Driving and owning the M5

[SCA]

Originally Posted by lemming

Well. Not sure the M5 has ever been a sports car. It embodies what M started as and just added better and better engines. M to me has always been about taking a passenger car and making it sporty —but not a sports car.

Fully agree.

BMW basically invented the “sports sedan” while the M division made the original E28 M5 a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

A sports car to me equals vehicles equipped with only two doors.

Originally Posted by Nick M3

There were a few small things that you could do with the E39 that radically tightened it up. None of them really solved the slopbox steering, though. If they'd sold it with a rack and pinion.

This… the steering in the E39 540/M5 is horrendous. Let’s call a spade, a spade… it is total garbage!

[FC]

Originally Posted by SCA

Fully agree.

BMW basically invented the “sports sedan” while the M division made the original E28 M5 a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

A sports car to me equals vehicles equipped with only two doors.




This… the steering in the E39 540/M5 is horrendous. Let’s call a spade, a spade… it is total garbage!

Sure, I just can't help but compare it to the F80 - another BMW M sedan that is still somewhat contemporary. That car felt big and heavy at low speeds (but always tight and sporty), but if you drove it hard it was fun and definitely "shrunk around you." I felt I had to be a little careful with the RWD setup, but otherwise, if you were willing to go faster than you should it was actually pretty fun and engaging. I'll add that the M5 is big and clearly bigger then the F80, but not THAT much bigger. The F80 isn't small. And from the driver seat, as you are driving it, the difference seems even smaller. If you stop and look around, sure, the cabin is clearly roomier, especially the back row.

The M5 does the same but it is more isolated and with less feel. The limits seem so ridiculous that I will never come close, but what the AWD takes away in terms of coming even close to the limit it gives back in terms of confidence. In that way, it reminds me of the 997TT. The M5 can go full-on RWD, but I'd need a ton of seat time and the right setting to be willing to push that.

How quiet the cabin is may be messing with my head here a bit too. I need to get to the bottom of the sound thing.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by FC

The brake feel was pretty good, honestly. I never got up to great speeds, but they felt as good as any other BMW and stopped the car with ease and no drama.

Even in comfort mode the car is pretty flat and composed. As I mentioned this was a huge and immediate difference with the M550i, but I will note that the M550i I drove did not have the rare Dynamic Handling Package, which is supposed to improve things. But the personality of the M5 is very different and this is mentioned in every review, so I am not alone in this. This is the reason I went with the M5. Both cars are way too fast, so it wasn't a speed thing.

I think your perspective is well grounded. Appreciate your feedback.

I’m asking for selfish reasons, but I’m glad to bounce ideas and questions off of you.

[nate]

Originally Posted by FC

I have a feeling the piped-in sound was disabled. We’ll see.

Dunno about your car, but on my car you can't fully disable the piped in sound without pulling a fuse.

So, that's what I did. It's an easy fix if some future owner wants it back.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by nate

Dunno about your car, but on my car you can't fully disable the piped in sound without pulling a fuse.

So, that's what I did. It's an easy fix if some future owner wants it back.

Pretty sure the BMW's don't have piped in sound, it is fake sound through the speakers.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Alan

Pretty sure the BMW's don't have piped in sound, it is fake sound through the speakers.

Yes, that is what I meant.

[nate]

Originally Posted by Alan

Pretty sure the BMW's don't have piped in sound, it is fake sound through the speakers.

My car has faked sound too, but it's not through the regular speakers. Audi installed a device called a Soundaktor.

From an Audi forum.

It's basically a speaker (technically a transducer) that is attached to the firewall and use the windshield as the main resonator instead of a normal paper cone like a traditional speaker. Fake engine/exhaust noise is piped through it to match what the engine is doing to create the illusion of a more sporty engine/exhaust combo

[Alan]

Originally Posted by FC

There is none of the flex and backlash I felt with the M550i that made it feel heavy and lumbering. It stays flat and changes directions easily. It feels nimble and athletic.

I really wish you had driven an M550 with DHP, it remains completely flat and the 4WS really makes it handle with confidence for a car in this category. I cannot say the same with my previous 540i with adaptive dampers.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Alan

I really wish you had driven an M550 with DHP, it remains completely flat and the 4WS really makes it handle with confidence for a car in this category. I cannot say the same with my previous 540i with adaptive dampers.

I believe it must help a lot. A lot of people speak highly of DHP. But some also found it weird (including C&D, who did not like it) and others said they could not really tell the difference or it didn’t matter much.

But an issue was finding a car so equipped used. For that matter I could not find a single 540i that had remotely the level of equipment I wanted. Even M550i’s often were missing options I wanted.

With M5’s that was not a problem.

[FC]

I focused a lot on reading reviews and articles covering the LCI changes to the F90, but last night I read a few about the F90 when it first came out (car has not changed much since launch) and was surprised to hear how much praise it was given compared to the F10. They mention how much feel and driver engagement was added back. Man, the F10 must have really sucked.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...5-test-review/

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2...st-review/amp/