First drive in a F10 M5 CP, did I do something wrong?

[The Dane]

Hi all

Well today I had the pleasure of driving a beautiful f10 euro spec 2015 f10 m5 with competition pack at a main dealer.

The car was like new, and had only done 10.000 miles.


The good part:

I was afraid that the car would be too much of a handfull for my wife, but to my surprise, if you dont press the gas pedal down beyond the kick down, it rides even more civalized then my 2014 535xd m-sport.
I have read that the DCT can be a littel clunky, to me it was simply magnificant.
The engine is also soo good at just pushing the car forward efortlessly at any speed, making it feel like a v12 mercedes s class.

The bad part (or maybe i did something wrong here)

I started out driving it slowly to get a feel for it, and then I used the buttoms around the gearlever to select sport+ on everything except suspension.
But it was like there were no change, and the car drove not much faster then my 535d rooling on the gas.
That is until I pressed the pedal beyond the kick down, and then it is like rocket booster got ignited, and its simply warp speed fast.

I have read that in sport+ mode it completly changes persona, and my 535d surthenly changes dramaticly from comfort to sport+, but the m5 remained civil, until the kickdown.

Did I do something wrong ?

Also, it seems that you cant get drivers seat as low to the floor as in my 535d, and I like the seat exactly as I have dialed it in in the 535.
Is it just that way, or can anyone that have driven both a lci m5 and a normal f10 inlighten me if there is a limitation in the m5 seats in regards to have low the seat can be adjustet ?

Thanks

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by The Dane

Hi all

Well today I had the pleasure of driving a beautiful f10 2015 f10 m5 with competition pack at a main dealer.

The car was like new, and had only done 10.000 miles.

The good part:

I was afraid that the car would be too much of a mandfull for my wife, but to my surprise, if you dont press the gas pedal down beyond the kick down, it rides even more civalized then my 2014 535xd m-sport.
I have read that the DCT can be a littel clunky, to me it was simply magnificant.
The engine is also soo good at just pushing the car forward efortlessly at any speed, making it feel like a v12 mercedes s class.

The bad part (or maybe i did something wrong here)

I started out driving it slowly to get a feel for it, and then I used the buttoms around the gearlever to select sport+ on everything except suspension.
But it was like there were no change, and the car drove not much faster then my 535d rooling on the gas.
That is until I pressed the pedal beyond the kick down, and then it is like rocket booster got ignited, and its simply warp speed fast.

I have read that in sport+ mode it completly changes persona, and my 535d surthenly changes dramaticly from comfort to sport+, but the m5 remained civil, until the kickdown.

Did I do something wrong ?

Also, it seems that you cant get drivers seat as low to the floor as in my 535d, and I like the seat exactly as I have dialed it in in the 535.
Is it just that way, or can anyone that have driven both a lci m5 and a normal f10 inlighten me if there is a limitation in the m5 seats in regards to have low the seat can be adjustet ?

Thanks

Sport plus makes a difference with throttle response etc. The car is very lazy in efficient but in sport plus it's just ready to pull.

When rolling on the throttle I notice that it's not mega quick but pulls effortlessly and is usually going much faster than it feels. Sometimes a feeling of low power is due to traction issues. My car quite often cuts power but keeps it very smooth, sometimes without flashing the DSC light.

Once you are used to the car and you know how to drive it you will fully appreciate it. Obviously I don't recommend it at this time of year and considering you have just got it, but MDM mode is a must in dry weather, it allows you to get some wheelspin without cutting your power. The M5 feels much much faster in MDM.

I had an e60 535d before this and it was tuned and was "quick". The M5 simply blows it into the weeds.

When I first got the M5 I didn't know how to drive it properly and was unable to appreciate it. I started a thread about this last year.

[The Dane]

MDM mode ?, have do you turn that on ?

I never saw that one, I just pushed the buttoms to the left of the gear lever to sport+ mode.

Come to think of it, I think I never set the gear change to sport+, i remeber only ajusting 3 things.
That I think is the culprint, because the road was dry, and in my f10 putting the gear in sport mode, is when the magic starts.

I am idiot

[KMORGSM5]

Personality of the M5 can change a lot based on settings, Comfort, Sport, Sport Plus, D1-3 for transmission, etc. trick is to find what setting suit your driving best.

For me,
M1 - Sport Plus engine, Sport suspension, comfort steering, D2 DCT
M2 - Sport Plus engine, Sport plus suspension, Sport Steering, D3 manual DCT and all traction turned off.

The seats are bigger than normal 5 series and noticed less rear leg room, not sure about how low they can get compared to non-M5 seats.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by The Dane

IMDM mode ?, have do you turn that on ?

I never saw that one, I just pushed the buttoms to the left of the gear lever to sport+ mode.

Come to think of it, I think I never set the gear change to sport+, i remeber only ajusting 3 things.
That I think is the culprint, because the road was dry, and in my f10 putting the gear in sport mode, is when the magic starts.

I am idiot

I have my MDM set on the M2 button. Find the assign m1 and m2 button option in the idrive then choose the settings you want. Once assigned you can just press the button on the steering wheel and it will select all your choices in one button press. You will have to press twice to confirm if you choose MDM or DSC off.

Crank the gear change up to number 3, gives harsher and quicker gear changes. Gets quite addictive.

[The Dane]

Originally Posted by KMORGSM5

Personality of the M5 can change a lot based on settings, Comfort, Sport, Sport Plus, D1-3 for transmission, etc. trick is to find what setting suit your driving best.

For me,
M1 - Sport Plus engine, Sport suspension, comfort steering, D2 DCT
M2 - Sport Plus engine, Sport plus suspension, Sport Steering, D3 manual DCT and all traction turned off.

The seats are bigger than normal 5 series and noticed less rear leg room, not sure about how low they can get compared to non-M5 seats.

Thanks for your comment

Have would you describe the difference between full attack mode on the gearchanges, and comfort setting for the gears ?

I am pretty sure I forgot to play with that, and never used the m1 or m2 buttoms because the dealer had them both set to the softest setting possible (proberly as precaution)

[The Dane]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

I have my MDM set on the M2 button. Find the assign m1 and m2 button option in the idrive then choose the settings you want. Once assigned you can just press the button on the steering wheel and it will select all your choices in one button press. You will have to press twice to confirm if you choose MDM or DSC off.

Crank the gear change up to number 3, gives harsher and quicker gear changes. Gets quite addictive.

Its not my car yet, but I am very very close to pulling the tricker

Now looking at the pics of the consol, I am 100% sure i never put in mdm mode, or setting the gear changes to faster changes

Still when I floored it the first time, I was having a automotiv epiphany, now I wonder have it must feel like in mdm mode and the gearchanges set to max

Its a special car

Il post some pics later

[The Dane]

Here she is

[Dwaynos]

MDM mode is basically half traction, it doesn't give you more power, just allows you to get that power down without the ECU cutting in.

I would imagine you probably didn't get all the power down even though it felt very fast. Once you get everything right on the right road in the right conditions the M5 is an absolute monster.

My Lord, looks absolutely fantastic. GET IT!!

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by The Dane

Here she is

THAT is love at first sight.

[The Dane]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

MDM mode is basically half traction, it doesn't give you more power, just allows you to get that power down without the ECU cutting in.

I would imagine you probably didn't get all the power down even though it felt very fast. Once you get everything right on the right road in the right conditions the M5 is an absolute monster.

My Lord, looks absolutely fantastic. GET IT!!

The CP rims really suit the black exterior, and the car is mint.

I like to make my cars look just right, and will have the followering done right away:

• Lowering, whatever wont ruin the warrenty, or the ride, proberly KW has or AC Schnitzer springs.
  
• Window tint

Later on, m-preformance rear diffuser, and rear wing, OEM preformance black grills.

I like it as clean looking as possible

Its going to epic

[TLK]

Traction control is very intrusive in this car, I had to learn this the hard way after I got it. Both my presets have MDM because with traction full on it just kills acceleration. Even just making a right turn from a stop sign can get the traction light clicking. I was questioning my purchase until I started driving in MDM always.

[The Dane]

Originally Posted by TLK

Traction control is very intrusive in this car, I had to learn this the hard way after I got it. Both my presets have MDM because with traction full on it just kills acceleration. Even just making a right turn from a stop sign can get the traction light clicking. I was questioning my purchase until I started driving in MDM always.

When i floored it I was doing 60 mph, and the road was dry

The way I drove it was like this:
role on the gas, more and more, and a not very none aggressiv acceleration was felt, and not very powerfull, until I passed the kick down point, and then it exploded into a rocket ship.

My 535d you can can role on the gas and it just goes faster and faster the more you press the pedal, the m5 is like nothing nothing boom warp speed

I now know that I was in comfort setting for the gear box, and no mdm, could that be the reason for the sudden explosion in power ?

[yoogene]

Originally Posted by The Dane

When i floored it I was doing 60 mph, and the road was dry

The way I drove it was like this:
role on the gas, more and more, and a not very none aggressiv acceleration was felt, and not very powerfull, until I passed the kick down point, and then it exploded into a rocket ship.

My 535d you can can role on the gas and it just goes faster and faster the more you press the pedal, the m5 is like nothing nothing boom warp speed

I now know that I was in comfort setting for the gear box, and no mdm, could that be the reason for the sudden explosion in power ?

Likely culprit is you were in too high of a gear. If you're just rolling along, and you rolled into the throttle, it won't give you the burst of speed you expect, unless you're driving in Sport+ and in the appropriate gear. The turbos like anything above 3k rpms and it'll launch you like a bat out of hell if you stomp on the throttle anywhere after 3k rpms.

I like to be in either 2nd or 3rd with manual shifting on and I feel like I hit warp speed if I get on it. That said, traction control does become a problem as well, since the rear tires just break loose constantly.

[M5TUDM]

Hey Dane, really nice car man; seriously, she looks brand new. Looking forward to following your build

[LeftFootLove]

In the 6MT transmission, the throttle mode in sport doesn't make much difference. The throttle mode in Sport+ takes away all the "helpers" and gives you more throttle response. Dare I call it "twitchy". It's very raw, and the way I prefer to drive on the highway. I rarely leave 6th gear.

Driving around town, Comfort and Sport are nice ways to go, but if you want to get moving, there's a significant amount of the pedal that is electronically limited and you need to dig in and give the turbo some life.

[Noggie]

I just made the swap from an M550D to an M5 i August, so I guess my experience is somewhat comparable.

There is a main difference between the cars.
In an M5, Sport+ is ONLY the engine.
In your 535d, Sport+ made changes to the engine, gearbox, steering, suspension all at once.
In the M5, that is what you do with the two M-buttons.

I find the M5 is often times slow, or feels down on power in normal traffic, usually that is because it is in 6th or 7th gear in the D program, the gearbox is in setting 1 (of 3).
sport+ will have an effect, but not such a huge difference, mostly this is because the car is in 5th-7th all the time and refuses to downshift unless you pretty much floor it.

Selecting the gearbox to setting 2 makes a difference, we are still in D, so D2. Now it will usually be in 1 lower gear than in D1.
If you was in 6th, it will now be in 5th, it will shift down sooner if you apply throttle.

Going to D3 and it drops another gear, however, in D mode, the car is no longer smooth and comfortable to drive, probably where the clunky rumor comes from, but now it's not playing around, throttle blipping on downshifts, shifts down on very little throttle motion and can be a handfull.

Personally I haven't used D3 much, if I need more action than what D2 provides I go manual and shift myself.
Most of the time I'm in "efficient", D1, steering and suspension in Sport because in comfort the steering is just too light for my liking.

I have the M1 button programmed to Sport+, D2, suspension and steering to sport.
That way I have a more powerful setting readily available.
M2 I have set to Sport+, manual 3, MDM traction setting, Suspension to track, steering to Sport and HUD to M-mode.

[TLK]

Unfortunately sport+ throttle setting not only seems to get more turbo boost , but also comes with a non-linear throttle pedal map that makes the car twitchy to drive at low speed. But it is very lively and I almost always drive in S3 sport+ whenever the car is warmed up and i don't have passengers

Throttle sport+ also opens the exhaust bypass so there is more exhaust noise. Another reason in addition to throttle twitchiness why I usually drop back to efficient when I pull into parking lots or onto the narrow streets to get to my driveway, or other situations where I want to avoid attracting attention.

Efficient is nonlinear pedal mapping also, but in the opposite way. Everyone has probably noticed that you really have to dig deeper while in efficient mode to get your request "heard".

Finally, I really don't like the auto "D" modes. None of the 3 settings shifts at the right time in my opinion. 1 and 2 seem weak, and 3 is annoying for driving on the street since it overly aggressively holds gears and downshifts which is inappropriate when you are for example driving past a school zone, neighborhoods, parking lots. The best power and comfort comes of course from shifting the DCT with the paddles, then you can call your own shift points all the time.

This is my first non manual trans daily driver ever and I shift it with the paddles/lever same as my manual cars, just that I don't have to do the clutch and the shift lever is sequential rather than a pattern. I still hold the wheel with my left hand and shift with my right when making turns.

Even if you have not been a manual transmission driver, it might be worth it to learn to manage the shift points by shifting the DCT yourself on manual

[The Dane]

Originally Posted by TLK

Traction control is very intrusive in this car, I had to learn this the hard way after I got it. Both my presets have MDM because with traction full on it just kills acceleration. Even just making a right turn from a stop sign can get the traction light clicking. I was questioning my purchase until I started driving in MDM always.

Originally Posted by Noggie

I just made the swap from an M550D to an M5 i August, so I guess my experience is somewhat comparable.

There is a main difference between the cars.
In an M5, Sport+ is ONLY the engine.
In your 535d, Sport+ made changes to the engine, gearbox, steering, suspension all at once.
In the M5, that is what you do with the two M-buttons.

I find the M5 is often times slow, or feels down on power in normal traffic, usually that is because it is in 6th or 7th gear in the D program, the gearbox is in setting 1 (of 3).
sport+ will have an effect, but not such a huge difference, mostly this is because the car is in 5th-7th all the time and refuses to downshift unless you pretty much floor it.

Selecting the gearbox to setting 2 makes a difference, we are still in D, so D2. Now it will usually be in 1 lower gear than in D1.
If you was in 6th, it will now be in 5th, it will shift down sooner if you apply throttle.

Going to D3 and it drops another gear, however, in D mode, the car is no longer smooth and comfortable to drive, probably where the clunky rumor comes from, but now it's not playing around, throttle blipping on downshifts, shifts down on very little throttle motion and can be a handfull.

Personally I haven't used D3 much, if I need more action than what D2 provides I go manual and shift myself.
Most of the time I'm in "efficient", D1, steering and suspension in Sport because in comfort the steering is just too light for my liking.

I have the M1 button programmed to Sport+, D2, suspension and steering to sport.
That way I have a more powerful setting readily available.
M2 I have set to Sport+, manual 3, MDM traction setting, Suspension to track, steering to Sport and HUD to M-mode.

Thanks for the replay, that helped

Everything I know about cars and dct auto gearboxes on gasolin turbo cars, tells me that the culprint was having the car in level 1 for the gear box.
Reason be, as soon as it kicked down to a lower gear when pressing the pedal all the way down, it spun the reps up and let the turbos hit there stride, and resulting in pulling like a maniac.

That also seem to echo with the reviews tat I have read for the f10 m5.

The diesel I have now feels fast all the time, except when I floor it, then its not much faster.

Have would you describe the seating hight, is the any difference between the height ajustment ?

[brad850csi]

I normally drive mine in M2 mode as I find M1 is a bit slow and M3 is sharp enough where it will upset the rear going from 2nd into 3rd.

I always always drive it in manual, I think it has shifted by itself 3 times in the entire time I've had it It seems like you haven't driven it in manual yet, give it a go

[mystic sport]

I kind of felt the same when I first got to know mine but as others have said, the car transforms when you adjust the settings.

I have mine in sport+ for both suspension and accelerator and sport for the steering with the gearbox on 3 and MDM on. The car becomes an absolute weapon. It has loads of torque but don't drive it like a diesel, it likes revs so if you want to see what it can really do then simply drop it in to 3rd at 50mph and floor it and if you aren't laughing like a loon then the M5 is probably not for you because in those settings my car comes alive and is every inch an M5.

Your 535d is quick as I have driven one but it is not even close to the M5, in any gear and in any situation.