Deep Singh

Had a test drive of an E60 M5 today. Must say wasn't expecting that much, I wasn't that impressed by the M3, ride was too harsh for one thing.

The M5 is a beast.

Engine: Its a peach. It just seems like it will go on forever. Power does not tail off up the rev range it just pulls and pulls. It seems to pull just as well above 100mph as it does below. The F1 style noise is addictive. Feels much much faster than the RS4.

Gearbox. I like the SMG. Sometimes a fraction of a second delay in the upshift (never downshift?) but probably still better than my fluffed gear changes.

Handling. Amazing. For a big ?1.7tonne car its handling is out of this world. It changes direction very well and I felt involved. Steering feel good also.

All in all this is one of the best cars I have ever driven. It was as much fun to drive as a 997S (if not more) but can also seat my family in comfort. What more can you ask for?

Skittles

Glad you liked it - what did you make of the HUD? The M5 is a lot more comfortable than the M3, both on 19"s... the tyres are slightly higher profile and presumably you had the suspension in soft mode?

I've tracked the M5 a couple of times and it handles well for a big car and is untouchable in the straights. However, the weight can be felt on the brakes after five or so laps.

compshack

Amazing car I just thought it was too much for the english roads, too much power at a very smooth delivery + loss of licence in 5 mins.
At least the M3 felt like it was going fast, it had the feeling of speed.
Best value for money is the 535d, as quick as the M5 in "real world" situations but won't hit "warp speed" in 4 secs.

Sbradley

That's why I drive an M5 Albeit 'just' an E39... Even more involving than the E60 and not much slower.

Shame I can't fit a HUD though. If I could I'd be in hog heaven

SB

moses

true a very nice car my uncle has one and my mate has an m3 but the m5 is a beast indeed

if i hadnt spent so much on my evo i would have got the m5 as a family car, maybe in the near future, it rocks

Deep Singh

Hi

I had the car in both hard and soft suspension settings. Even the hard setting was fine, firm but never jarring like the M3. I'd only use soft for really bad roads at low speeds.

Agree with the license losing ability of this car. It just eggs you on to be a hooligan, it has far in excess of whats needed for UK roads, but then so does a Scoob/Evo/Porsche etc
I agree 535D is a fab car, but its not just the power issue, the M5 handles much better than a 5XX MSport. The suspension can't be identical can it? I drove a 525D MSport and it felt nothing like the M5 in the handling dept.

Thought the HUD was really good. Had presumed it was a gimmick, but it works really well and is very visible in all light conditions. Its especially useful with a SMG box to remind you which gear you are in at all times without taking your eyes off the road. At the speeds I was achieving on those roads, you really need to keep your eyes forward at all times!

Just need to decide whether I can justify spending 50 big ones on a car!

ps I do not condone speeding on public roads!

turboman786

I agree, many people claim that the 'M' suspension on Msport cars is the same as the M5 but I dont think this is true.....I have a 525d Msport, and whilst it handles very well, I would be disappointed if thats how the M5 handles.

I am in a similar position thinking fo which car to get next.....I have toyed with so many different ideas! I am put of the M5 by the hefty depreciation, I think they only make good value if you buy them a few years down the line....
I could not enjoy the car knowing that I am losing say £10k pa, in my year of ownership plus all the associated costs.....

Looks like its a 997 for me......(at least I can justify the expense by having owned a porker!!)

silent running

Seems like we've got some M5 experts on here. I've been thinking about what to get to replace my WRX wagon as the family motor, once the wagon becomes more of a track day toy than an everyday runner. TBH about the only thing I'm looking at is an M5. What can I pick up for £10-£20k, i.e. where's the bang-per-buck at the moment? I can't remember the model designations but IIRC the previous model came in around 5 or 6 years ago? Worth investing in?

Deep Singh

Yup, its the deprec that worries me more than the outlay. Problem is if I wait another 2 years until it costs say £35k there will be some new car out there that I'd rather have ie RS6 etc!
The one I'm looking at is Sep05 and cost over £70k new, now £50k at BMW main stealer, that means trade in would have been ?£45k. So the first owner lost £25k in 18 months!!

Funnily enough my AMG hasn't done as bad as I thought. It was circa £55k brand new and I bought it for £32k 18 months old. Trade in value quoted as £14k and its now over 5 years old and needs about £1k of work on it. So I've lost about £17k over 3.5 years ie under £5k/year which is really good for that kind of car. Only major cost has been fuel and tyres.

Somehow I don't think the M5 will fare so well, which is suprising as I always thought M cars had better residuals than AMGs.

AudiLover

lol AMG residuals are better than M.

moses

bros wait a yr the price is gonna drop big time

and u can buy a ferrari modena 360 for that price nowadays

within a yr the m5 will go doon tae 35 tae 40k easily

moses

true bros m sport cars dont haud their value too well

just look at the m3's after a yr how they dropped

turboman786

M3s are a complete depreciation disaster....I often wonder why anyone would buy a new one...you still see people in 06 reg ones...whats the point I wonder, whern the same car can be had for half the price, albeit a couple of years old...

I really lust after M5s and M6s but I think it is mad to lose anything more than £5k plus pa on a car...it of course depends on how much you earn etc, but for me £5k loss pa is plenty!

Yes you can get 360s for £50k now, my bro has one, a 360 spider, but his cost him £104k!! BUT they are soo impractical, attract far too much attention, and it has to go back to the garage every month or so to sort out some niggle or another.....

I shudder to think how much he has lost on it so far...its a 54 reg, so I reckon he'll get about £70k from the dealer if hes lucky....

moses

bros only prob is , its really good for looks but as a car and the expence of it, its actually sh1te gt3 porkers r alot better for driving and everyday use lol

but m5 i will take any day if i didnt spend too much on my evo , most def

Beef

I hear this now and then, but in my experience it's not the case. I can, and have, torn the **** off 535d's in 50-1x0 mid-range pulls, yet my bosses M5 will decimate me in the same situation.

MattOz

Beef.

What do you drive? Gotta be pretty impressive to monster a 535d in the midrange.

Whilst it's true that the 535d is as quick in the real world, I guess it depends on what you class as real world. On any congested road, or at a steady 70 :cough: on the motorway, then yes. Then again, you may as well be in a Micra.

On a deserted Nurburgring, the M5 would disappear.

I've driven an M5 on a number of occasions and it's an awesome bit of kit. For everyday use, it would p1ss me off with excessive thirst and consequently a tiny tank range.

For me, my 535d makes more sense. Plus, I could put a 911, Noble, Caterfield, Atom etc in the garage for weekend blasts all for the same price as the M5.

Matt

compshack

A DMS 535D in the mid range is pretty impressive, I think to pull away from it markedly you'd need something with some grunt. 330bhp but 500 ft/ibs of torque makes things happen very quick.
Top end and handling the M5 is better, but is it worth the extra £20k?
I didn't think so thats why I bought a 535d. Just didn't like the auto box which is great but takes a whole new tecnique for driving to get the best out of it and with it being a heavy car the handling could be a bit wallowy.
Ended up going back to a M3 CS.

Edcase

E39 M5. Probably the best performance buy out there today if you are looking to tick as many boxes with one car.

I have one, and it's brilliant.

Nürburg_Ringa

Hope you have shares in shell...

sonu

How can some of guys get to understand a cars handling, power etc by going on a test drive? - Thought it would take a few weeks of driving a car before you could understand the characteristics of a car?

Nürburg_Ringa

Indeed, my E60 M5 was great at first, but hated it within 3 months.

Edcase

Well, I have a *lot* of points on my vpower reward card

Nürburg_Ringa

moses

mate u should have got a custom kw suspension for it and u would have loved it fahre danke

Deep Singh

Lots of comments

Moses, yes if I can wait a year I'll save £10k of the M5 and prob only lose another £2k on my car, so £8k in my pocket.

Matt, how can you say that you can have a 535D and a 911 for the £50k a M5 now costs? The 535D M is £35k second hand with good spec which leaves you with £15k. What kind of 911 you gonna get with £15k then??

Though I'm sure the 535D is a fantastic piece of kit this 'as fast as a M5 in the real world' line maybe a bit over the top. There was a Topgear episode where they put that to the test. It was a 535D MSport against a 540 and the 540 completed the track about 10seconds faster. And thats 'just' the 540, imagine what the M5 would do. OK it was a track and not UK roads, but the 535D could not keep up with the 540 on the straights.

I had a little blast against a 535D in my C32 AMG and at sensible (cough) speeds on the road ie up to about 60 we were equally matched, but a M5 would annihilate my car.

Sonu, I didn't say I 'understood' the car after a test drive, I was just giving my impressions.

Ringa I'd be interested to know why you were pissed off with the car and what you replaced it with

Andy M3

I believe that the latest M5 power figures go beyond the brochure. A stock car traps at 119 1/4 mile. That is fooking quick!!!!!

I would defiantly have one of these if I were in the market for a super saloon.

turboman786

What aspects of the car did you hate?.....

AudiLover

Exactly

Nürburg_Ringa

I found it too big, too 'floaty' even on hardest suspension. On the autobarhns I was getting single figure MPG. I couldn't park it anywhere without the **** sticking out as it's so bloody big.

The I drive! ARGHGHHGHGHGH crash after crash after crash. Stereo wpuld freeze up, had to take out the fuse countless times. Oil cosumption! Had to carry 2 litres with me at all times.

Pain in the **** was glad to see the back off it, and lets face it u can't miss the back of it.

Replaced it with a 997 Turbo. Its good to be back in Pork.... Enough Said!

AudiLover

Ive been saying the same thing about that car for ages now.

If you want a fast big saloon, buy a E63 AMG or better still wait for the Lord of the rings new RS6.