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Car Forum / BMW Cars / January 2006Drooling
I dropped my car off at my local dealer this morning to get the leaking rear door vapor barriers fixed, for the *third time* in the last 18 months. While I was waiting for the paperwork, I wandered into the new car showroom, where they had not one but two new M5s. A black one and a dark blue one. I notice that the SMG shifter paddles are fixed to the back of the steering wheel rather than being fixed on the steering column. That's a surprise to me. I can see doing that in a F1 car where the steering lock is so small that you never take your hands off the wheel, but on a road car? Back to reality: my loaner was a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV. Forgetting for a moment what I was driving when I left to go on to work, I started into the turnpike ramp curve quite a bit too fast. Not stupid fast, but fast enough to abruptly remind me of reality.  SignatureDan. >I dropped my car off at my local dealer this morning to get the > leaking rear door vapor barriers fixed, for the *third time* in the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > started into the turnpike ramp curve quite a bit too fast. Not stupid > fast, but fast enough to abruptly remind me of reality. Three weeks ago I also started drooling at a Silverstone M5 sitting in the BMW dealer's showroom. The drooling led to jaw chomping and a hunger to be cured. It's now sitting in my garage. Eisboch Curious as a friend is seriously considering an M5 when one arrives in this area - do they sell at MSRP or is there an added charge? >>I dropped my car off at my local dealer this morning to get the >> leaking rear door vapor barriers fixed, for the *third time* in the [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Eisboch > Curious as a friend is seriously considering an M5 when one arrives in > this area - do they sell at MSRP or is there an added charge? Depends on the dealer policy. Many are selling them at anywhere from 5k to 15k above MSRP. My dealer, BMW Gallery in Norwell, MA, does not mark up the price for extra profit. Got it at MSRP, but was lucky to find one I liked that was not presold. If ordered, there is a 12 month wait. Eisboch >> Curious as a friend is seriously considering an M5 when one arrives in >> this area - do they sell at MSRP or is there an added charge? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Eisboch Thanks. I managed to find one only 2 states away. We may take a ride to have a look. It appears that the dealer has it listed at MSRP so that's good news. I doubt it will last long though since it is near D.C. > Thanks. I managed to find one only 2 states away. We may take a ride to > have a look. It appears that the dealer has it listed at MSRP so that's > good news. I doubt it will last long though since it is near D.C. Good luck. If you really want to drool, check this out: (driver is in 500hp mode with traction control turned off) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7829341333908711207&q=bmw There is also a great M5 forum at: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=27 that has lots of good info including a thread on available cars at various dealerships. Look for the thread titled "M5's sitting on dealer lots". The '06 M5 is an insane car. Eisboch >>Thanks. I managed to find one only 2 states away. We may take a ride to >>have a look. It appears that the dealer has it listed at MSRP so that's [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > The '06 M5 is an insane car. What's insane is the idiot driving that car. You don't need a refined, and expensive BMW M5 to burn the friggen tires off and slide all around. I also like how he revs the piss out of it (under no-load) just so you can hear the exhaust on the camera. What an idiot... Signature-Fred W Does the M5 run in any other mode than the full power? I thought the M6 was the only one that needed to be tuned to max HP. Is it all the M series now? > Does the M5 run in any other mode than the full power? I thought the M6 > was the only one that needed to be tuned to max HP. Is it all the M > series now? The new ('06) M5 has two power settings, 400hp and 500hp. Within each power setting there are multiple programmable preference settings, from suspension tuning, throttle response, shifting speed to the active seat response. There are something like 211 possible combinations. Eisboch >>Curious as a friend is seriously considering an M5 when one arrives in >>this area - do they sell at MSRP or is there an added charge? [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Eisboch Any European delivery discounts on the M5? See you "over there"! Dan > Any European delivery discounts on the M5? > > See you "over there"! > Dan No idea. I've heard of people ordering and taking delivery in Germany, then shipping the car to the US. The new M5 has been available in Europe for about a year. BMW just started shipping to the US in October. Eisboch And it depends on from where you are coming whether purchasing a car in Germany (or Denmark or similar, for that matter) will give you a financial advantage. I doubt that this is worth the hassle from North America unless you are travelling to Europe anyway or just fancy the trip to collect the car. Four years ago, when there was particularly great discrepancy between British and certain Continental European prices I bought my car in Germany and drove it to Britain, thereby saving a few thousand pounds. This, by the way, differed from the official dealer-organised factory collection. For my brand (not BMW) the car can be bought through a regular British dealer at the regular British price and the dealer will arrange all the formalities in lieu of the delivery charge, i.e. outward flight, temporary insurance, cross-Channel transport, importation/VAT and local registration. I can't remember if they throw in a night at an hotel as well. This type of Euro collection exists in North America, I think, judging from previous threads on the subject, particularly in this BMW NG. I arranged everything myself because I purchased from a German dealer. In fact, some official Continental dealers, e.g. in The Hague and Paris, sold so many cars to Brits that they also arranged some or all of the formalities, albeit at cost price, I think. The dealer I used had no experience so I had to tell him how to specify a UK-type car with RHD, appropriate dials etc. DAS For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling --- [...] > No idea. I've heard of people ordering and taking delivery in Germany, > then shipping the car to the US. The new M5 has been available in Europe > for about a year. BMW just started shipping to the US in October. > > Eisboch Dean Dark <ddrake@comcast.notthis.net> haute in die Tasten: > I can see doing that in a F1 car > where the steering lock is so small that you never take your > hands off the wheel, but on a road car? A few years ago I was attending to a safety driving training. The instructor told us, that in almost every driving condition it is enough to turn the steering wheel 180° or less. So there should not be any reason to take away the hand from the wheel. If there is a situation where you have to put away the hand from the wheel, this situation may not require shifting at the moment;-) Frank Signatureplease replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact Citroen - Made in Trance >Dean Dark <ddrake@comcast.notthis.net> haute in die Tasten: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >situation where you have to put away the hand from the wheel, this >situation may not require shifting at the moment;-) I'm not sure I agree with that. For everyday driving it may be true - when all is said and done it's not a big deal to be in the wrong gear for a second or two. But for (ahem) spirited driving off-road, it would be much better to know where the correct shift paddle is without looking at which way up the steering wheel is. Ferrari got it right with *their* SMG. I don't know why BMW couldn't have done that as well. BTW, congrats for being the only one so far to pick up on the real point of my original post. SignatureDan. Dean Dark <ddrake@comcast.notthis.net> haute in die Tasten: > I > don't know why BMW couldn't have done that as well. IMHO the decision to make the M5 the way they did is pure marketing. They wanted to present a "camouflage racer" of their mid-size sedan with obvious connections to their formula one racing car. And this racing car also features a V10 engine, a clutchless semi automatic gearbox with shift paddles fixed to the steering wheel and a headup display (it is installed into the helmet of the driver). And a race driver never takes his hands away from his steering wheel, but he may want to change gears in corners, too. Frank Signatureplease replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact Citroen - Made in Trance > Dean Dark <ddrake@comcast.notthis.net> haute in die Tasten: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Frank The only time my M5 is tough to shift with the paddles is when making a 90 degree turn onto a roadway from a stop. In this case you have to turn the steering wheel further than the paddle locations allow to keep your hands on them. In this case I usually do the 1st to 2nd shift with the console shifter. Lock to lock, the steering wheel on the M5 is not much and once rolling all the shifts are easily accomplished with the paddles. Eisboch |
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