M5 M6 De-Limit

[Palmball]

I must be mad given the 'limited' benefit , but I'm keen to get the speed limiter removed from my F13 M6. Honestly, a few trips a year to Germany and I really do find the 155 limiter (indicated 170) a right pain in the arse! No car I've had has been so accelerative above 100mph, not even my 911 Turbo.

Anyway, seems the code to remove the limiter is hard to crack unless you have the M Drivers Pack (which if course isn't available in the UK, and BMW UK won't entertain supplying it). Very few aftermarket companies offer the speed limit removal and the one that I found who might would need the car for 'a few days' to work out how to crack the ECU....seems 2014MY cars (which mine is) are even harder. Frankly, no matter how annoying the limiter is, it wouldn't be half as annoying as having no warranty on the drivetrain because my ECU's been tampered with!

Last ditch attempt - I asked AC Schnitzer in Germany if they could do it, on the basis they have a proper warranty covering anything BMW doesn't. Computer said NO (that lack of M Drivers Pack reasoning again). However, as AC Schnitzer's HQ are based at the BMW dealer in Aachen, they checked with the dealer who would be prepared to retrofit the official M Drivers Pack.

Couldn't believe it - result! BMW UK won't entertain it yet there appears to be no problem having this officially retrofitted in Germany. The dealer have ordered the 'pack' from BMW M (apparently it's an official retrofit over there) and as I'm off to Berlin next week, I'm having it done on the way out there. The dealer tells me it updates the spec of my car and has no warranty implications as it's an official BMW product, fitted at a BMW dealer.

It isn't cheap, costing twice as much as the 'potential' aftermarket option. It's also not a proper delimiter given it's still capped at 190mph, but that'll do for me To be fair, they're only charging me the same cost as anyone in Europe specifying it on a new car would pay. I also get the BMW trackday and tuition that you'd get with the new option. The trackday has to be in mainland Europe (no bad thing) but I believe the Nurburgring is one of the tracks on the list - by my reckoning, a proper trackday at the 'ring in someone else's M6 with a bit of expert tuition is worth every bit of the premium over the cost of the aftermarket route.

Like I said, I must be mad but I'm sure any petrolhead who drives abroad frequently can sympathise smile I'll find out for sure next week if this works and then, if anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll send over the contact details.

(Should make vMax marginally more worthwhile too!)

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w5pwr said:

Is this only available with the CP pack?

I'm pretty sure it'll feel exactly the same, and no, I don't think this is exclusive to the Comp Pack but I will check next week.


As for the amount of limiters, the F series cars also have a couple (for when one isn't enough to save us silly owners from ourselves ). The software is set at either 155 or 190, and with the latter fitted it's apparently easier for tuners to remove it altogether. However, even with the software limiter removed, there's another in the gearbox set at around 292mph.

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That'll be 202mph!

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JMBMWM5 said:

Thats quick, are the rear seats actually usable?, I ask as I may just go M6 next after this LCI M5 is a year or so old. Thanks and looking forward to your findings.

M5 should be similarly quick I'd imagine. I'm sure there's not that much weight/aero difference.

I saw your post elsewhere about rear seat space and it's a difficult one - personally, I think it's too small for adults.

However, I have had adults in the back for up-to a couple of hours at a time and it's tolerable....just not sure I'd swap a perfectly decent M5 for an M6 if carrying rear seat passengers was a regular need. I don't typically have this need, hence I bought the M6....if I did, I would've bought something else.

RichardM5 said:

I'd be interested to know exactly what you have to do to get the M Drivers Pack. I assume there is some sort of course at the track and certificate that you have to present to the supplying dealer or some such?

I think you just need to pay for it Richard. And if you live in the UK, be prepared to travel to someone prepared to do it! So, whilst I get the track day and tuition in the price, it's not mandatory that I actually do it - if I don't, it's transferable to the next owner. I am 100% certain this won't be getting transferred though

I'm sure BMW feel they have to offer this tuition as part of the option, although it can't be legislation-related as you don't have to do similar when you buy an unrestricted car from a number of other brands. And this is potentially why the M Drivers Pack isn't available in the UK, because it wouldn't be commercially viable for BMW to provide such a facility in this country for what would be an extremely small volume of people who'd buy it.



I'm all confirmed and booked in for Wednesday morning

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The BMW dealer in Aachen - I'll get the appropriate contact next week once I've spoken to them face to face and am absolutely sure this works on a UK car.

BMW UK (& dealers) won't entertain doing this - in the main, they don't even know what the M Drivers pack is.

Cost is £2k, but would put over half of that down to the track experience. Indeed, I'd already set aside £1k for a 'ring track day in the summer (£550 for the track day, £450 to insure my car) - I won't bother now I get similar included in this, plus the added benefit that I don't have to use my own car. Man maths therefore dictates this is costing me £1k



As for acceleration Andy, I have yet to drive anything quicker above 100mph, and I've had some fast enough cars.

I thought I was imagining it (you always forget how quick previous cars were) until I saw the results of a test done by a German magazine with the M6 vs GTR, 991 TT and R8 V10 Plus. Heres the results I've lifted off another forum





0-60mph - the M6 was slowest
0-125mph - the M6 was second slowest (beating only the R8)
Then....
0-186mph - the M6 was 2nd fastest, just 0.7 seconds behind the 991 TT. The most incredible stat is being nearly 25% quicker to this speed than an R8 V10.

Above 125mph, nothing was as accelerative - even the Porsche was a second slower from 125-186mph. Again, I imagine the same applies to M5.

All totally irrelevant to 99.9% of the time we use these cars but concurs with how it feels on that 0.1% of time we can enjoy such things!

Edited by Palmball on Saturday 12th April 00:01

[Palmball]

Speed limiter successfully removed . Well, sort of....it kicks in again at an indicated 195mph

The car is outrageous; I've said it before, I'll say it again - there's little this side of a hypercar that's as quick above 120mph - this M6 pulls strong right through the 180's, with the digital speedo still gaining speed in 2-3mph increments. Only above 190 does the gain slow to single increments.

It's so quick that, in a 400+ mile journey between Aachen and Berlin this afternoon, it was easy to see the other side of 190 on numerous occasions - as I only dare attempt it when visibility is guaranteed and traffic very light or non existent, that tells you how relatively little road you need to see those big speeds. After the constraints of driving it in the UK, it feels fantastic to repeatedly be able to rev it out in 3rd, 4th and then (in the high 180's) 5th, using the shift lights in the HUD to help you get the most out of it without taking your eye off the road.

The other stand out highlights are how composed it is at those speeds and the brakes. It's easy to criticise the M6's less than perfect body control on a typically bumpy B road (because it's not very good), but today really highlighted how the car has clearly been engineered for something else entirely. The level of control and surefootedness it has at speed is phenomenal...the firmness that upsets it so much at lower speeds gives this big boat an ability to control its body at the top end that some of my previous cars just couldn't hold a candle to (namely, all my Jags above 160mph and even the SLS once that got to the other side of 170 felt a touch wayward in comparison),

And those ceramic brakes just got better and better with use - repeated high speed braking in a heavy car with steel brakes usually ends in a degree of fade, followed by judder and noise. These ceramics just lapped it up time after time and felt superb.

All in all, it's great to experience and appreciate the car for what it's clearly been designed to do - it's totally wasted back at home (outside of it just being a nice car to punt about in), but worth it for the few times I get to enjoy it like this.

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ab80 - PM sent

HoHoHo said:

I drive to Berlin a couple of times a year (in fact to various parts of Germany frequently) and would love to have the limiter removed on my F10 M5 - unfortunately it would make little difference as I tend to be in a 3.5T van......... to be able to stretch the M5's legs would be bloody brilliant and I'm very jealous

As a matter of interest, what tyre pressures/temps do you start with and have you looked to see if ether increase significantly at those speeds?

How frustrating that drive must be as the A2 seems made for the purpose of driving fast

Anyway, tyre pressures - yes, I had the tyre pressure screen showing a few times as I was also intrigued. Firstly, as part of the M Drivers pack you get a new tyre pressure sticker for the B Pillar (I know, it's nothing but excitement here ) as the tyres need to run with 2.9 bar/42psi (nearly 35% higher than normal) - I guess there's a lot of additional weight from the downforce. I think I'll revert to the normal 2.2 bar for the UK or I'll probably wear the middle of the tyres out too quickly,

At speed, the pressures reached about 3.1 bar and the temps reach around 35 degrees which was about 5 degrees higher than under normal driving on the day.

I've also now read about the track day that's included and I'm impressed - it's the 'M Intensive Training' package (they offer various, this is one of the better ones) which is over one and a half days with overnight stay provided. It's not in an M6 but I'll take the M4 that they provide There's a few tracks in Europe including the Nurburgring GP but I think I'll be doing the Sachsenring as the dates suit better and it's a bit different.

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Kawasicki said:

Tyre pressures are usually increased for continuous high speed running to keep the tyre cool by reducing flex. Most road cars will have lift rather than downforce. It is also likely that the 2.2 bar tyre pressure is a comfort setting and that running the 2.9 bar all the time will not really cause wear problems, though it might save a few pence on fuel.

Thanks I also forgot about the economy angle Unlike other cars which can feel vastly different with such a large variance in tyre pressure, I can't actually feel much difference in ride quality with the M6 - probably because it's so damn heavy!

Fair point re downforce and in reality, I too would expect any road car to create lift - after all, it's not an F1 car or Ferrari/McLaren etc. However, almost without exception in any other car I've had, at high speed you can always feel the car marginally lose stability - the XKR-S was particularly bad for this above 160 (despite all the controversial aero that Jag added!) and my C63's the same above 170. The M6 felt nothing like that (at a much higher speed) so whilst it probably doesn't generate downforce, it certainly produces less lift than I'd have expected for what is, when all's said and done, a relatively 'normal' car.

Edited by Palmball on Tuesday 22 April 12:34

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manand38 said:

I've driven the autobahns many times, but find it difficult to get passed ~140mph before running into traffic.
Are you guys getting higher speeds driving in quiet periods?

It was reasonably quite - around 9-11am on a saturday morning so nothing like rush hour. It would be pretty suicidal if there was a lot of traffic.

But the car didn't need a lot of space to get up to that speed, although it didn't half take up space when travelling at that speed. 140-150 was (relatively) a gentle cruise

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Agreed, it's liberating! Not sure those that want a lower speed limit would quite enjoy it like us though

Traffic in rush hour or road works means the autobahns barely flow any differently to the UK, but outside of these times (middle of the day and evenings work well for me) it's no problem getting a consistent 150+ for reasonably long periods of time.

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HoHoHo said:

You should try driving back from Berlin (or wherever) in a 3.5T van on the Autobahn late at night.........

Lights approach from behind and it's not always easy to judge speed......

We've had one or two moments over the years when we've pulled out to overtake something going slower (we're always flat out at 95mph all the way home ) only to have the lights right on our tail having been a spec in the distance a minute or so ago :yikes

So it was YOU!!!