Looking at an E60 M5 tomorrow

[Mario149]

Always good to hear that a NA car is more exciting than its turbo replacement.

I've got some history with RWD so should be all right. I always tend to take it very easy with a new car anyway to be on the safe side!

[Mags]

Excellent, well done!
I don't like the iDrive, give me back a few buttons that I can adjust the heat/AC with, it's such hard work.I also dislike the Nav system, it takes too long to input anything.
I was watching a couple of youtube vids yesterday of people putting the V10 into E30 M3's, I'd really love to have go in one of those.

[Dan_M5]

I love mine, bought it nearly 2 months ago now. Its my daily driver 100miles per day.

I dont know where i would go next the NA engine is superb and i dont really like the looks of the new m5. M4 on the other hand is lovely!

Ive just recently had a secondary decat exhaust system put on and the noise is now imo great

[Khaki Suit]

Is there much difference between S5 & MDM and S6 & DSC off?

I have never changed my settings to S6 and find the S5 MDM mode ample. I was wondering if it is worth changing up and if the difference is that noticeable?

I like RWD (I have a drift car) and this is the only car I've never felt the need to have the traction off. Feel it may lose some go through spinning up?

[Dan_M5]

S6 is brutal!

[Schermerhorn]

You need DSC off to activate S6 model. It's pretty brutal and very shunty and I'm not sure it's very good for the longevity of the (already weak) transmission. I rarely used it, S5 with throttle lift off was quick enough and the gearchanges could be smoothed out nicely too.

[cosworth330]

I kept mine in S5 MDM at a trackday last month and the back was still kicking out now and again on tight corners. I think it reduces the DSC by about 50% in MDM mode. I have used mine in S6 DSC off a couple of times but find MDM good. For normal driving i use S5 and comfort EDC setting and S5 MDM sport EDC setting. Trackday used Advanced EDC setting. Never drive or move the car in 400BHP mode as it feels slow and dim-witted.

[Khaki Suit]

You don't have to lift in MDM mode and the changes are decent.

So is S6 worth it?

[Schermerhorn]

cosworth330 said:

I kept mine in S5 MDM at a trackday last month and the back was still kicking out now and again on tight corners. I think it reduces the DSC by about 50% in MDM mode. I have used mine in S6 DSC off a couple of times but find MDM good. For normal driving i use S5 and comfort EDC setting and S5 MDM sport EDC setting. Trackday used Advanced EDC setting. Never drive or move the car in 400BHP mode as it feels slow and dim-witted.

Yup, MDM reduced DSC intervention but doesn't completely kill it.

I had a hero (or 'brown trouser') moment in mine with the M mode on. It was S5, MDM and full power.
I Went to overtake a car at night, on the M606 motorway, in the rain at around 95mph (these cars accelerate so quickly when you're in the right rev band) and hit a fairly big puddle. The car lost traction and started to go sideways big style, I applied full lock and corrected it. However, I know MDM saved me. Had I have been in S6 mode with DSC off, it would have been Auf Wiedersehen pet from me.

[Shaoxter]

Khaki Suit said:

So is S6 worth it?

Why don't you just try it and see for yourself?

[Khaki Suit]

Shaoxter said:

Why don't you just try it and see for yourself?

Because I can't draw from other peoples experiences then. Why do we ask peoples opinions on anything....

[Shaoxter]

Khaki Suit said:

Shaoxter said:

Why don't you just try it and see for yourself?

Because I can't draw from other peoples experiences then. Why do we ask peoples opinions on anything....

But aren't you curious to try it out yourself first? S6 and DSC off won't kill you (well, unless you're driving at 100mph in the rain ) and when driving normally it will feel much the same. It's only when you shift around 8000rpm that you really feel the difference, and it is a noticeable difference. In cold weather you'll get some wheelspin during gear changes, even on new MPSS

[JMBMWM5]

Shaoxter said:

It's only when you shift around 8000rpm that you really feel the difference, and it is a noticeable difference. In cold weather you'll get some wheelspin during gear changes, even on new MPSS

In first and second on UK roads and then............. License is gone.
These cars unless on a track are frankly in the UK wasted.

[Mario149]

Not strictly true I think? Not collected mine yet, but from vids I can see on youtube 3rd takes you to 95mph at max rpm it seems. So look slike you just about get 3 gears Sounds bad, but given that all Porsches from the last 5 years onward have (it pains me to say as a big Porsche fan) criminally long sh!t gearing and will do about 84mph in 2nd and 115mph in 3rd in their manual cars!! In the grand scheme of things the M5 is not too bad!

[Shaoxter]

Mario149 said:

Not collected mine yet, but from vids I can see on youtube 3rd takes you to 95mph at max rpm it seems.

Yep, you can see the top speeds in each gear in this vid:
https://youtu.be/6bqidASwMhY

Obviously this was filmed in Germany, but there are still plenty of places in the UK to enjoy the performance/V10 experience. To be honest any 3.0TDI these days can be classed as a "licence loser".

[JMBMWM5]

Mario149 said:

Not strictly true I think? Not collected mine yet, but from vids I can see on youtube 3rd takes you to 95mph at max rpm it seems. So look slike you just about get 3 gears Sounds bad, but given that all Porsches from the last 5 years onward have (it pains me to say as a big Porsche fan) criminally long sh!t gearing and will do about 84mph in 2nd and 115mph in 3rd in their manual cars!! In the grand scheme of things the M5 is not too bad!

All depends were you live, round here the PLOD are hot on speeding, it's almost as bad as drink driving. It is going that way now with these smart "average Speed cameras". Sad days indeed.

[Mario149]

Shaoxter said:

To be honest any 3.0TDI these days can be classed as a "licence loser".

Yeah, this^^ a lot. I reckon 200-250 bhp/tonne is plenty for the road in reality. It's one of the reasons I couldn't bear to part with the 993 in p/x for the M5. 2nd takes you to about 65mph, 3rd to a bit over 80, and you're almost all of the way through 4th by 100mph. You can drive her really quite hard on NSL country roads without hitting ridiculous speeds but she's still got enough absolute power to be quite exciting. She also requires you to work the engine nice and hard and moreover she *loves* it - max torque comes at 5500 rpm on my car and max power only 300 rpm short of the 6800 rpm redline (from dyno runs I did at Surrey Rolling Road, Porsche specs have it slightly different and about 500 rpm lower for both). Incomparison, the turbo torque you get in all the new sportscars is yawningly dull.

[Khaki Suit]

Shaoxter said:

But aren't you curious to try it out yourself first? S6 and DSC off won't kill you (well, unless you're driving at 100mph in the rain ) and when driving normally it will feel much the same. It's only when you shift around 8000rpm that you really feel the difference, and it is a noticeable difference. In cold weather you'll get some wheelspin during gear changes, even on new MPSS

I can't deny that I am curious. I love my RWD cars and really have no idea why I've never turned the DSC off on the M5. A 400+ BHP cossie is more of an animal than the M5 up to triple figures and I can't get enough of driving those. I guess I've just never felt the need as in MDM mode they are plenty good enough to be fun but with the added sense of security I guess?

I wanted to ask others opinions purely to see if it was worth bothering with trying. If it's not that much different then I'll happily plod on in MDM. If it transforms the car then I'm going to change my settings and ignore the extra strain on the box and clutch. lol

But essentially you are right, the only way to be 100% is to give it a go and make my own mind up.

[Mario149]

Was just thinking: is there a way to reset the iDrive / all car customization settings back to factory defaults in one fell swoop so I can start from a blank canvas tomorrow?

[Schermerhorn]

Mario149 said:

Was just thinking: is there a way to reset the iDrive / all car customization settings back to factory defaults in one fell swoop so I can start from a blank canvas tomorrow?

No need really, just hold the iDrive controller down for a few seconds and the menu will come up. You can then set it how you like.

Chances are the M button will be configured to how you like it anyway but press the iDrive controller to make sure just in case.

If you want a blank canvas, just turn on the car and don't press the M button, it'll be in P400 mode with a really blunt throttle response. I used to call it 'P*ssy mode'