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      07-02-2013, 02:06 AM   #1
UniqueCheese
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United Kingdom
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Drives: Was: F10 M5, Now: Ford F150
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Seattle, WA

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My San Marino Blue F10 M5. Experiencing a Significant Gravitas Shortfall.

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As a teenager, I first became aware of cars being more than just a method of transport. Some cars were cool. Some were powerful. Some were just plain awesome. I learned quickly that there was one car that was powerful and awesome, and I wanted one. It was the E39 M5, and every one I saw was blue. Honestly, I've never really stopped wanting one. I've always wanted an M5, and now I have one:

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I wanted to pay homage to the E39 in some small way - it was the car that got me into powerful cars, and I decided that I would figure out a way to do it when I set about planning my F10. I'm British, and I like subtly and class. I didn't want another M5 that shouts "hey, I'm an M5, come race me!". I wanted a 5 series that blended in. A sleeper. I didn't want an M5 badge on her. I didn't want Monte Carlo blue. I didn't want Alpine White. I didn't want Sakhir Orange. They're all great colours, but they're great colours for other people's cars. I was severely tempted by Singapore Grey for a while, but then my idea of the E39 homage came back. I would use a dark blue.

I did my research. I dragged my girlfriend to a BMW showroom and while we were talking about the M6 convertible in the showroom, and that I didn't want to pay 30,000 dollars more to gain 0.1 seconds to 60, slightly better cornering and losing a seat, all my ideas came together at once.

The M6 is made on the same line as the M5. That means that the paint is present in the same factory. I chose San Marino Blue. I have the only San Marino Blue M5 in the world that's not a 1:16 scale model.

I picked her up on last Thursday and drove her home, packed her full of camping gear and drove to a campsite near some nice scenery. After a night camping, a day of drinking, and another night of camping, I set off to find some scenery. I found Mount St Helens.

When Mount St Helens exploded in 1980, it knocked down trees in a huge radius. A lot of the trees were salvaged by the logging company that owned the area and was planting there, but a lot were not salvageable, because of weather, rotting, or other factors. Some of those trunks are still there today. The layer of ash on top of the soil stopped a lot of plant growth in the area, and it's only relatively recently that wild flowers are beginning to grow amongst the long-dead tree trunks. Other areas were dug and replanted. It's some truly awesome scenery, and if you're ever in the Pacific Northwest, then you should take a drive up there - there's some fantastic roads.

This is my beast - the Experiencing a Significant Gravitas Shortfall, parked at a spot, with Mount St Helens in the background.

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San Marino Blue, with IND's side vents to match the BMW Performance grills on the front, and the BMW Performance exhaust tips at the back - all supplied by IND. IND's reflectors are going on tomorrow, and I'm putting the handles on when I get her back from getting the stone guard applied. You've seen the reflectors and the handles on IND's thread - Nate and the guy's there agreed to keep the colour quiet until she arrived, and nobody commented on the blue not being MCB in the thread when they posted the examples of their work.

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I have my dream car, and when the last parts are put on, she'll be perfect. Stay tuned for more photos when those parts go on.


Edit to add the photos from later in the thread, so they're all in one place:

From user RanWhenParked, who I met on the way to Mt St Helens:

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And my trip up to Concrete, WA:

The town of Concrete in Washington was formed when the town of Baker, on the Baker River and the settlement across the river unofficially named Cement City were merged. Cement City was the settlement where the Washington Portland Cement Company had their silos, as a staging post for bringing materials to other places.

During Orson Welles' broadcast of The War of the Worlds, at the point where the Martian invaders were invading, a power failure blanketed the town in darkness and killed the phone lines, prompting many of the townspeople to run for the hills.

Concrete was also the the home of author Tobias Wolff, for some time. He was born in Alamaba. He attended high school in Concrete. He's best known for his short stories, and his memoirs "This Boy's Life", later made into a movie which starred Leonardo DiCaprio. The portion of the film representing Concrete was actually filmed in Concrete. Movies being movies, they had to make sure you knew which town it was supposed to represent, and so one of the landmarks of the town was painted up:

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At this point, you'll notice the IND door handles and the front reflectors that have been added since my first photos. Rear reflectors are on their way.

In order to get to Concrete, you can go up I-5 and hang a right. Or, you can get on 530 at the bottom of the Mountain Loop Highway at Arlington, WA, and go past Whitehorse Mountain ...

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... through the town of Darrington, up to Rockport, turn left and head along 20 to Concrete. It's a nice drive, with nice roads, and just when you think you're done with nice little towns, you find the Birdsview Brewing Company. The food didn't look awesome, but their beers are excellent. My passenger and I got the sampler of all 8 on tap, and I had a sip of each. Next time, I'm going back with a couple of growlers, and then spending time narrowing down which ones I want to take back with me.

I'll apologize to the owners of this winery for not getting their winery's name, but they had a quiet road and I wanted this photo:

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They were along SR 20, before Sedro-Woolley.

I've now broken 1,000 miles. I've so far used Interstates while commuting - 1.2 miles in the morning, and 1.6 in the afternoon. I've commuted in the car only a half-dozen times. All the rest have been fun miles.

For reference, in the final pictures the differences from stock are:
  • Performance Grill
  • No M5 badge
  • IND Side markers to match perfomance grilles, no tint.
  • IND painted reflectors
  • BMW Performance exhaust tips (supplied by IND)
  • IND color coded door handles

And finally ... I've got 60 miles left before the run-in service is due. On Monday she goes in for that...

Last edited by UniqueCheese; 07-12-2013 at 12:44 PM.. Reason: Add photos from later.
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