Still Enjoying the M5 but not 100% convinced

[M5nut]

Moving up from an E36 M3 to a E46 M3 and then to an E92 M3 which I had for the last 4 years and finally to a F10 M5 which I have now had for 6 months.

The M5 is stupidly fast and yes much better all round then the M3. I just feel it is a bit too heavy and big to chuck around corners.

I picked up our new F30 330d x drive m sport for the wife on Saturday and the car is so light and nimble which makes me miss the M3. I know I must be mad. Seeing the 4 series in the showroom has made my brains go into over drive by thinking about the M4.

Anyone else thinking about going back to the M4 coupe purely for weight and size. Yes I know that the M4 cant beat the M5 for luxury and space.

[ColdList]

lol! Oh man have you missed out on some discussion about this recently! She is a heavy beast. Several of us have purchased 991s to go with our M cars to get the sporty feel alternative in the garage. Others are discussing going to the M4. Others are perfectly satisfied with the trade-off.

Gotta choose a car by the intended purpose. She is one heck of a GC but not a sporty bend carver.

The consensus however seems that not many will trade their M5 for the M4. Purely different cars.

[URBAN LEGEND]

This subject is getting old. Enjoy your car or sell it. Enough is enough.

[ColdList]

Originally Posted by URBAN LEGEND

This subject is getting old. Enjoy your car or sell it. Enough is enough.

No sh*t. Sort of what I was saying nicely. Can't have EVERYTHING in ANY car.

[Niko1414]

Originally Posted by ColdList

No sh*t. Sort of what I was saying nicely. Can't have EVERYTHING in ANY car.

Exactly that's why i have M5, M6 and current M3. Have placed my deposit for the new M3, but the M5 will stay.

Different tools for different jobs

[ColdList]

Originally Posted by Niko1414

Exactly that's why i have M5, M6 and current M3. Have placed my deposit for the new M3, but the M5 will stay.

Different tools for different jobs

Very nice stable there!

[Vic55]

Originally Posted by URBAN LEGEND

This subject is getting old. Enjoy your car or sell it. Enough is enough.

100% concur--- the subjectivity of what is good is so personalized these days.

[Simon H]

Im certainly going to drive the M4, as i hear what you are saying about the M5. I drove a new 4 Coupe the other day, just to feel the size and weight difference, and boy, do you feel the difference, but, it felt very unspecial and lacked any presence whatsoever. I dont use my M5 every day, but it always feels like an occasion, when i swing myself inside and fire her up. A few years ago, i would have already have dumped the M5, and be sat here waiting for the M4 to arrive, but not any more. I feel the M5 is far to good to do that, and only after thrashing a new M4 will i make any decisions. Yes, it will be more nimble etc, but the M5 is a very special car, its got the lot, and at the end of the day, its the bloke thats driving the car, that makes the difference. Not everyone can afford 2 or 3 "M" cars like some on here, so i think it would pay to bide your time, and drive the M4 like myself, regards, SIMON.

[mvigod]

Everyone has various opinions. Like you I moved up from the last M3 which I drove for 4 years to the new F10 M5. After test driving the M5 I literally did not want to get back in the M3 and take that home (but had to wait a couple months for my order to come in) so I "suffered" driving my M3 for a few more months.

I love the M5. I've recently driven the M5 and M3 on the track at BMW M Driving school so you get a real immediate compare and contrast on how these cars run at the edge. The M3 is noticeably lighter and more nimble on the turns. The straights don't matter and it is on the straights and exiting that the insane power on the M5 feels great. The M3 immediately felt underpowered by comparison on the track.

The M5 handles exceptionally well in the hands of an experience driver. I went for a ride along in the M5 with a pro and it was incredible. I can't imagine the M3 even coming close to the M5 here and don't get me wrong...the M3 is simply incredible on its own.

If you want to push the M5 around a bit better in the corners setup M2 with throttle curve, suspension all maxed out and use M Dynamic Mode only. The other settings make the car feel heavier. It really brightens up when you use all the right settings along with MDM. Night and Day. Just be careful as on MDM the nanny's are dialed down so you gotta drive it.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by URBAN LEGEND

This subject is getting old. Enjoy your car or sell it. Enough is enough.

+ 1
M5 for Me, for now.

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by M5nut

Anyone else thinking about going back to the M4 coupe purely for weight and size. Yes I know that the M4 cant beat the M5 for luxury and space.

Are you in the Harrow area by any chance?.

[stealth.pilot]

A few thoughts which I think align with others:

1) The M5s cornering ability is actually very close to the F30 335i though not an M3 or M4. If you read magazine tests, both seem to have lateral grip scores on the skidpad of around 0.95g. So while you perceive the M5 corners less well, in practice I think it is about the same.

2) The M5 is actually quite capable of being thrown into corners but because of the weight you may not feel like doing it. However it can be done. I would encourage you to go to an M Performance Driving School or even take a flight to Stuttgart and go on the ring taxi. It is quite impresssive how well this car corners when driven right. You can even steer it with the throttle in MDM mode. I took the 2 day M School and it really transformed my appreciation of the car.

3) There are laws of physics which mean trade-offs. You can't expect a larger, more luxurious, 4400lb car to drive the same as a smaller less equipped 3300lb car. BMW has made it as close as possible through a lot of genius. However, at some level you should decide what you want and get that. But don't chase the unicorn.

[URBAN LEGEND]

Just got done beating up on a squid on a 600 bike, with the seat massager on, listening to the new Drake CD. This car rules.

[M5nut]

Originally Posted by johnbmw6

Are you in the Harrow area by any chance?.

No mate. I am in South London.

Something I should know about in Harrow. Have family and friends there though.

[jbomb]

I just had a cracking long weekend in the Brecon Beacons. My friend came with me and he has a competition pack M3. Not once did I wish the M5 could do more. I gave it hell and the car was incredible. The car would bite me if I drove it badly and reward the hell out of me if I happened to string it all together. We are both very average drivers but he couldn't keep up with me, not on roads. On a track with good drivers then I'm sure it would be a very different story but we weren't and the M5 was epic!

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by M5nut

No mate. I am in South London.

Something I should know about in Harrow. Have family and friends there though.

Na I used to live there at the bottom of Harrow on the Hill on the "Sudbury court estate", thought I recognised the place.

[Neil McRae]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

A few thoughts which I think align with others:
2) The M5 is actually quite capable of being thrown into corners but because of the weight you may not feel like doing it. However it can be done. I would encourage you to go to an M Performance Driving School or even take a flight to Stuttgart and go on the ring taxi. It is quite impresssive how well this car corners when driven right. You can even steer it with the throttle in MDM mode. I took the 2 day M School and it really transformed my appreciation of the car.

since taking the car on the track ive found you can be a lot more aggressive than you think with the 5.

[DMC126]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

A few thoughts which I think align with others: There are laws of physics which mean trade-offs. You can't expect a larger, more luxurious, 4400lb car to drive the same as a smaller less equipped 3300lb car. BMW has made it as close as possible through a lot of genius. However, at some level you should decide what you want and get that. But don't chase the unicorn.

Perfect! Very well stated.

Criticism of the F10 M5 is like picking fly excrement out of black pepper.

I am more than a bit amused by concerns regarding the vehicle's weight. It should have been more than abundantly clear that we were buying high performance luxury sedans based on the baseline 5 series and not a track tool. In spite of the weight gain the F10 M5 crushes the E39 and E60 M5s in every aspect of vehicle performance.

More than 95% of all F10 M5 owners are either not concerned or do not know that they "should be" concerned with the vehicle's weight.

The stock M5 has far more capability than can ever be tapped on American streets, highways and back roads.

[kiwistu]

Yep I want my M3 V8 back, but then that just spurs me on to work harder so I can have both and a 911 as the cheery on top.

At the end of the day I have family, and just couldn't stop until I had the big nuts.

Big nuts = M5

[Bimmer6]

Originally Posted by mvigod

Everyone has various opinions. Like you I moved up from the last M3 which I drove for 4 years to the new F10 M5. After test driving the M5 I literally did not want to get back in the M3 and take that home (but had to wait a couple months for my order to come in) so I "suffered" driving my M3 for a few more months.

I love the M5. I've recently driven the M5 and M3 on the track at BMW M Driving school so you get a real immediate compare and contrast on how these cars run at the edge. The M3 is noticeably lighter and more nimble on the turns. The straights don't matter and it is on the straights and exiting that the insane power on the M5 feels great. The M3 immediately felt underpowered by comparison on the track.

The M5 handles exceptionally well in the hands of an experience driver. I went for a ride along in the M5 with a pro and it was incredible. I can't imagine the M3 even coming close to the M5 here and don't get me wrong...the M3 is simply incredible on its own.

If you want to push the M5 around a bit better in the corners setup M2 with throttle curve, suspension all maxed out and use M Dynamic Mode only. The other settings make the car feel heavier. It really brightens up when you use all the right settings along with MDM. Night and Day. Just be careful as on MDM the nanny's are dialed down so you gotta drive it.

Agree M school shows what the car can do, and yes heavy but M schools shows you how to tame her. The M3 was easy to throw around, but clearly you can feel the power drop big time. Enjoy your cars, and man I will not say the P word(:

[KKS53]

My suggestion is you should sell the car because it is too heavy. I moved from the X6M to my '14 M5 and wish I hadn't because the car is too heavy (particularly compared to the nimble X6M). Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

Too many posters on this forum who talk/complain about the weight of the car or some other deficiency.

By the way, I have an 2013 M3 Lime Rock in my garage and 6 days out of 7 in a week, give me a choice, and I take the M5. Better driving experience for me and infinitely superior in many other respects.

[mvigod]

Originally Posted by Ftc120

What settings did you have for steering, throttle, and I assume you had the suspension in sport plus ? And I assume you are saying do not turn dsc off, but turn mdm on ?

I have M2 set with everything in sport plus except for steering which I like in Sport. You should turn MDM on via the idrive. When hitting the M2 button you will hit it once, it will ask you to confirm MDM mode and you press again to enable it. Yes you do not turn DSC off.

At M School we drove mostly in MDM mode but got to try things out with DSC off. If you are in a safe driving environment and want to try DSC off and drive hard it is a lot of fun. You can still get away with alot in MDM but it will give a bit of extra control as opposed to 100% all off.

A poster above said it right that the M5 is great once you realize what it can do even despite the higher weight and you can't even come close on most roads in the USA to do what the car is capable of doing. This was the one sad thing about coming home from the M School track. You realize that no matter how fast you drive the car around the streets its nothing compared to what happens on the track.