Traction, or lack of

[Dwaynos]

After having my m5 for around 6 weeks I have come to the conclusion that this car is pretty pointless.

We'll use this real life, not unlikely scenario as an example. I pull off a roundabout onto a two lane road and meet a hot hatch on the way. I'm doing 30 and put my foot down in 2nd. The wheels spin and the hot hatch is pulling in front at quite a rate. By the time I get anywhere near him again I'm almost at illegal speeds, I value my driving licence so I don't disregard speed limits. I guess my question is, what is the point in this car unless you live somewhere with no speed limits? It's almost as if BMW designed this car, tested it and thought, we f**ked up here but we don't have time to design a 4wd system so we'll do that next time.

I am running Michelin Pilot super sports so the tyres shouldn't be a problem.

Is there anything I can do to improve the traction? Besides spending thousands on wheels and tyres or buying a 4wd car. There's seems to be a stigma attached to M5 owners, or in fact any BMW M car owners that suggests, if we can afford the car then we can afford £7000 for a set of wheels, I don't know about the rest of you but that is not me.

Any info would be much appreciated without giving me Grief for disrespecting the M5, the car is fantastic but I'm just unsure of the point of it at this moment.

Thanks

[RPiM5]

Indeed, this car is pretty pointless unless you live in Germany, or somewhere where there are actually wide open roads with little to no traffic and law enforcement, i.e. Southern California.

The F10 M5 is more of a private jet on the highway that can also turn despite its ridiculous weight, but we have to be careful or skilled when putting that right foot down. The F90 M5 fixes all of what you just talked about. But not even running R888's with stock power levels will assure you traction either. Kind of not kidding when I say this but, a tuned 328d xDrive Wagon making over 100tq more than stock will be able to beat that hot hatch anytime. Traction is nice, but I've never been a stoplight race kinda of guy myself. The only thing I can recommend is to change your driving style if keeping the F10. But each generation of M5 has its strengths too. If you've ever accelerated an E60 M5 from 120mph to 200mph, you would wonder why any other M5 even exists. It's glorious! The F10 M5 simply brought down that speed, so that accelerating from 60mph to 200mph is exhilarating, while the F90 brings it down even further and allows you to start your acceleration at 0mph.

But if you truly want traction on the F10, your gonna need a 19 inch wheel in the back and run Mickey Thompson's and also live somewhere that doesn't rain. Which is also Southern California. Good luck sir.

[mystic sport]

I drive mine 90% of the time in MDM with M1 set to sport on all settings and I have great traction. Genuinely, I can floor it in 2nd and third but it doesn't light up the tyres in the way you describe. That said my Michelin super sports are virtually new so still offering the best grip. How old are your rear tyres?

I do get your reasons regarding the illegal speeds but this is true of many fast cars. That said, I love the way the F10 builds its speed, just goes in to warp mode. My old V10 was more charismatic in terms of engine note and sensation but the F10 feels so much quicker and modern. Love this car and it almost feels economical compared to my old E60 lol

[Dwaynos]

Thanks for the replies. I agree, when The car gets going it's an absolute monster, it feels like I'm zooming in. I've started driving it in MDM just because I hate seeing the TC light blinking at me and feeling it cut my power down to what feels like 200bhp.

My tyres are about half worn but I'm looking at the Michelin sport 4S, apparently this tyre superseded the PSS, is that correct?

What about setting the rear suspension geometry so that the rear wheels are as flat to the ground as possible? Seems feasible, more rubber more grip. Has anyone done this before that can comment?

[mystic sport]

Running in MDM has two benefits, the car is a lot more fun and the rear brakes last a lot longer

[RPiM5]

Agreed. I use MDM a lot, especially on my car the way it is.

[apexlocator]

at stock power levels, I believe R888R can help in 2nd as long as conditions are not wet.

[Aceway]

Not sure if you're on stock size tires but I found upgrading from 265/295 to 275/305 made a substantial difference in traction.

[Dwaynos]

My rear tyres are 295. I was under the impression that fitting 305s to the 20" m5 wheel was a bit of a nightmare.

[Craze]

Traction problems? The roads must be damp or poor condition

I find if driving normal you can expect good acceleration in the tamed down throttle setting

If you want to go fast have traction off

700+hp i dont have problems taking off

[Dwaynos]

It happens on all road surfaces, except the sticky stuff at junctions etc. What tyres are you running? Ive only managed to get the power down twice from 35mph with zero wheelspin, it was unbelievable but not managed it any other times and just cuts power. I'm gonna go for the Michelin 4s next time and hope that will be better.

[Phatcat]

If you doing 30 and drop the hammer in second gear the tires will spin, I don't care what tire you have. If you have DSC on or MDM on the power will be cut to help regain traction, if you have DSC off be careful of a spin out.

Like above, F10's power is best used on the freeway, on the streets it almost useless.

[Craze]

I use 4s tires

It accelerates faster with traction off

Better to select your own gear to accelerate fast

[Dwaynos]

It's the same from 50mph also.

[M5 TT]

I run. 305 MPS4s on standard wheels with 0.1 negative camber and traction is pretty good. Way better than 295 MPSS and standard camber (around 0.15 to 0.18 neg camber). I cant run sticky tyres as I live way up north and its always wet

[Aceway]

Have seen many members run 305 on standard wheels. I ended up buying new set of 20x10/20x11 Vertini wheels with MPSS. Total cost for me was a little above $3k USD.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by M5 TT

I run. 305 MPS4s on standard wheels with 0.1 negative camber and traction is pretty good. Way better than 295 MPSS and standard camber (around 0.15 to 0.18 neg camber). I cant run sticky tyres as I live way up north and its always wet

Thanks for the info, you're obviously happy with your 305s, no rubbing or anything like that? As for the negative camber, is that exactly 0.1? Would I need to have the camber set before fitting the 305s? Do you use any spacers? I live in North Yorkshire so weather isn't superb here either, wet one day, dry the next. Not as bad as you up north but certainly not great.

Thanks

[M5 TT]

I run 16mm spacers in the rear which is a fraction too big. I need to go down to 10mm as I have very sight rubbing on full compression.

yes exactly -0.1 I have been for a few spirited drives and feel no negative effects form running less camber.

No, you can have the camber done at any time. tyre size will not affect camber

[Dwaynos]

So when I come to changing tyres I'll go with the 305s. Had a quick look on eBay for some spacers, has anybody had any experience with these?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F263510086859

What about front spacers?

[steeve13m]

I ran 315 R888 ...best traction hands down if you dont care that they only last 5k miles.......been running the 305 Nitto NT05 and traction is also great...I say 70% as good

[Fast400]

Originally Posted by mystic sport

Running in MDM has two benefits, the car is a lot more fun and the rear brakes last a lot longer

??? How so...

[Dwaynos]

I would imagine the traction control applies the rear brakes to limit wheelspin. Could be wrong.

So am I able to fit 305s without spacers and have zero rubbing?