M5 Power Delivery - help from BMW requested

[gmd2003]

Originally Posted by SteveC

I love the paddles for sport driving but around town at low revs? The point is, if I pull away from traffic lights and accelerate to say 40, I have instantaneous response all the time. As soon as I stay at 40 for any distance, the car upshifts and drops the revs to around 1200...all correct and as it should be. However, should I decide I'd like to go a little faster than 40 and give a little gas, the car should simply down shift and accelerate a little. But it doesn't. Instead it hangs on to 1200rpm where there's no torque and does nothing, which I find amazingly irritating....
The M135i simply clicks down a cog or 2 and away you go...no fuss, no drama, just instant response.

If I fixed the car the way I believe it should be I'm damned sure you'd tell me its a major improvement, because the car would still feel very relaxed but also responsive. Not hyper, just smooth and very linear.

Then use D2 or D3 when you want to do auto lol . D1 is for maximal fuel efficiency thus it doesn't kick down and runs in the overdrive gear . It's time to mod the driver .

[JoM3z]

Steve, I read plenty of explanation and suggestion on your previous thread as well as this current thread. I honestly don't think this as an issue with the vehicle, but rather an issue with your driving style or habits. For example if you are traveling at 50mph to 60mph and you are on 7th gear. Even if you manage to kick down to a lower gear say 6th or 5th gear the car will not rocket down the street. It's like doing a 40 roll race on 5th gear, no way you will win that race. A lighter car may prove different in similar scenario as it has a smaller weight foot print. Perception is everything...I suggest trying comfort for everything and use Sports on your throttle.

Originally Posted by SteveC

I understand all that....I actually read the manual before I got the car and its not terribly complicated, although having said that I didn't initially realise that my M2 button had been programed to switch to Sequential.

Setting everything to Sport or Sport+ will certainly fix my problem...it will also result in the car driving around town in too low a gear and set up like its ready for the track.

If you want to understand my problem, do me a favour and try this in your car.

Select default (D1 and everything on comfort)
Set off up the road
Note the car's response to small throttle adjustments as you move through the gears....try accelerating gently from 30 - 40 or 40 - 50mph
Find a stretch of road that allows you to do a steady 50mph and wait until the car selects 7th at around 1200rpm.
Now try to gently accelerate to 60 mph
Then at a steady 50mph try selecting D2 or Sport+

If your car is like mine, what you'll find is that your car drives beautifully through the gears, responding instantly and effortlessly to all your inputs, until it hits 7th gear, at which point it stops responding to small adjustments of the throttle. What it should do is select 6th, but it doesn't.
When you then select D2 or Sport+ the car will immediately downshift 1 or 2 gears, leaving you doing the same speed but with a lot more revs. It will now be a lot very responsive to the throttle (by virtue of the higher revs) but feel like its turning too many rpm and needs to upshift

[MyF15+F85]

Originally Posted by JoM3z

Steve, I read plenty of explanation and suggestion on your previous thread as well as this current thread. I honestly don't think this as an issue with the vehicle, but rather an issue with your driving style or habits. For example if you are traveling at 50mph to 60mph and you are on 7th gear. Even if you manage to kick down to a lower gear say 6th or 5th gear the car will not rocket down the street. It's like doing a 40 roll race on 5th gear, no way you will win that race. A lighter car may prove different in similar scenario as it has a smaller weight foot print. Perception is everything...I suggest trying comfort for everything and use Sports on your throttle.

STEVE
How many people have already told you that there is nothing wrong with the M5...... so far.
You seem to be just like my father ( engineer ), there must be a flaw cause I say so.
This is NOT your 135 anymore, this is a cruiser with power that seems to not work for you only but for the rest of us...... seems " adequate ".
I LOVE me comfort mode, for my highway usage, I'm not checking my mirrors all the time to see, if there is anyone trying to pass me ( and piss me off ), no I'm quite the opposite , I could care less about the other drivers out there ( to extend let them mind their own business ). I don't want to be seen as another BMW aggressive driver.
I will use the most aggressive settings for the track ONLY, streets.... I don't care so much to be noticed.
Are YO that guy that wants to always be in front of everyone ?

[MyF15+F85]

Sorry, could not help myself. Hope I did not offend anyone .
Cheers !

[m3m3m3]

Originally Posted by SteveC

I understand all that....I actually read the manual before I got the car and its not terribly complicated, although having said that I didn't initially realise that my M2 button had been programed to switch to Sequential.

Setting everything to Sport or Sport+ will certainly fix my problem...it will also result in the car driving around town in too low a gear and set up like its ready for the track.

If you want to understand my problem, do me a favour and try this in your car.

Select default (D1 and everything on comfort)
Set off up the road
Note the car's response to small throttle adjustments as you move through the gears....try accelerating gently from 30 - 40 or 40 - 50mph
Find a stretch of road that allows you to do a steady 50mph and wait until the car selects 7th at around 1200rpm.
Now try to gently accelerate to 60 mph
Then at a steady 50mph try selecting D2 or Sport+

If your car is like mine, what you'll find is that your car drives beautifully through the gears, responding instantly and effortlessly to all your inputs, until it hits 7th gear, at which point it stops responding to small adjustments of the throttle. What it should do is select 6th, but it doesn't.
When you then select D2 or Sport+ the car will immediately downshift 1 or 2 gears, leaving you doing the same speed but with a lot more revs. It will now be a lot very responsive to the throttle (by virtue of the higher revs) but feel like its turning too many rpm and needs to upshift

I drive in D2 90% of the time in my M5 and I do so the minute I put my car into gear. I have absolutely no complaints - the car drives perfectly. Responsive but not overly sporty/rough - perfect for commuting.

I think D2 gives exactly what you are looking for. Yes D2 may not get you into 7th right away but if you are so conscious about driving your car at 1200rpm to get the best mileage - I hate to break it to you, you should be driving something else.

As for D1, I like it exactly that way. Cause when my wife drives the M5, I don't want the car to be overly responsive because she might not be able to handle it otherwise. Consider D1 the mode to use for those occasions

[SteveC]

I'm not talking about sprinting up the road, or a kick down of 3 gears to sprint away, nor of driving like a hooligan. The car does that no problem when that's what you want and you give it a foot full of gas.
What I'm talking about is much more benign, for example coming up on a slower car while gently cruising and easing down on the gas as you change lanes to pass. Or coming up behind a car, seeing some open road, and easing down on the gas pedal for a nice relaxed overtake. All I would like is for the car to behave like it did as it was moving through the gears.

The car will only select 7th and 1200rpm when it sees you don't want to accelerate. As long as the gas pedal is moving, the car will move up and down the box as required. Only once it reaches steady state, that is a steady speed with no accelerator movement will it go for the lowest revs. All perfect and as it should be. BUT, when you start to move the accelerator again, why doesn't the car just carry on behaving as it did previously, moving up and down the box as required, instead of hanging on to 7th and not accelerating? Before it selected 7th, if you'd have moved the accelerator the car would respond exactly as you'd expect. After its in 7th that's no longer the case. Instead it needs a big dose of gas pedal before it comes alive again. Moving up to 7th the car feels sprightly and alive, once there it feels dead unless you give it a big kick up its arse. I feel that this behaviour, this reluctance to wake up after hitting 7th and the resulting numbness to driver input is not something I would have expected of an M5....or an M car in general.

You guys seem to be entirely happy with this behaviour, I feel its quite a shortcoming in what is otherwise a most accomplished car. Maybe I feel that way because when I started driving it was in a very underpowered car in Johannesburg.....6000 feet above sea level. I became allergic to a numb throttle pedal and I certainly didn't expect to encounter it again in an M5, albeit only at 1 particular setting.

[RPiM5]

Originally Posted by SteveC

I'm not talking about sprinting up the road, or a kick down of 3 gears to sprint away, nor of driving like a hooligan. The car does that no problem when that's what you want and you give it a foot full of gas.
What I'm talking about is much more benign, for example coming up on a slower car while gently cruising and easing down on the gas as you change lanes to pass. Or coming up behind a car, seeing some open road, and easing down on the gas pedal for a nice relaxed overtake. All I would like is for the car to behave like it did as it was moving through the gears.

The car will only select 7th and 1200rpm when it sees you don't want to accelerate. As long as the gas pedal is moving, the car will move up and down the box as required. Only once it reaches steady state, that is a steady speed with no accelerator movement will it go for the lowest revs. All perfect and as it should be. BUT, when you start to move the accelerator again, why doesn't the car just carry on behaving as it did previously, moving up and down the box as required, instead of hanging on to 7th and not accelerating? Before it selected 7th, if you'd have moved the accelerator the car would respond exactly as you'd expect. After its in 7th that's no longer the case. Instead it needs a big dose of gas pedal before it comes alive again. Moving up to 7th the car feels sprightly and alive, once there it feels dead unless you give it a big kick up its arse. I feel that this behaviour, this reluctance to wake up after hitting 7th and the resulting numbness to driver input is not something I would have expected of an M5....or an M car in general.

You guys seem to be entirely happy with this behaviour, I feel its quite a shortcoming in what is otherwise a most accomplished car. Maybe I feel that way because when I started driving it was in a very underpowered car in Johannesburg.....6000 feet above sea level. I became allergic to a numb throttle pedal and I certainly didn't expect to encounter it again in an M5, albeit only at 1 particular setting.

You do know that 6th and 7th gears are overdrive right? They are not designed for acceleration in the F10 M5. You can reach 200+mph in 5th gear by the design of the gearing. Although in 6th gear, the F10 M5 has enough torque to move all 4,400lbs swiftly at highway speeds. D1 is the only mode that tries to keep the car in 7th gear for the longest amount of time.

There seems to be no convincing you mate. I told you take B-1 Pilots advice and you seem to keep disregarding everyone's advice that D1 is not meant for overtaking on the highway, it's meant for fuel economy and letting your mum drive the car comfortably. D2 will let the transmission get up to 7th gear at 65mph almost all the time, but it will downshift to a lower gear a lot earlier than D1 when you give it a sniff of throttle mate.

I also think you are missing the point of the DCT in its essence. The BMW M DCT is one of the fastest and smoothest shifting transmissions on the planet. Shifting up and down through the gears is no big deal because it takes no time at all. BMW ZF transmissions are smooth but are no where near as fast as the M DCT.

Anyways, my final suggestion is to stop driving the car in D Mode all together and start driving in S Mode. You will appreciate the car 10 fold.

[Used2be]

Originally Posted by SteveC

All I would like is for the car to behave like it did as it was moving through the gears.

BUT, when you start to move the accelerator again, why doesn't the car just carry on behaving as it did previously, moving up and down the box as required, instead of hanging on to 7th and not accelerating?

I feel that this behaviour, this reluctance to wake up after hitting 7th and the resulting numbness to driver input is not something I would have expected of an M5....or an M car in general.

I became allergic to a numb throttle pedal and I certainly didn't expect to encounter it again in an M5, albeit only at 1 particular setting.

This is a conversation between SteveC's M5 and another M5 while being serviced at the BMW dealership,

"I can't believe the owner I've got! He buys a high performance sedan with an incredible DCT and is unable to use the shift paddles! I can't believe the way he mashes on my accelerator without thinking to make a simple shift paddle flick to select the gear that will allow me to do what he wants! Can he not use his fingers and his foot at the same time? Is he asleep at the wheel? We haven't crashed yet, so I guess not..... I never would have expected a person who would buy me could be so numb and ignorant to how I perform. He should have gotten an automatic 528 instead, much more suited to the way he drives! I hope he trades me in soon, and I get a proper owner!"

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by Used2be

This is a conversation between SteveC's M5 and another M5 while being serviced at the BMW dealership,

"I can't believe the owner I've got! He buys a high performance sedan with an incredible DCT and is unable to use the shift paddles! I can't believe the way he mashes on my accelerator without thinking to make a simple shift paddle flick to select the gear that will allow me to do what he wants! Can he not use his fingers and his foot at the same time? Is he asleep at the wheel? We haven't crashed yet, so I guess not..... I never would have expected a person who would buy me could be so numb and ignorant to how I perform. He should have gotten an automatic 528 instead, much more suited to the way he drives! I hope he trades me in soon, and I get a proper owner!"

Very funny....Uhhh, do I hear an answer.

"That's nothing. My owner wakes me up at 5 in the morning, takes me out and works me half to death. He does take it easy while I'm waking up but as soon as I'm warm, he's off. Narrow roads, tight bends, hills, bumpy and sometimes quite a few puddles. Its really rather hard work, but do you think he takes it easy? Not at all. Its full gas, then hard on the brakes, up the box, down the box, back up, never a moments rest. And I've got to be really careful because those roads can be a bit slippery and its easy to loose my footing. There's cow muck on the road and I'm constantly worried I'm going to loose a mirror on those stone walls. One time we're driving along and the next thing I know I've got a bleeding pheasant up me nostril. Proper uncomfortable that was. Fortunately there are a few towns along the way, and he lets me slow down there. I always take the chance to have a breather and cool down a bit but you want to hear the way he cusses when he wants to go a little faster and I'm not quite ready ...proper impatient he is, but I win in the end....I just ignore him.

[JoM3z]

Obviously comprehension is lacking here. I live about 5000+ ft above sea level and the car performs just fine. I suggest reading what everyone has been telling you and drive your car in D2.

If you are still unhappy I suggest trading in your M5 for 135 or 1m.

Originally Posted by SteveC

You guys seem to be entirely happy with this behaviour, I feel its quite a shortcoming in what is otherwise a most accomplished car. Maybe I feel that way because when I started driving it was in a very underpowered car in Johannesburg.....6000 feet above sea level. I became allergic to a numb throttle pedal and I certainly didn't expect to encounter it again in an M5, albeit only at 1 particular setting.

[Bönz]

Sorry - gotta go with the Brit on the dialogue. Much funnier. Plus, having lived there, I can really relate to the cow's muck, stone walls, small towns and pheasants. I miss it all and I'm still laughing.

My Papillon is a natural pheasant hunter. We would go hiking in the woods, she'd take off and next thing I knew a pheasant is coming out of the bush. Great fun.

[Wills2]

Originally Posted by Bönz

Sorry - gotta go with the Brit on the dialogue. Much funnier. Plus, having lived there, I can really relate to the cow's muck, stone walls, small towns and pheasants. I miss it all and I'm still laughing.

Well this Brit drives in the same conditions with the same car but has no issues...

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by JoM3z

Obviously comprehension is lacking here. I live about 5000+ ft above sea level and the car performs just fine. I suggest reading what everyone has been telling you and drive your car in D2.

If you are still unhappy I suggest trading in your M5 for 135 or 1m.

^^ This.
I think M2 would be the perfect solution. Has 365 HP and 343 lb-ft of torque.
Good enough for a 3500 lb small car. I'm not sure if it's coming with MT only (like 1M) or ZF8 or even DCT, but hopefully MT is standard.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

BMW ZF transmissions are smooth but are no where near as fast as the M DCT.

Anyways, my final suggestion is to stop driving the car in D Mode all together and start driving in S Mode. You will appreciate the car 10 fold.

Just for the record, the ZF8 in an M135i will shift in ca. 200 milliseconds and can make non-sequential shifts, so in extreme cases can shift from 8th the 2nd directly.

I'll try your suggestion. At first I drove the M135i with the paddles but the auto was just so good and so well judged it was always in the right gear and instantly ready to perform so I just lost interest in manual shifting, even for sport driving.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Just for the record, the ZF8 in an M135i will shift in ca. 200 milliseconds and can make non-sequential shifts, so in extreme cases can shift from 8th the 2nd directly.

I'll try your suggestion. At first I drove the M135i with the paddles but the auto was just so good and so well judged it was always in the right gear and instantly ready to perform so I just lost interest in manual shifting, even for sport driving.

Steve, listen to Dave he is right. M DCT changes the gears (in S3) as fast as 80 millisecond so it's 2.5 times faster than ZF8. Also I don't know how you compare a Dual Clutch Transmission with a creepy torque converter transmission?
I never drove any of my 650i with ZF8 in manual mode because it was a joke but most of the time (I say 95%) drive my M6 in sequential mode because it's giving me almost the feeling of manual (well let's say so close).

[Bönz]

Originally Posted by Wills2

Well this Brit drives in the same conditions with the same car but has no issues...

I was talking about the cars talking to each other dialogue. Steve's response was funny.

[MyF15+F85]

I just drove my M5 ( 15 min ago ) still in love !
Again there is nothing wrong with the car at all ... It is a monster in any gear or setting ( for me anyway )
Love it Love it and Love it ( period )
I have had about 20 different cars ( more than that ) before I had this one ( YES I'm a car whore ). This is so far the only car that scares me when I drive it. It gives me pleasure and rush that none of the previous cars could deliver, call me whatever you want, but I Love the car.
Steve if you really have that sort of a sensation, that something should be fixed. Sorry, but may be you should change back to a 135i ?
Since you are still stuck on that there is something wrong with the car that you drive, this might be the only fix for you.

[SteveC]

So thanks for taking the time and providing the feedback, even those insinuating I can't drive and am a bit of an idiot (I understand; you love your cars).

In fact I've owned dozens of performance cars over the years, not to mention super bikes and open class motor crossers, which I used to race. As a driver and car owner I would class myself as 'demanding' in the sense I generally use everything a car has to offer; within the confines of safe driving and consideration for other road users. I'm the sort of guy who gets up at 5am on the weekend so I can 'enjoy' the driving, and I go places I don't need to go to, simply because the roads there and back are so awesome.

I drive my M5 in all its modes and in general love what the car does. Its torque and power are enormous and its a really accomplished piece of automotive engineering.

Can you sense a 'however' coming.

You guys are all delighted with the performance of your M5s, with terms like 'Beast' and 'Scary' and I agree that there is a lot of power and speed potential to deal with. Sometimes I wonder that our health & safety obsessed namby pamby State even allow cars like the M5 on our roads.

But there's one area of my M5's performance that I really don't like. I can be happily driving along in a beautifully balanced, comfortable and responsive car that simply wafts effortlessly past slower cars with a minimum of fuss. Then, without pushing any buttons or doing anything, its character changes to become the underpowered Opel Rekord of my past. Whether its selected a different DCT program (adaptive gearbox) or is just following orders from its ECU master I don't know, but I've now got to start pushing buttons if I want to access the performance that seconds ago was simply there. And once I've pushed those buttons, its no longer the relaxed effortless cruiser.... its now 'tense' and 'crouched', ready to spring.
And I don't want tense and crouched around town, within city limits or on busy highways. I want relaxed but responsive and while that is clearly within its repertoire, it really doesn't seem to like delivering it.

Next week I'm going to phone BMW and try to organize a test drive of another M5. I want to find out if its the nature of the beast, or just my car.
If it is in the beast's nature to simply switch off and stop listening to its driver, then I have plenty of instructions from you guys on how to avoid it. Or maybe a simple DCT reset returns my car to being what you guys obviously love. Let's hope its the latter, as I'd like to be as happy with my car as you guys obviously are with yours.

Many of you have wondered why I don't just take your advice, drive it in S or M2 modes and move on. Its because I really like default D1 for a lot of the time. In city stop/go, its perfectly judged, much better than the other modes, which are clearly designed with sportier driving in mind.

Now I'm off for a drive up Wharfedale for a day catching hard fighting rainbow trout. MMMmmmm

[M6-Coupe]

Steve,
I just found this file about the new AMG GTS.
You may be interested to know German engineer's thought:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...92885102,d.aWw

Page 32:
In "Comfort" mode the focus is on low engine speeds in the highest possible gears. Given a corresponding driving style, the transmission performs very early upshifts to the next-highest gears – benefiting not only fuel consumption, but also noise levels. Thanks to its powerful, readily available torque even at low engine speeds, the AMG V8 biturbo unit is absolutely ideal for this style of driving. Comfort also means comfortable gearshifts and a "soft" accelerator response setup for smooth power delivery.

[SteveC]

Thanks for that. What I great document. Unless I am mistaken wasn't BMW first with the 'Hot inside V' concept of mounting turbochargers inside the V (and feeding them with alternate cylinders from both banks)? Its why the M5 doesn't have the classical V8 sound.

And I guess adaptive engine mounts are a Porsche innovation. So the really ground breaking achievement for the AMG must be the dry sump and the car's weight. The engine makes less power per litre in S trim than the M5 but the car weighs a whole lot less so gets 3.8 0-62 from ca. 500hp.

Getting back to DCT, the statement is pretty clear, especially ' given a corresponding driving style'

It just dawned on me BTW that the M135i has 4 modes.....Eco-Pro, Comfort, Sport and Sport+. Eco-Pro is the economy setting and completely anaesthetises the car.....virtually no throttle response, early up shifts, reluctant down shifts. As a consequence you would never use it. Ever.

Today I had the chance to drive my M5 on some really challenging roads and it was lovely, but here's a funny thing. In D1 I'm going up a hill at around 1200 rpm in 7th. I give it some gas and there's no response. A bit more, still nothing, but then the hill gets a little steeper and without me doing anything it kicks down to 6th, at which point I give gas and it responds exactly as you'd expect and if I give it a little more it kicks down to 5th. So I stop, turn around and this time go up the hill slower, so I've got exactly the same 1200 rpm but this time its in 6th. I give a little gas and instantly I'm in 5th and accelerating, precisely what you'd expect.
I spent some time in D2 and there's no problem whatsoever. It kicks down from 7th just like I want. I played with the paddles and the performance is spectacular, as you all know. And I played around with D1 and it was perfect in every gear and at every speed except 7th at low revs.

So, there's only 1 thing I'd like to know. Is it only my car or do all M5s behave this way?

Would anyone like to try it and let me know. Find a long incline, put your car in default D1 + Comfort and drive at around 50 mph so it settles into 7th at 1200rpm. Now tell me what happens when you give it a little gas. Does it accelerate or kick down or does it just let you get virtually to the kick-down point without responding?

[bodonx]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Thanks for that. What I great document. Unless I am mistaken wasn't BMW first with the 'Hot inside V' concept of mounting turbochargers inside the V (and feeding them with alternate cylinders from both banks)? Its why the M5 doesn't have the classical V8 sound.

And I guess adaptive engine mounts are a Porsche innovation. So the really ground breaking achievement for the AMG must be the dry sump and the car's weight. The engine makes less power per litre in S trim than the M5 but the car weighs a whole lot less so gets 3.8 0-62 from ca. 500hp.

Getting back to DCT, the statement is pretty clear, especially ' given a corresponding driving style'

It just dawned on me BTW that the M135i has 4 modes.....Eco-Pro, Comfort, Sport and Sport+. Eco-Pro is the economy setting and completely anaesthetises the car.....virtually no throttle response, early up shifts, reluctant down shifts. As a consequence you would never use it. Ever.

Today I had the chance to drive my M5 on some really challenging roads and it was lovely, but here's a funny thing. In D1 I'm going up a hill at around 1200 rpm in 7th. I give it some gas and there's no response. A bit more, still nothing, but then the hill gets a little steeper and without me doing anything it kicks down to 6th, at which point I give gas and it responds exactly as you'd expect and if I give it a little more it kicks down to 5th. So I stop, turn around and this time go up the hill slower, so I've got exactly the same 1200 rpm but this time its in 6th. I give a little gas and instantly I'm in 5th and accelerating, precisely what you'd expect.
I spent some time in D2 and there's no problem whatsoever. It kicks down from 7th just like I want. I played with the paddles and the performance is spectacular, as you all know. And I played around with D1 and it was perfect in every gear and at every speed except 7th at low revs.

So, there's only 1 thing I'd like to know. Is it only my car or do all M5s behave this way?

Would anyone like to try it and let me know. Find a long incline, put your car in default D1 + Comfort and drive at around 50 mph so it settles into 7th at 1200rpm. Now tell me what happens when you give it a little gas. Does it accelerate or kick down or does it just let you get virtually to the kick-down point without responding?

Mine does that as well. I agree DCT logic is very stupid in D mode compared to 8ZF.

I only drive in manual mode 95% of the time since I switched from F10 535.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Thanks for that. What I great document. Unless I am mistaken wasn't BMW first with the 'Hot inside V' concept of mounting turbochargers inside the V (and feeding them with alternate cylinders from both banks)? Its why the M5 doesn't have the classical V8 sound.

And I guess adaptive engine mounts are a Porsche innovation. So the really ground breaking achievement for the AMG must be the dry sump and the car's weight. The engine makes less power per litre in S trim than the M5 but the car weighs a whole lot less so gets 3.8 0-62 from ca. 500hp.

Getting back to DCT, the statement is pretty clear, especially ' given a corresponding driving style'

It just dawned on me BTW that the M135i has 4 modes.....Eco-Pro, Comfort, Sport and Sport+. Eco-Pro is the economy setting and completely anaesthetises the car.....virtually no throttle response, early up shifts, reluctant down shifts. As a consequence you would never use it. Ever.

Today I had the chance to drive my M5 on some really challenging roads and it was lovely, but here's a funny thing. In D1 I'm going up a hill at around 1200 rpm in 7th. I give it some gas and there's no response. A bit more, still nothing, but then the hill gets a little steeper and without me doing anything it kicks down to 6th, at which point I give gas and it responds exactly as you'd expect and if I give it a little more it kicks down to 5th. So I stop, turn around and this time go up the hill slower, so I've got exactly the same 1200 rpm but this time its in 6th. I give a little gas and instantly I'm in 5th and accelerating, precisely what you'd expect.
I spent some time in D2 and there's no problem whatsoever. It kicks down from 7th just like I want. I played with the paddles and the performance is spectacular, as you all know. And I played around with D1 and it was perfect in every gear and at every speed except 7th at low revs.

So, there's only 1 thing I'd like to know. Is it only my car or do all M5s behave this way?

Would anyone like to try it and let me know. Find a long incline, put your car in default D1 + Comfort and drive at around 50 mph so it settles into 7th at 1200rpm. Now tell me what happens when you give it a little gas. Does it accelerate or kick down or does it just let you get virtually to the kick-down point without responding?

After 7-8 pages in 2 threads finally you get what people are trying to tell you???!!!
Did you read any of posts including mine (specially #10) ???

Yes Sir all M5/M6 treats like yours. Nothing is wrong with your car. Something is wrong with you (JK)