M5 Euro Delivery - Small car review

[v3n0m]

Hey all. Just picked up my M5 in Europe, and all I can say is that if anyone ever has the option of doing Euro delivery, they definitely should.

Driving it for over 1600 miles, I definitely got a good impression of what the car can do and is capable of (the 1200 mile break in was painful, but driving some twisty roads at wot made me forget all about it). On the trip I also attended AMG Academy at Spa Francorchamps and had the opportunity to drive the E63 AMG pretty hard. I also own a GTR (which people seem to like to compare the M5 to).

Here's my brief overview of how the M5 compares.

Comfort:
The M5 is top notch. Beats the GTR hands down here (no surprise). It's a great cruiser that has very comfortable suspension and the interior is very good. I would rate the E63 the same (differences in quality were negligible, and I preferred the control positioning of the M5 a bit more). The E63 also has active side bolsters, which are nice but unfortunately not available in the US M5.


Performance (handling/acceleration):
Didn't get a chance to push the M5 all that hard, but even so you can tell the GTR is vastly superior in acceleration, transmission shift speed (not by much) and cornering (in my opinion or course). However, the M5 greatly outperforms the E63 (i have no idea how caranddriver rated the E63 higher). Suspension/steering wise, the E63 feels a bit too 'floaty', precise enough to get around the track, but a bit too much body roll. The transmission is a POS (the delay between triggering up/down shifts is agonizingly slow, and due to this I bounced off the rev limiter a few times). This also affects acceleration as often it won't downshift when you want it to. Going around the track in the E63, it felt like you had to plan your shifts 1-2 seconds ahead, which sucks when you have to make last minute adjustments.

So, if I were to get a car focused on pure driving performance that was livable with on a day to day basis, I would stick with the GTR. If long commutes and comfort mattered more, then M5. In no circumstance would I get an E63 AMG.

Final notes though, I was disappointed in the fit and finish of the M5 I had delivered. Probably not common (maybe some owners here can chime in), but hopefully these will be addressed before I get the car back stateside.

1. Driver side front fender and bumper don't line up. (Passenger side ok). There's a few millimeter lip. I hope it's not an inherent frame issue.
   
2. Paint flaking on bottom edges of the parking sensors and top corner of side marker.
   
   
   
3. Cable from side turn signal light was looped around the trim tabs and wedged outside the trim. I had to pry the trim off myself to put it back (was starting to rain so I didn't want to leave an exposed cable)
   
4. Hood on driver side not flush (passenger ok). Possible latch on driver side is loose. When opening the hood the latch definitely has some give on the driver side.
5. Steering vibration at high speed (100 mph+) on all steering settings. Hopefully this is an alignment issue and not something deeper related to the fender/bumper issue)

I would have expected BMW to take a bit more care inspecting their top
line vehicles prior to delivery. That's probably my biggest
disappointment with BMW and really dampened my excitement for the car.

Some pics:
M5 @ BMW Welt


GTR


AMG Academy

[dhirm5]

I'm really surprised by these fit and finish issues - did you point that out to the BMW reps? Have other had a similar experience?

Congrats on the new ride and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[alexey21]

Congratulations on the M5. Sorry to hear that the finish is not the best. I hope they take care of that when it comes to the US.

But I do have to say that the M5 and GTR are 2 different cars, so cant really compare them.

M5 is suppose to be a comfy 4 door car that will perform close to super cars. I think it comes close.

[mwlmd]

Did you buy your M5 used?

(Joke...but seriously)

[RPiM5]

Damn, I find those fit and finish problems to be very strange. Maybe the QA inspector was on vacation the day your M5 was produced? I would definitely bring that up with BMW NA though, just so there is documentation.

I still need to drive this GTR that everyone keeps talking about. The acceleration on my M5 is crazy (from a roll mostly). also when I drove a fellow members Switzer tuned F10 M5, that was insanity as well. Also which E63 did you drive? The new 2014 with the new AWD system???

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by mwlmd

Did you buy your M5 used?

(Joke...but seriously)

He had 1 mile on it at delivery, so it was in fact used.

[nugent]

I love that GTR color. what's it called? also, did you drive new e63 version?

[greentrbo95gst]

Very surprised at the fit and finish issues. I inspected my car very closely and did not find anything that you did.
Beautiful GTR by the way.

[nynd]

In the pics you can see the old style E63... or current 2013, so I don't think it was the new AWD.

[v3n0m]

I actually didn't point it out when I picked up my car, since I was too excited to hop in and drive! Only afterwards, when I was taking more photos and prepping my car for drop off did I notice. Is there a special "M owners hotline" for BMW NA?

As for the E63, it was the current one with RWD (made for a better comparison for handling anyways). The same one Car And Driver used in their review. I really don't see how the auto-box in manual mode didn't cause more problems for them. In fact, the C63 AMG and SLK55 AMG's auto-box in manual mode was more responsive (of course, the SLS DCT was way better than all of those).

The GTR is in Deep Blue Pearl. What can I say, I have a thing for blue cars right now. Of course, the comparison isn't fair. GTR is much more raw (and intended to be that way). M5 is more of a comfort auto with track potential. I like it both ways.