Manual E60 M5 a poor driver's car?
 

Apparently it isn't all that we were hoping it would be. According to a Car and Driver magazine that showed up on my doorstep this afternoon, in which the new S6, E63 and M5-manual were put head-to-head, the BMW came out last. During the transition to the true manual transmission from the 7-speed SMG, some compromises were apparently made. In order to keep customers happy (or so the rhetoric goes), BMW made it impossible to turn off the traction control in the fully manual M5. This is so that the car can be driven under semi-controlled circumstances such that such things as rear wheel hop under hard acceleration can be avoided so as to keep the drivetrain safe.

Come now, there has to be someone at BMW with half a brain. If we wanted a manual M5, why not give us the real thing?!?!?! If an E63 and an S6 can come out on top in a three-way comparo, something is seriously wrong.

Maybe it would have been such a huge price drop that BMW was worried sales of the flappy paddle car would drop drastically.

They were probably "rushed" to come out with the manual so they didn't get a chance to develop a proper transmission that would take the beating of that V10.

M has made the decision to go with the faster SMG transmissions for their top of the line sports cars.. I think people should have more respect for the newer technology.

Although I feel I will always love the feel of a clutch and an H gate

Re: Manual E60 M5 a poor driver's car?
 

Wow.. so one of the new-era Euro-uber cars is unable to survive without electronic nannies... so they didnt include an off switch... :P hehehe

Yet more proof that the electronic-aided gizmo-ladden cars are really not all they are trumped up to be ;)

Re: Manual E60 M5 a poor driver's car?
 

Ye Olde Skool iz Ver Itzat

^^ LOL no more drinks for Sameer :mrgreen:

Not a very smart move from BMW :? With car nuts that can drive cars like that buying it and not be able to turn the joy-killer off :hmm: bad bad

Good the new SMG trans may be, I am with you, after driving clutch and H gate, there is no way I will buy an SMG car. IMO it seems to me like alot of posers go for the SMGs/automatics when available as a substitute for a perfectly good manual. That is just what I have experienced with some of my friends and such down here in Florida.

Yeah, Car and Driver.

I'd still buy a M5 with SMG II in a heartbeat ;)

I bet Euro electronics can be switched off ...
If not, any decent tuner can do that :twisted:
Or maybe CD didnt know how to switch it off ...

Reminds me of the Porsche Turbo :?

Yeah, but for something as basic as a manual transmission and invasive traction control, I would imagine even those buffoons would get it right.

^^^
I wonder if the invasive traction control makes it that bad though?

I bet they can, remember the recent fifth gear episode when tiff drove the ML63 AMG he couldn't switch it off completely but the mercedes man put in a code into the ar and they switched off.

2007 BMW M5 6-Speed
Review By Michael Jordan (Automobile Magazine)

Los Angeles Gerhard Richter, the development chief of BMW's M division, practically gnashed his teeth in frustration when he told us last spring that the BMW M5 would be made available with a six-speed manual transmission in 2007. He knew that rabid BMW purists in America had forced the M division to make the six-speed available as a no-cost option for the U.S. version, even though this transmission makes the M5 slower than the car with the standard, seven-speed, electrohydraulic-activated, sequential-manual gearbox (SMG).

And Richter is right: the M5 is slower and even clumsier with a conventional six-speed manual gearbox and a clutch pedal. But the six-speed M5 is also better to drive in almost every way.

When you stab the clutch, pull the lever, and hit the gas, you get what you want, when you want it. The predictable sequence of events gives you confidence, unlike the annoying electronic delay as the SMG thinks to itself and then makes its move. Surprisingly, the six-speed's clutch action is as light as you'll find in a BMW 3-series, despite the burden of coping with the M5's fire-breathing, 500-hp, 5.0-liter V-10. And the action of the ZF-built six-speed's long-throw shift linkage is equally light, although the gear engagement is notchy in that characteristic BMW way. In giving us the six-speed manual, however, BMW took away the ability to fully disable the stability control system. Many enthusiasts will find that unacceptable, and there will be no Ford Shelby GT500-style smoky burnouts at stoplights.

The M5 is a fearfully intimidating machine, and we've found that the SMG transmission (eleven shift modes and all) makes you feel like a victim of speed, not its master. With the six-speed, you become more confident that you can sort out this bastard, even if the stopwatch ticks away while you do.

Herr Richter, a sport sedan might be about speed, but it's also about command and control.