Hi Guys,
First of all I would like to thank you all for the assistance you have provided along this crazy ride. I have been waiting for this car since I ordered in July and it was one hang up after another, a true emotional roller coaster ride..
These hangups which caused delay were:
3 different colors all together, apline white, then frozen white (accident that needed correction) and then fixed on the backend to Brilliant White Metallic. THis was a nail biter at the end because even the sticker on the window with the price said Frozen Brilliant White, which i still have. The plaque under the hood says the right color. Needless to say i was in an uproar and the only proof we all had at the dealer was an email saying they assured us it had a clear coat. all i wanted was a clear coat after the oil pump shenanigans.... which made me wait for about 1 month and 3 days at the VPC. tried to change the order for B&O they wouldnt let me after 150 status, almost cancelled car (alot of these problems were my fault, i will admit now)
Now.... a little backgrouner. I sold my 2011 maserati GT-S covertible, black with red leather for this, i hated the way that cow drove... i also hated the paddle shift, auto trasmission, and crappy/cheap interior. i vowed i would never buy another automatic again and i had to find a way out of it... so i sold it on ebay and ordered my M5 in July, got 12k more than the dealer would give me for it so trading it in would have been a silly option... ebay is key; try it.
My wife has an alpine white 2011 535i and pre-ordered it in April 2010 and got it June 2010, we have owned this car since then and have liked it alot. It is very fast but once again automatic with those 8 gears that change too fast...odd feeling... it also has a weird hang when you press the throttle before it goes, like a pause, drives me nuts but its the wifes car not mine..
Now! The new M5! I love this car and everytime i get it in i know i made the right decision getting rid of the maserati. This car feels very small, quick and nimble even though it is a rather large, spacious 4 door sedan. I am impressed at how zippy this thing is and i cannot stress how happy i am that i got the 6MT!!
The clutch is very soft on this car but after a while of driving it really feels natural and easy to handle if in traffic. I really have alot of control of this monster with the 6MT, ALOT of control, very sharp already with it. It is very very similar to my 2008 M3 convertible so as soon as i got in it and pulled out, there was no yanking, messy-ness or jerking around, i felt like i was finally at home - i cant live without an MT. Period. I personally have driven stick trucks and cars all my life, i honestly feel like i have no 'real' control over an automatic. In a car like the M5 with that much power, i really think that someone like me needs the 6MT.... boy is this thing fast and the susension is MUCH tighter than my wives 535i which is basically the same base car... oh boy are they different... not at all the at all.... black and white difference probably also due to the 6MT where that is auto...
Put it this way, my wife started driving in a stick CRX at age 15 and has had autmatics ever since (25 years) and now she loves this 6MT M5.. every time she has to go to the store she wants to take my car, blaming it on 'oh i just want to help you break it in'.... please remember her car is identical, just not the M5 6MT
please see the pics, they arent the best and the sun was beaming out, no clouds, bright afternoon sun... (hurricane sandy sucked everything up and took it with her).
I did get a pic of the brilliant white up close which you can see the glitter in the paint. I really like the color, i am very happy with it and i think its worth the extra 5k and i am not usually a person who buys these extra expensive kinds of things... I love the leather, it really is the right color and darker than the camera captures.. its really not that bright. The tints look darker in person and the windshield is tinted as well..
I just received the Beltronics STiR+ with the LI BMW Quad laser jammers and i also ordered the cosmetic package from Nate @ IND, glossy black
its been a fun ride, everything from the anticipation of waiting for months all the way to tracking the ships on the iphone and hounding the dealer/VPC to push for the fix and of course teh paint nail biter at the end...
I will be ordering the BMW M3 (or 4) convertible and if the wife is a good girl i will pass down the M5 to her... Now i need to figure out what color that new vert will be!!
Touche BMW and your M5, Touche!