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

[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.

[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 ****

[SharkmanBMW]

[QUOTE=jaylebo]and use the center console for something useful. You could, for example, fit a really big bong in there.
QUOTE]

LMAO!!
I can hook you guys up with my friends store if you need !!!
He owns a "High Times" outlet

[Jay 535i]

[QUOTE=Sharkman540i]

and use the center console for something useful. You could, for example, fit a really big bong in there.
QUOTE]

LMAO!!
I can hook you guys up with my friends store if you need !!!
He owns a "High Times" outlet

I'm interested in those "bubble bags".

http://www.bubblebag.com/

[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

[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...

[pundit]

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...

Sorry but, asthetically, these things leave me cold.
The interiors are just so cold and sterile.
Kinda reminds me of overpriced plastic outdoor furniture!