Edmunds First Drive: 06 M5
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadt....firstdrive.1g
Last edited by bmoores; Sep 9, 2004 at 04:54 PM.
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The worst thing about all new bmw's =- i-drive. IT SUCKS!!!!
Last edited by mjc123; Sep 9, 2004 at 09:05 PM.
i like the look of the new M5 over the standard 5 series.
i don't doubt that the car will be impressive but BMW really blew
it by not putting in a manual transmission. smg imho is a
quirky choice for a transmission in a production car. i'm sure
it has its fans but i would venture a guess that more people
would prefer a basic 6 speed transmission or even an automatic
to the smg.

John
.....seriously i doubt anyone here really knows whether it failed or suceeded performance wise which is all the really matters, and comments like that are based on your preferences which doesn't mean all that much to the rest of us.
i've heard that the smg has several settings each has a different level of smoothness and shift time depending on whats required.
If you have a fast shift it must be somewhat jerky else the energy is dissipated as heat from clutch slippage or viscous action rather than for power transmission.
Same as with trying to launching off the line well, something has to slip be it tyres, clutch etc etc else you'll bog down.


The SMG in the M3 is totally different than the one in the regular 3 Series.
The SMG III in the M5 has 7 gears and shifts in 0.05 seconds. Is that anything like the SMG in the regular 5 Series??
Yeah dude, whatever...and you've driven the Enzo too right? BTW we are in the E55 forum, not Ferrarichat. Go away troll, its past your bed time anyway.
The new M5 will be great!!! We all must admit that...as much as we love our car there always be something faster and better...
I will post again a review by Autoweek UK:
More titbits.
Did I mention the noise? Best soundtrack of any car, ever! Goes through so many different vocal planes that it's impossible to describe. It wails and howls and bellows on its way up to its pure F1 noise at the top of the rev range.
Noticable step in power delivery just before 6000rpm. Every time you red-line it and flick up to the next cog you're bang slap right in the middle of the sweet spot. Super fast, even in 400bhp mode. However, slip it into P500 Sport (have to use iDrive or pre-program the M-Drive button) and it's quite simply the fastest thing I've ever driven.
It sounds like the HUD was faulty on the edmunds car - the one in mine worked a treat!
'Our' test car was Interlagos - not a bad colour, but it's got a tad too much purple in it for my taste.
The chassis's great. There is a whiff of understeer in slower corners, but that's expected with something that weights the best part of two tonnes. In medium and high speed bends the grip is awesome, and BMW's claims that it'll pull over 1g are entirely believable.
Brakes are mighty powerful, although there is a bit of grumble from them after you've used them heavily, but this affects just about every car with drilled discs.
SMG works a treat, although it's a real bang bang on upshifts in S5 and S6 modes, especially if you don't lift. S4 is proably the best compromise - still very fast cahnges, but with a little more comfort. Not all that keen on SMG auto mode - prefer to do it myself.
In sequential there's a 'kickdown' point on the throttle where it will drop down the perfect number of ratios to get maximum attack acceleration - very useful for picking off dawdling German holiday makers. As always the way it blips the throttle everytime you want to downchange is just marvellous, and I don't think I'd ever tire of flicking up and down the box!
Economy isn't its strong point, but you wouldn't expect it to be would you! We saw a worst of 9mpg, a best of 18, and an average of 13mpg.
It's brilliantly stable on the Autobahn. You can sit at an indicated 270km/h all day long with really not a huge amount of windnoise, and its aggressive front end gets traffic moving out of your way like Moses parting the Red sea.
It would still be nice to have a manual, but BMW's so wrapped up in the F1 tie up that I can't see it happening. The way the cogs are arranged in the seven speed it would be impossible to make this box a manual.
Overall though, a brilliant piece of kit.
Cheers
Bob
Last edited by E55 RUSS; Sep 10, 2004 at 08:10 AM.
NOW ALL THE TROLLS CAN LEAVE WITH PEACE!
But anyway I still would pick E55!
Last edited by BoBcanada; Sep 10, 2004 at 09:06 AM.





