RE: M5 (E39) vs. M5 (E60) vs. M5 (F90)

RE: M5 (E39) vs. M5 (E60) vs. M5 (F90)

Author
Discussion

B210bandit

513 posts

96 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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bigmowley said:
I loved the V10 and dare I say it the gearbox, it's just sublime in the fastest change mode when the nose of the diff bangs the underneath of the car on every gearshift, animal. .
Sounds like poor engineering rather than an admirable quality.

The photos of the M5s certainly show how cheap the interiors have gotten these days.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Younger folk in years to come when they are old will moan about new cars and claim that this latest car is the best thing since sliced bread. Its nothing new.

av185

18,432 posts

126 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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dbhenshall said:
I wonder if you put the latest M3 up as the natural successor to E39 etc how it would compare ?
E90 M3 'manuel' 4door is the obvious comparable to the E39 M5.

Better looking, handling, steering, engine, less lardy.

Cheaper too for a much newer car.

Last of the proper hydraulically steered BMWs.

Guaranteed future classic.

PowerslideSWE

1,116 posts

137 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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av185 said:
E90 M3 'manuel' 4door is the obvious comparable to the E39 M5.

Better looking, handling, steering, engine, less lardy.

Cheaper too for a much newer car.

Last of the proper hydraulically steered BMWs.

Guaranteed future classic.
The e90 isn't that much lighter tbh, 3700'ish pounds or almost 1700 kilos, the same of near that of an e39 M5 anyways. Better looking? Nah, the E92 is handsome, the 4-door not so much, but looks are subjective, the engine is sublime but troublesome with rodbearings going down. Interior of any e9x is shockingly bad compared to the e39 of any flavor.

But I agree on the future classic part.

GT119

6,334 posts

171 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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TurboRob said:
Bit odd to completely ignore the F10 M5
I guess the F90 is an improvement on the F10 in pretty much every department using the same basic formula. I suppose the question is whether there is any aspect of the F10 which betters it offspring? I haven’t driven either so hopefully others can give an insight.

Walter Sobchak

5,723 posts

223 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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I have to be honest and say I've never been much of a BMW fan, but the M5 is a big exception for me, I nearly bought an E39 one back in 2010 but decided to go with an E55 AMG instead, which was a great car but I still regret not buying the M5.
The E39 M5, and the E39 in general(I did have a cheap 530d one) really were brilliant cars.

njw1

2,053 posts

110 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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The best car I've ever owned or driven was this beasty;



Even though I've no experience whatsoever of later M5's I wouldn't even entertain one as the e39 did everything so well, god I miss that car.....

Habu71

927 posts

190 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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It’s the torque of the E39 and the response that comes with it that sets it apart,the manual box is the icing on a very beastly cake.

I have never tired of it,one minute loping along in practically 7 series refinement with the unstressed V8 at barely tickover (still nearly 300ib-ft) the next you are dropping down a cog on your favourite road and that V8 comes alive and delivers a mesmerising quality of performance and noise that only the best engines in the world can and the car shrinks around you and seems to do whatever you want it to.it just never gets old.

Off the charts entertaining!


donkmeister

7,995 posts

99 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Article said "no car has better defined or dominated the super saloon segment since the turn of the century, or indeed since the very first M5 arrived in the mid-1980s"

I think an outfit in Affaltabach, and a smaller one in Bottrop may have something to say about that... I would suggest some chaps in Buchloe might take exception to your opinion of which car better defines the super saloon segment too! biggrin

I have had a soft spot for the M5 since I first saw an E39 M5 ripping through the Hatfield Tunnel in 2002, but the AMG E-class a generation older and slightly slower, was already burned into my consciousness after cycling past one rumbling away in the Kingston Bridge queue most days as a sixth former. Every generation from the W211 onwards, the AMG E-class has always been a step ahead of the M-division 5-series. The styling is subjective, of course laugh

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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donkmeister said:
the AMG E-class has always been a step ahead of the M-division 5-series.
In what way?

Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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PowerslideSWE said:
DoubleD said:
Its still a fat old thing though. Its amazing that the new car is just a passenger heavier.
True, even the old one is still quite a large car so it was never gonna be a light weight, the doors on the e39 feels properly bank vaulty tho whereas the doors on an F10 feels like they are made from papier mache.

The new car tips the scales at 2 tons tho, my e39 weighs 1720 kilos, poverty spec'd that it is so thats one rather chunky passenger wink
The e39 shrinks around you. It only felt a bit tight on very narrow B-roads. I doubt the same could be said about something the size of the F10.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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It shouldnt come as much of a surprise that a bigger car is, well.....bigger.

Edit

Just checked a website that lists both cars. According to that site its 10cm wider and 25kg heavier?

Edited by DoubleD on Sunday 16th December 16:53

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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njw1 said:

The best car I've ever owned or driven was this beasty;



Even though I've no experience whatsoever of later M5's I wouldn't even entertain one as the e39 did everything so well, god I miss that car.....
Given our garage stated you own/have owned an E39 M5 and an E39 540i and nothing else I’d agree it certainly is the best car you’ve ever owned - Strictly by model range definition too.

Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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DoubleD said:
It shouldnt come as much of a surprise that a bigger car is, well.....bigger.

Edit

Just checked a website that lists both cars. According to that site its 10cm wider and 25kg heavier?

Edited by DoubleD on Sunday 16th December 16:53
My point was that despite being a large car it doesn't really suffer for it like the modern equivalents definitely do.

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Patrick Bateman said:
DoubleD said:
It shouldnt come as much of a surprise that a bigger car is, well.....bigger.

Edit

Just checked a website that lists both cars. According to that site its 10cm wider and 25kg heavier?

Edited by DoubleD on Sunday 16th December 16:53
My point was that despite being a large car it doesn't really suffer for it like the modern equivalents definitely do.
In what way? How do they differ?

Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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DoubleD said:
In what way? How do they differ?
One of the biggest criticisms of the F10 was how big it felt on the road.

Definitely not a car where I've ever heard anyone use the phrase 'it shrinks around you'.

Edited by Patrick Bateman on Sunday 16th December 17:46

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Patrick Bateman said:
DoubleD said:
In what way? How do they differ?
One of the biggest criticisms of the F10 was how big it felt on the road.

Definitely not a car where I've ever heard anyone use the phrase 'it shrinks around you'.

Edited by Patrick Bateman on Sunday 16th December 17:46
Ah I thought you had experienced the 2 cars yourself



Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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DoubleD said:
Ah I thought you had experienced the 2 cars yourself
Would like to get the chance but unfortunately not!

DoubleD

22,154 posts

107 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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Patrick Bateman said:
DoubleD said:
Ah I thought you had experienced the 2 cars yourself
Would like to get the chance but unfortunately not!
Reviews are all very well, but I always prefer to try a car myself before I write it off.

Patrick Bateman

12,143 posts

173 months

Sunday 16th December 2018
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DoubleD said:
Reviews are all very well, but I always prefer to try a car myself before I write it off.
Who said I was writing anything off?

It's not unfair to say that what appears to be a relatively small increase in width can have a large bearing on how a car actually feels on the road.