BMW M5 - the Beast is back

molinari · 19 Jul 2005 at 07:48

That is a lovely looking car with fantastic performance, but I'm very let down by the interior. Maybe the photos don't do it justice, but it looks very basic to me.

lookitsjonno · 19 Jul 2005 at 08:11

omg what a truly awesome piece of german beast

this may have been asked before spie but what happened to your ferrari out of intrest?

Brynn · 19 Jul 2005 at 08:13

jonno.co.uk said:
omg what a truly awesome piece of german beast

this may have been asked spie before but what happened to your ferrari?

He sold it

Nozzer · 19 Jul 2005 at 09:15

RobDickinson said:
So you dont want a car that can take 5 gentlemen and their luggage on holiday to scotland and then thrash a f430 when it gets there once you've unloaded the luggage and 4 of the gentlemen?

I fixed it for you.

NickK · 19 Jul 2005 at 09:15

adwhitworth said:

Interesting choice of wheels there - looks like this will have different wheels because of the additional load capabilities.

Trojan · 19 Jul 2005 at 09:38

RobDickinson said:
So you dont want a car that can take 5 gentlemen and their luggage on holiday to scotland and then thrash a f430 when it gets there?

Thrash? Are you mad?

SC04 · 19 Jul 2005 at 09:49

doughnut said:
all the new BMW's are hated at first but as soon as you start to see them they grow on you , like JC said yesterday on topgear , he thought the Z4 was ugly but now theyre growing on him!

This happens with most new cars from the continent, people in the UK struggle with change, Germans have more style than we can cope with.

Well done Spie and BMW, you've just converted quite a few of the Anti.

I dont like the exhausts though.

Tax Evader · 19 Jul 2005 at 09:59

NickK said:
Interesting choice of wheels there - looks like this will have different wheels because of the additional load capabilities.

It's just a test mule though, so don't read too much into it. Many things will be different on the finished car.

ironman · 19 Jul 2005 at 10:52

NickK said:
Interesting choice of wheels there - looks like this will have different wheels because of the additional load capabilities.

The final car will have the same wheels, at the moment they will be testing the performance of the car using different grades of tyres, hence the different alloys.

The M5 estate is also likely to be slightly quicker off the mark due to the extra traction which should be interesting.

Saytan · 19 Jul 2005 at 10:58

BMW tend to throw any wheels the right size onto test hacks.

looks like a 760 rim to me

FootWear · 19 Jul 2005 at 11:54

nice

shame about the colour though eh?

[TW]Fox · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:00

gurdas said:
The M5 estate is also likely to be slightly quicker off the mark due to the extra traction which should be interesting.

Sorry, where did you hear this? :confused:

ironman · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:17

[TW]Fox said:
Sorry, where did you hear this?

It's physics, more weight over the rear = more traction. It's why the E55 wagon is quicker than the sedan.

[TW]Fox · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:41

gurdas said:
It's physics, more weight over the rear = more traction. It's why the E55 wagon is quicker than the sedan.

If this was really true then why wouldn't BMW have artificially weighted the rear of the M5 Saloon to acheive the same effect, thus boosting performance?

WushuMaster · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:41

I think the extra traction created is likely to be negligible and also likely to be cancelled out by the extra force that would be needed to propel an object of increased mass.

Nozzer · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:44

WushuMaster said:
I think the extra traction created is likely to be negligible and also likely to be cancelled out by the extra force that would be needed to propel an object of increased mass.

You're forgetting that a tenth of a second difference in a hard 0-60 run is noticeable on the school run :rolleyes:

.

Jez · 19 Jul 2005 at 12:58

gurdas said:
It's physics, more weight over the rear = more traction. It's why the E55 wagon is quicker than the sedan.

Probably to 60 by around 1/100th of a second yea, Its also physics that once traction stops becoming a problem the extra mass is going to slow the car down and spoil its handling.

Freefaller · 19 Jul 2005 at 13:48

That HUD looks fantastic! I want one!

I've heard nothing but good things about the gearbox. Does that effectively have a "second" clutch which engages the next gear so that gear changes are quicker and smoother? I like the "sport button" over 500bhp of joy at your finger tips!

I think the looks are subtle enough but aggressive enough to know that it's a quick car. It's subtle enough though not to look like a ferrari eater though. That V10 sound fabulous however!

I hope you enjoy it and look forward to more pictures

Tax Evader · 19 Jul 2005 at 14:19

Freefaller said:
I've heard nothing but good things about the gearbox. Does that effectively have a "second" clutch which engages the next gear so that gear changes are quicker and smoother?

No it doesn't. (and see my earlier post a few pages back I think).
I think there's room for improvement in the software. The full bore up-shifts are not as quick as in mine, but they are smoother.

Freefaller · 19 Jul 2005 at 17:39

Thanks Skodaman - I was on a dodgy connection must have missed your post

Which car am I thinking of which has the "double clutch" - or have I been dreaming?