New M5 just arrived........

[gtopaul]

at the dealership a few minutes ago. Can't wait for a test drive this afternoon. Sticker is at $96k (ouch). Came complete with a door ding courtesy of the shipping company.

Paul L

[Jay 535i]

Don't forget to press the 'power' button

[kyleN20]

drive it to my house, you can race my 535im, then well switch places, it ought to be fun

[Qube]

96k isn't bad... no wait that's USD

I was pricing out an 06 550i for about that much but in CAD.

YAY for the ///M button, boo for those who choose this stubby thing...

[Jay 535i]

YAY for the ///M button, boo for those who choose this stubby thing...

No choice in the new M5.

Supposedly, BMW would have liked to offer a regular manual, but because of the way the 7-speed tranny is built, the shift pattern would have looked something like this:



So, SMG only.

Were you really considering buying a new 550? Aren't you, like, 19?

[Qube]

19? Far from it

That stubby looks really horrible though.

I said I was 'pricing' a 550i, not going to buy one. Just checking the gap between a base M5 and a topped off 550i. I got that impulse when I saw an e60 550i the other day.

[Jay 535i]

19? Far from it

That stubby looks really horrible though.

Sorry, don't know where I got that idea.

I agree it looks bad, and there's no need for it. You've already got paddles on the wheel. I say relocate the shifter to a column stalk a la 7 series and use the center console for something useful. You could, for example, fit a really big bong in there.

The SMG shifter looks like a limp penis.

[FiveOJester]

Last I heard BMW decided to offer a regular 6spd manual in the new M5, available later in the year.

From Car & Driver's latest issue:

But the biggest culprit is the SMG. In the most aggressive automated manual mode, it hammers home shifts like John Henry racing the steam drill—whop-whop-whop! But in full automatic, it’s all but impossible to avoid huge gasps between upshifts, particularly in the lower gears. One logbook scribbler summed up the test crew’s unanimous response: “I tried to leave it in auto mode, but I just couldn’t stand it.”

Perhaps the most telling testimonial on this second-generation SMG is this: Initially, this was to be the 2006 M5’s only transmission. However, BMW now plans to offer the option of a six-speed manual this fall. Enough said.

Rest of the article:
http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10436

[dacoyote]

Sorry, don't know where I got that idea.

I agree it looks bad, and there's no need for it. You've already got paddles on the wheel. I say relocate the shifter to a column stalk a la 7 series and use the center console for something useful. You could, for example, fit a really big bong in there.

The SMG shifter looks like a limp penis.

AHAHAHAHHAHAHA....

Thats some funny ****

[Jay 535i]

Last I heard BMW decided to offer a regular 6spd manual in the new M5, available later in the year.

From Car & Driver's latest issue:



Rest of the article:
http://www.caranddriver.com/article....ticle_id=10436

Hmm, that's news to me. Maybe C&D got their facts wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. Suppose they could be right, though.

My understanding, though, was that BMW was sinking all of its transmission efforts into a DSG-style twin-clutch tranny that would simultanously improve upon and solve the problems with SMG, without being an evolutionary step backward (e.g. an H-pattern manual).

From what I've read, a twin-clutch DSG-style setup is guaranteed to make you stop wishing for a regular manual. According to a VW technician, it makes SMG and Ferrari's F1 paddelshift look like "crap". Initial test drives of the Veyron confirm that, and in that car the tranny channels over 980bhp.

Way of the future...