BMW and M Power Owners

DRZ

DRZ

Soldato
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Is it an addition or a change DRZ?

Started out as an addition but I've had a change of heart and the M2 has already gone. M2 is special but not special enough to have as a second car to an M5, especially when the M5 isn't going to see heavy usage as it is thanks to WFH. Thinking of getting an early S2 Elise to sit in the garage doing nothing.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Dec 2011
Posts
5,830
Location
City of London
Started out as an addition but I've had a change of heart and the M2 has already gone. M2 is special but not special enough to have as a second car to an M5, especially when the M5 isn't going to see heavy usage as it is thanks to WFH. Thinking of getting an early S2 Elise to sit in the garage doing nothing.
Looks mint (apart from the black wheels obviously :D). Congrats.
 

DRZ

DRZ

Soldato
Joined
2 Jun 2003
Posts
7,417
Location
In the top 1%
Now I've had the car a few days I thought I'd put down my thoughts for reference as much as anything else!

First things first, points of reference. I've just got into the M5 from an M2 LCI and in the recent past I've had an E92 M3 and an F06 640d GC. Before those I ran a 2015 F10 535d for 30,000 miles. That last point speaks volumes in and of itself - I have never ever put that many miles on a car because I have shifted them on for whatever reason after 12-18 months or 10-15k miles. I also very very nearly bought a pre-LCI F10 M5 back before I bought the 535d but someone at the BMW dealership managed to crash/damage it and I walked away and bought a 535d instead.

My F10 535d was an amazing car. Utterly competent at everything, lapped up the miles I put on it including a lengthy euro trip with long stints of high speed autobahn driving. Not dull to drive at all (but clearly not a scalpel-precise sports car either). The M5 had to pass the bar set by my experiences with that car - the M-specific adaptive suspension had to not compromise the ride enough to notice vs the 535d. The fuel economy on a run combined with the tank range of the 535d meant 600+ miles between fills - something the M5 clearly isn't ever going to get close to - but it needed to not be annoying like say an E60 would be. I have such fond memories of the 535d, I didn't want the M5 to come along and be so compromised by the high performance nature of it that meant it failed to live up to those memories. I've wanted an M5 for basically my entire life and I didn't want to be left disappointed...

So then onto the M5 itself. I still don't have good photos because the weather is so grim, so dealer photos will have to do for now.

Bn5vjJv.jpg

aDsMybp.jpg

It is a late 2014 car (September) in Monte Carlo Blue with Silverstone Merino leather interior. In my personal opinion this is the very best colour combination to have and I don't think I would have bought an M5 in any other colour (although Singapore Grey with Sakhir Orange leather is a very nice combo as well). Options wise, it has the M Multifunction seats with lumbar support, reversing camera, 20" wheels in black, sun protection glass and Harmon Kardon audio. The M5 comes with adaptive lights, HUD, quad-zone climate etc as standard so although this car isn't heavily optioned it still has a nice spec. Surround view would have been a nice to have as would split folding rear seats but not having those isn't the end of the world. The car has covered 45k miles so far and I'm the 3rd owner. The last owner bought the car from a BMW main dealer at 3 years old and only drove it about 18k total in the last 3 years and it shows. Everything so far is as I would have expected and there is no areas of excessive wear and there's not a single rattle/squeak to be heard anywhere.

ZUpmBto.jpg

I've driven F10 M5s on test drives and such before but I don't think you can really get a proper in-depth feel for a car on a pre-purchase test drive. There's too much going on and there's always that feeling that you don't want to push someone else's car just in case. That said, even though it is early days, here are my "first impressions". With everything slackened off into the least aggressive modes (Efficiency throttle, comfort suspension and steering and the gearbox in D1), this is a total pussycat of a car. The steering is fantastic given the dimensions and weight of the thing. It feels properly hooked up at the front and while nowhere near as precise as the E92 M3 or as placeable as the M2, the steering has a really nice positive feel about it. Despite the similarities, it is nothing remotely like the 535d to drive. The engine has more torque at idle than the diesel does at full beans and so it feels totally buttery to move around at low speeds. As city streets become A roads and A roads become motorways, the M5 gathers speed in a way that the 535d never could, that is it is completely and utterly effortless even when driving slowly eg mixing with traffic. There is the thrum of the V8 rumbling away somewhere in the distance but it is neither intrusive nor too quiet. You could hand the keys to your gran and have no worries that she'd struggle to cope driving this car around. My first 50 or so miles were in the pouring rain and with the car in these settings, getting the TC light to flash was actually a bit harder than I thought it would be all things considered.

Once you turn the wick up, things change. The first stop is everything in Sport and the gearbox in D3. In this mode, the car is still sort of soft in a way. You're still being cosseted in that way that a 5 series does. I expected this to feel much more like the change in character that you'd get switching to similar settings in the E92 M3 but it isn't like that. In the M3, these same settings make the car feel on edge, there is suddenly a real hardness to the car. The M5 isn't like that, but it does change. The most obvious change is that all of a sudden you have the reality of the engine's true character. The gearbox is holding the revs much higher and the throttle response is much more aggressive and, well, "holy **** is this fast" is the only way to describe it. I accelerated up a motorway slip road in a manner you simply couldn't do on a test drive (in good conscience anyway) and if I do that too many times I'll end up in prison. I can only imagine (officer) that the top of 3rd comes around in the blink of an eye - which is 105mph. The 0-100mph time is something like 7.8s which on UK roads feels absolutely ridiculous. At this point there is always a pause to address the usual borefest conversation of "that car has too much performance for the road" etc etc. I disagree - pick your moments and conditions and be sensible about it and you can safely extract road performance from practically any car. Of course you're not able to rev it out in 4th (140mph) let alone 5th (185mph), 6th (200+mph) or 7th but that isn't the point. There is fun to be had even with this much power at "regular" road speeds. Anyway, the rear axle is something to be mindful of when pushing on the loud pedal in pretty much any gear at this time of year. With so much power and torque on tap it absolutely will step out at any speed even in a straight line if you take the mick with your right foot. I've had a few :eek: moments already as I've pushed on in the cold wet conditions.

X9CAIb8.jpg

I briefly put the car into max-attack Sport+ mode and at this time of year and with my level of familiarity with the car I quickly put it back. I didn't feel that the E92 M3 was particularly great on the road with everything in Sport+ and I get the feeling that the M5 is more of the same, just way too much aggression to actually be all that usable on the road. On track in the E92 of course Sport+ suspension and max attack gearbox was a dream and maybe on good quality roads at the height of summer there is a place for that configuration of the M5 but I somehow doubt it. Sport+ throttle response has always left me cold anyway, it is needlessly spiky IMO and the Sport+ steering has always been over-weighted and numb as a result.

Fuel economy is surprisingly good. I expect my long term average in this to sit somewhere around or maybe slightly above the 20.34mpg I averaged in the E92 M3. Considering the extra performance on tap and the extra weight of the M5, I'd say that is a remarkable result. Some quick and dirty maths showed that a quick bit of "spirited driving" got me about 9mpg so it certainly has the capability to suck down the fuel :D


Truth be told, the iDrive in this car is getting a bit long in the tooth now. The M2's iDrive felt a lot more modern with CarPlay and so on. I think I will fit an aftermarket CarPlay box which will freshen things up in that area. The rest of the interior and controls etc are still great. Compared to a G30, the F10 is definitely "of its time" but compared to how the E60 felt when the F10 came out I don't think it is that bad. If an up-to-the-minute interior is of more value to you than the M-ness of the car, go buy a G30. If you have loasdamoney, go buy an F90. If you want a really nice place to be in a bonkers 5 series, buy an F10 :)

So then to sum up my thoughts. I started this post with my concerns about "meeting my hero" and the potential of spoiling all the excitement, hopes and expectations I had built up about owning an M5 over the years. I don't really know how to put this into words as such, but the M5 doesn't feel like a 535d+ or an evolution of the regular F10 models. It feels like a different car but made of the same stuff. The net result of the M division's changes is to deliver a car that is an absolute brute of a thing while keeping that 5 series DNA there throughout. It is ludicrously capable, hilariously fast, luxurious and more besides. In many respects and with the benefit of hindsight I think had I bought that M5 instead of the 535d back then I would probably still have it now and thus wouldn't ever have owned the M3, M2 or 640d. After meandering around the world of BMW's higher performance cars, an M-division 5 series feels like home. This car is everything I had hoped it would be and more. I am so very glad I finally bought one and I am super excited about smashing it around Europe in the years ahead :cool:
 
Associate
Joined
30 Nov 2008
Posts
1,264
Now I've had the car a few days I thought I'd put down my thoughts for reference as much as anything else!

First things first, points of reference. I've just got into the M5 from an M2 LCI and in the recent past I've had an E92 M3 and an F06 640d GC. Before those I ran a 2015 F10 535d for 30,000 miles. That last point speaks volumes in and of itself - I have never ever put that many miles on a car because I have shifted them on for whatever reason after 12-18 months or 10-15k miles. I also very very nearly bought a pre-LCI F10 M5 back before I bought the 535d but someone at the BMW dealership managed to crash/damage it and I walked away and bought a 535d instead.

My F10 535d was an amazing car. Utterly competent at everything, lapped up the miles I put on it including a lengthy euro trip with long stints of high speed autobahn driving. Not dull to drive at all (but clearly not a scalpel-precise sports car either). The M5 had to pass the bar set by my experiences with that car - the M-specific adaptive suspension had to not compromise the ride enough to notice vs the 535d. The fuel economy on a run combined with the tank range of the 535d meant 600+ miles between fills - something the M5 clearly isn't ever going to get close to - but it needed to not be annoying like say an E60 would be. I have such fond memories of the 535d, I didn't want the M5 to come along and be so compromised by the high performance nature of it that meant it failed to live up to those memories. I've wanted an M5 for basically my entire life and I didn't want to be left disappointed...

So then onto the M5 itself. I still don't have good photos because the weather is so grim, so dealer photos will have to do for now.

Bn5vjJv.jpg

aDsMybp.jpg

It is a late 2014 car (September) in Monte Carlo Blue with Silverstone Merino leather interior. In my personal opinion this is the very best colour combination to have and I don't think I would have bought an M5 in any other colour (although Singapore Grey with Sakhir Orange leather is a very nice combo as well). Options wise, it has the M Multifunction seats with lumbar support, reversing camera, 20" wheels in black, sun protection glass and Harmon Kardon audio. The M5 comes with adaptive lights, HUD, quad-zone climate etc as standard so although this car isn't heavily optioned it still has a nice spec. Surround view would have been a nice to have as would split folding rear seats but not having those isn't the end of the world. The car has covered 45k miles so far and I'm the 3rd owner. The last owner bought the car from a BMW main dealer at 3 years old and only drove it about 18k total in the last 3 years and it shows. Everything so far is as I would have expected and there is no areas of excessive wear and there's not a single rattle/squeak to be heard anywhere.

ZUpmBto.jpg

I've driven F10 M5s on test drives and such before but I don't think you can really get a proper in-depth feel for a car on a pre-purchase test drive. There's too much going on and there's always that feeling that you don't want to push someone else's car just in case. That said, even though it is early days, here are my "first impressions". With everything slackened off into the least aggressive modes (Efficiency throttle, comfort suspension and steering and the gearbox in D1), this is a total pussycat of a car. The steering is fantastic given the dimensions and weight of the thing. It feels properly hooked up at the front and while nowhere near as precise as the E92 M3 or as placeable as the M2, the steering has a really nice positive feel about it. Despite the similarities, it is nothing remotely like the 535d to drive. The engine has more torque at idle than the diesel does at full beans and so it feels totally buttery to move around at low speeds. As city streets become A roads and A roads become motorways, the M5 gathers speed in a way that the 535d never could, that is it is completely and utterly effortless even when driving slowly eg mixing with traffic. There is the thrum of the V8 rumbling away somewhere in the distance but it is neither intrusive nor too quiet. You could hand the keys to your gran and have no worries that she'd struggle to cope driving this car around. My first 50 or so miles were in the pouring rain and with the car in these settings, getting the TC light to flash was actually a bit harder than I thought it would be all things considered.

Once you turn the wick up, things change. The first stop is everything in Sport and the gearbox in D3. In this mode, the car is still sort of soft in a way. You're still being cosseted in that way that a 5 series does. I expected this to feel much more like the change in character that you'd get switching to similar settings in the E92 M3 but it isn't like that. In the M3, these same settings make the car feel on edge, there is suddenly a real hardness to the car. The M5 isn't like that, but it does change. The most obvious change is that all of a sudden you have the reality of the engine's true character. The gearbox is holding the revs much higher and the throttle response is much more aggressive and, well, "holy **** is this fast" is the only way to describe it. I accelerated up a motorway slip road in a manner you simply couldn't do on a test drive (in good conscience anyway) and if I do that too many times I'll end up in prison. I can only imagine (officer) that the top of 3rd comes around in the blink of an eye - which is 105mph. The 0-100mph time is something like 7.8s which on UK roads feels absolutely ridiculous. At this point there is always a pause to address the usual borefest conversation of "that car has too much performance for the road" etc etc. I disagree - pick your moments and conditions and be sensible about it and you can safely extract road performance from practically any car. Of course you're not able to rev it out in 4th (140mph) let alone 5th (185mph), 6th (200+mph) or 7th but that isn't the point. There is fun to be had even with this much power at "regular" road speeds. Anyway, the rear axle is something to be mindful of when pushing on the loud pedal in pretty much any gear at this time of year. With so much power and torque on tap it absolutely will step out at any speed even in a straight line if you take the mick with your right foot. I've had a few :eek: moments already as I've pushed on in the cold wet conditions.

X9CAIb8.jpg

I briefly put the car into max-attack Sport+ mode and at this time of year and with my level of familiarity with the car I quickly put it back. I didn't feel that the E92 M3 was particularly great on the road with everything in Sport+ and I get the feeling that the M5 is more of the same, just way too much aggression to actually be all that usable on the road. On track in the E92 of course Sport+ suspension and max attack gearbox was a dream and maybe on good quality roads at the height of summer there is a place for that configuration of the M5 but I somehow doubt it. Sport+ throttle response has always left me cold anyway, it is needlessly spiky IMO and the Sport+ steering has always been over-weighted and numb as a result.

Fuel economy is surprisingly good. I expect my long term average in this to sit somewhere around or maybe slightly above the 20.34mpg I averaged in the E92 M3. Considering the extra performance on tap and the extra weight of the M5, I'd say that is a remarkable result. Some quick and dirty maths showed that a quick bit of "spirited driving" got me about 9mpg so it certainly has the capability to suck down the fuel :D


Truth be told, the iDrive in this car is getting a bit long in the tooth now. The M2's iDrive felt a lot more modern with CarPlay and so on. I think I will fit an aftermarket CarPlay box which will freshen things up in that area. The rest of the interior and controls etc are still great. Compared to a G30, the F10 is definitely "of its time" but compared to how the E60 felt when the F10 came out I don't think it is that bad. If an up-to-the-minute interior is of more value to you than the M-ness of the car, go buy a G30. If you have loasdamoney, go buy an F90. If you want a really nice place to be in a bonkers 5 series, buy an F10 :)

So then to sum up my thoughts. I started this post with my concerns about "meeting my hero" and the potential of spoiling all the excitement, hopes and expectations I had built up about owning an M5 over the years. I don't really know how to put this into words as such, but the M5 doesn't feel like a 535d+ or an evolution of the regular F10 models. It feels like a different car but made of the same stuff. The net result of the M division's changes is to deliver a car that is an absolute brute of a thing while keeping that 5 series DNA there throughout. It is ludicrously capable, hilariously fast, luxurious and more besides. In many respects and with the benefit of hindsight I think had I bought that M5 instead of the 535d back then I would probably still have it now and thus wouldn't ever have owned the M3, M2 or 640d. After meandering around the world of BMW's higher performance cars, an M-division 5 series feels like home. This car is everything I had hoped it would be and more. I am so very glad I finally bought one and I am super excited about smashing it around Europe in the years ahead :cool:
Fantastic write up and a wonderful car - love the colour combination! Enjoy :D
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,177
Thoughts on an F36 440i gran coupe?

Found an example (2018 LCI) with:
Adaptive LEDs
Adaptive suspension
HUD
M sport plus
comfort package + comfort access

I already have a 63 F32, but the thought of getting a B58 i6 engine is very tempting, but not a massive upgrade interior-wise (bar the HUD and HK speakers)
and the MPPSK too...seems like some dealers are offering half-price upgrades
price-wise, it's pretty decent and well within my expected monthly depreciation curve (£350-400/mth)
 
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