My New Singapore Grey F10 M5 and Review

[sparkyg]

Man I am liking that color combo so much. Makes me start thinking

[04S]

Here are some (hopefully) better pics. Still an overcast day so you can't get a perfect sense of the colour but hopefully these will help.

[cidair]

It really have a blueish tone. Very nice.

[lux.sh]

holy close parking batman.

At first, I was wondering how the hell you got out of the car. Then I saw it was RHD...

[sparkyg]

Yeah thats a great combo. Might be my future ride, besides the RH drive.

It is really classy and the interior is just so nice. Bespoke leather really adds so much luxury.

[jonasaurus]

Congrats mate, colour combo looks great!

[etz]

hot damn, almost a full tank and your range is 325 km ?! what size is that fuel tank ?

[richb811]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

holy close parking batman.

At first, I was wondering how the hell you got out of the car. Then I saw it was RHD...

Aussies tend to have epic parking skills due to our small roads and even smaller parking garages.

[04S]

Originally Posted by etz

hot damn, almost a full tank and your range is 325 km ?! what size is that fuel tank ?

Well to be precise, it is closer to 2/3 of a tank than full and the range is 352km. Te tank is about 80l and the car tells me the range from a full tank is about 575km.

[WULFFZA]

Nice ride
Sigh, we have the same parking issues!

[JUSTIN335]

Congratulations!! By far my favorite M5 exterior color. Sorry you had to pay Australian prices for it... They always shock me.

[04S]

Originally Posted by JUSTIN335

Congratulations!! By far my favorite M5 exterior color. Sorry you had to pay Australian prices for it... They always shock me.

Thanks. So far the car is worth it though !

[mdh]

Beautiful car! Ventilated leather looks fantastic.

Wait until you get it out on a dry day...

[mhh]

Aussie F10M, can you recall whether the front bumper came bare like the regular 5's, or does it have a mounting bracket for the front plate already there? I want to fit a small historic number plate to mine, but only if there is no overwidth bracket.

[04S]

Originally Posted by mhh

Aussie F10M, can you recall whether the front bumper came bare like the regular 5's, or does it have a mounting bracket for the front plate already there? I want to fit a small historic number plate to mine, but only if there is no overwidth bracket.

Definitely came bare. I saw it before the plates went on and it was a completely pristine bumper.

[mhh]

Originally Posted by Aussie F10M

Definitely came bare. I saw it before the plates went on and it was a completely pristine bumper.

Excellent, thank you.

[NlckyBlack]

looks great, congrats. I was gonna order mine in black but now thinking of havana or singapore grey

[GTR-Dad]

Originally Posted by the infamous...

i hav yet 2 c singapore grey in person, it seems like a gorgeous color ,
but hav u ever seen sgm (sparklin graphite metallic)? if so, do the colors hav any resemblance?

I sold a beautiful Sparkling Graphite 330 to a friend and specified Singapore Grey for my M5 because that was the closest color I could find to the 330. I'll do a first hand comparison when I take delivery and maybe even do a side by side photo.

[sparkyg]

Originally Posted by GTR-Dad

I sold a beautiful Sparkling Graphite 330 to a friend and specified Singapore Grey for my M5 because that was the closest color I could find to the 330. I'll do a first hand comparison when I take delivery and maybe even do a side by side photo.

Dam, looks like there wlll be a couple Singapore Grey M5's in town when I order mine.

[Greer]

Originally Posted by Aussie F10M

I picked up my F10 M5 about 24 hours ago. I have been waiting since June (when I paid the holding deposit for the car) for this car and the wait was hell. It is Singapore Gray, with Silverstone extended leather. We get an awful lot of things as standard on the car down here - the only things it doesn't have are the driver aids like radar cruise, night vision and lane departure.

Here are my thoughts - forgive the gushing !

General Observations: All I can say at this point is 'What a magnificent car'. I know a few other members of the forum have really been quite overwhelmed by how good the car is, and I was a little sceptical when I read some of their enthusiasm (no disrespect intended guys), but I have to say they are completely correct. The new M5 is absolutely awesome - the feeling you get behind the wheel really is sheer driving pleasure (I know that is a bit corny but trust me it is true).

Disclaimer: Although I drove the E60 M5 a few times I never owned it, so the comparisons I make below are to my two most recent BMWs the F10 535 and the E92 M3 (which remains an absolutely stunning car). I should also point out that the weather here in Sydney has been absolutely atrocious since I picked up the car so I have not really had the opportunity to open it up too much. I have only used the most tame modes of all settings so far.

Power: The 'power' of the car is incredible. The engine is an absolute beast. Is there turbo lag ? Yes there is. There is a fraction of a second before the turbos spool up. Is it a problem ? I have not found it to be a problem so far. The wall of torque you get when you put the foot down is quite intoxicating. I have never experienced anything like it in a car. Once it is up and running the power delivery is smooth and quite linear (at least as far as I have pushed it so far). It pushed you back in the seat hard, even on a wet road. The noise it makes when you lift off at 4000 rpm is awesome - some people refer to it as a fart, I think it is more of a growl. It is quite remarkable how quickly the engine responds when you have lifted off, growl happens, then you push the throttle again. The response really is as good as the M3's - from that point of view it is very hard to believe that it is a turbo engine. To sum up on the power, even thought it does have lag, in my view this engine is all that you could ever ask for in terms of power and delivery of power. Hats off the M engineers, again.

Sound: I know there is much talk about the active sound design - quite a few people seem to be very put off by it. I have to say that I have not noticed it in the sense that I cannot tell that any engine noise is coming through the sound system. It is very quiet and refined soundwise in side the car. Winding the window down as far as I dared in the rain I was very impressed with the noise the engine makes. It is quite hard to describe. The whistle of the turbos is very cool, but coolest of all is the low frequency sound coming from the exhaust. I know the E60 M5 sounded quite astounding, and against that benchmark I can understand why E60 owners would fail to be impressed by the noise of the F10M. Having said that, I really do not understand why others do not like the sound of the new M5. I think it is quite menacing. Blipping the throttle up to 2500 rpm makes a wicked throaty rumble.

Steering: One of the biggest disappointments to be on the F10 535 was the electric assisted steering. It lacked feel around centre, and worse, felt like it was resisting when changing steering angle in a corner [the steering on the F10 535 I had was the basic steering]. Coming from to the M5 the steering is sublime. The feel, weighting and response are perfect. Enough said.

Gearbox: The DCT is stunning. As I had one of the early DCT M3s my car was afflicted by the lack of responsiveness to the paddle shift, and worse, the low speed hesitation. It too ages to fix both of those problems through numerous software updates and changes, but even after they were fixed my DCT in the M3 really never worked as well as I thought it could. The DCT in the F10M could not be more different. I cannot fault it so far. The changes under power are seamless and instant with (and this is without testing the more aggressive shift modes yet) just the right amount of kick. The slow speed performance so far has been absolutely faultless as well.

Ride: In comfort the ride absolutely kills the ride in the F10 535 M Sport I recently got rid of. The 535 was at best jiggly on Sydney roads, and at worst, uncomfortable. I did not have the variable damper control on the 535 so maybe that was partly responsible for the problem. The ride on the M5 in the softest mode is really excellent. It soaks up bumps very well, and even in that mode I have not seen too much roll in the corners. I am looking forward to exploring the more aggressive suspension settings once the roads dry up down here.

Interior: What a luxurious place to be. The seats hold you in place very well, the leather is high quality and the range of adjustment makes it pretty easy to find a driving position that is just right. All Australian M5s come with the M seats and extended leather (you would want to hope so for a car that costs the equivalent of US$270,000), so we get the best of it, but it really creates an ambience which just screams quality. The smell is pretty awesome too !

Is there anything I don't like so far ? Probably the only thing is the shift paddles - I think it is a shame they have taken the paddles from a regular 5 and put them on the M. It is something that I am pretty unhappy about - the paddles on the M3 in the cold aluminium were brilliant. It is disappointing that they have not done something similar in the F10M. That is a small criticism in the scheme of things though.

It is very early days with the car - I am obviously still in the honeymoon period. Once I have had the privilege of spending a few weeks with the car I will post some further impressions.

I have posted some pictures. Apologies for the quality - the weather is terrible and I was using the phone !

Attachment 652170

Attachment 652171

Attachment 652172

Attachment 652173

Attachment 652174

Attachment 652175

Thanks a lot for a great review!

[OOOSQ]

Beautiful ride mate - congrats.

[e30philiac]

Congrats on the new car! Great review too!

Can't wait to see it on the roads around Sydney, havent seen one in person yet, just a sh*t load of 528s.