argument is generalization. In addition, the reverse is probably true. The whole point of M buttons is to allow you as an M5 driver to setup the most performance oriented setting for your car. When you press the M-button again, it went back to a simply P400 modes, S3, with DSC allowed.

It is really an one button operation.

In order to use S6 you have to disable DSC. That has nothing to do with power, it has to do with SMG.

Also, you can leave the car in S5, P500, EDC in hard setting all day with DSC engaged. Again not many buttons to push.

I really think people from this board should ask any new M5 owners out there for a quick tour on the operation of M5. It is really not that complicated. Granted this is the 2nd M car that I had with SMG and I am very adapated to whole SMG operation. The M-mode really isn't that hard to use and learn. In fact i really don't know what is really needed to be learned either.

VelocitE55

The way the instuctions are listed, it looks to be more than simply pushing a button and the shifter forward and holding the accelerator. Regardless, I find it amusing that its so easy for us and such a pain in the *** for M5 drivers to be able to compete with us. Without LC, you guys are F*cked unless the race is going well over 100 MPH.

RennTechV12

I've got a question for you KK. Would you have gotten the car without that limiting factor if you could of? A car that would let YOU, the owner/driver, decide when it was OK to give it max power?