Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Official New Car Reviews (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/)

-   -   BMW M5 : Driven (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/130677-bmw-m5-driven-3.html)

I re read the entire review and I was wondering if there is a true competitor to this car in India? Does Mercedes sell the E63 AMG or Audi sell the RS6? If yes, can we ever have a side by side comparo?

I think if TBHP can start doing comparo reviews, it would be supremely beneficial to the readers and followers of the review threads. I guess it won't be as straightforward as most cars are provided to tbhp by the manufacturer to review and write about and then it will purely depend on the manufacturer to send competition cars also. Side by side expert comparisons, we should have it!

Excellent India-specific review of the M5. Journalists all around the world are all praises for this car, it's a refreshing change to see a very modest and practical approach to this car digging in way beyond the fact that it has 4-doors and proper space at the back. The 530d for all intents and purposes seems to be all the performance you need for the occasions when you really need to let your hair down as an enthusiast in our country. Besides, it's now offered with the M-Sport trim as standard which just makes the deal much more sweet.

I'd like to quote Clarkson on this car - "Earlier on you'd pay the extra difference in the price of the M5, because it was that much better than the regular 5-series, but now the normal 5-series is so good, it's hard to justify the extra money. The 530d is an almost perfect car."

Add to that it runs on the dirty fuel, it's just win-win. The M550d x-Drive would've made a much more successful niche in India I feel, too bad it's available I LHD only.

As a car though the M5 is astonishingly engineered and does justice to the ///M legacy, but here in India, it's really quite more than a handful IMO.

Regards,

Good one Rehaan !
No doubt this is 1 heck of a good car but i still continue to miss the e60. That felt like a purer ,rawer M. I remember seeing what the f10 M5 did to the XF-R and E63 in a 1mile drag on some video. Convincingly beat them.
Now all thats left is the C7 RS6. Just released in Avant and has identical power to the M5 @ 560hp. They claim a 3.9 to 100.
Boy oh boy this is going to be 1 heck of a rivalry

Thanks for sharing a great review Rehaan. The M5 in that blue shade looks absolutely stunning. And I love the subtle details on the F10 M.

But when I first heard about the Active Sound Design, the new M5 lost the cool factor. It comes of like BMW wanted to make a poser. So, what if the new V8 is not as throaty as F1 inspired V10? The V8 has other capabilities which the old one didn't have. BMW should have left the engine note alone and be confident about it.

It is a great all purpose car, nevertheless. Just disable the Active Sound Design.

I actually love the sound or the lack of it when that stupid tech is disabled.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM0xLja4Rt4

And this is how one can disable it. http://www.5seriesblog.com/2012/04/2...nd-technology/

Wow! This is some review, but where is the video mate? I was expecting tail-out videos with this one. And I do remember the amazing video compilation you do, hence am waiting... :)

This is where Motorcycles lets you have your cake & eat it too. If you aren't a good rider, it shall be fairly evident & the moment you try to play with it beyond your capabilities, it doesn't forgive you.

Amazing review dude, as if I am myself doing this test drive. I wish I had won a jackpot, then only I can get my hands on to this sweet baby ;-)

Keep up the good work..!

Believe me, you just don't realize its even there. Once you are in the car, the active sound is not intrusive at all and you will not even figure out when its coming from the speakers.

Superb review- as always Rehaan your attention to detail is amazing.

I had fun on this review (hopped for the brief Pune-Wai section along with moralfibre). My Swift holds its own against the big boy, wouldn't you say? stupid:

Hard for me to 'review' anything- was so much in awe of driving my first BMW (yeah, and it's an M5- something to tell the grandkids!) but it did feel marvelous having all that power and torque on tap. Felt even nicer when we stopped off the road and had petrol pump attendants shooting pics of the car with their mobiles and (probably) wondering which big shot I was lol:

Some of my favourite pics from the drive:

The sunroof-


A nice shot of the interior. It is truly stunning, the pics hardly do justice.


Driver's pleasure. Here moral looks a little amused to be stuck behind two lumbering buses-


And finally, a pic I will treasure for a while!

Awesome review Rehaan. Superb Detailing and valid plus and minuses

I too agree that the price is way too much especially when you can buy an almost perfect beemer (530D) for half that price. M5's new pedigree looks a bit more cosmetically better than technologically.

Btw, this blue seems to be the in-color with most manafacturers these days. And, I cant say iam complaining

P.S: Noop and MF, you lucky fellas. if this continues, I too will soon shift to Mumbai or Pune:D

It takes a lot of self control! And when you do let her loose, you need to make sure that you don't get carried away, as you'll need to rein her in soon enough.

Sadly the MT is a dying breed. BMW has actually been very good at offering their cars with a stick shift (however, in the M5 i'd probably pick the DCT - but in the M3, the stick).

Can you believe that Ferrari and Lamborghini no longer make any MT cars!! The last one produced from their stables was a 550-2 Gallardo.



I saw a Space Grey one on Peddar Road in Mumbai last month.

I actually included them all in my review, as this is a shorter "Driven" review rather than a full-blown one!

Give it a quick search, i think we have a thread on brand perceptions etc.

cya
R

Yeah, i think i consciously left them out :D (not even sure i took the picture)

You can take a look at the 525 and 530d reviews i linked to. Its the same thing, but with different upholstery.

BMW and Merc have been working hard to provide their full range of cars in India. Respect to them for that.
The Ms and the AMGs are the halo cars for these brands too.

Is that the clincher? :D
I just L-O-V-E the sound of the E63 (and the C63). Its about 10x better than the M5 when it comes to the noise.

There's a lot more to the M5 than just the power figure.

There's a hundred other improvements, ranging from the all-aluminum suspension to the massive brakes etc. And then of course, the suspension.

Straight line the tweaked 550i might do it in, but as an overall package i don't think it would really match it.

I think there's two parts to it, with the first one being much more important:
1) Correct support from the seat. This includes lumbar support, seat height, under-thigh support and seat compound
2) Suspension. If the seats are excellent, this is not a major concern. However, if say, you're sitting on the rear seat, you'll be doing a lot more harm to your back in a Santro than you would if you were in an Innova.

Check this out for something of an AMG report :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super-...-launched.html

I think it was him or someone else who said that for the price of the M5, they'd rather pick a diesel 5-series and a 1-series //M for the same price. If i was limited to BMWs, I'd agree.

+
+
I was planning to make a video, but i had some really really rotten luck with my video cameras!

I do however have some footage. I'll try to string it together into a short clip -- but give me some time to get it done!

cya
R

I can be pretty sure it wasn't Clarkson or either of the boys. However, that statement does really make sense albiet if one is limited to BMWs as you mentioned.

However, In his DVD Powered Up (2011), he does mention that the best car launched in 2011 is the BMW 535 M-Sport Diesel (Estate) and the most fun car & his favorite is the 1-series //M.

Regards,

Amazing review of an amazing car. The M5 is a true wolf in sheep's clothing, just as the 520 D which I test drove is a sheep in wolf's clothing. Driving an M BMW someday is truly a dream that I have, and you are lucky to have lived it, and we are lucky that you brought it to us.

As an aside, I don't know why BMW does not offer the 528i in India - it would likely be a lot cheaper than the 530D and would be great fun to drive (at least as per my 328i experience).

Team BHP has the best, most detailed reviews I have EVER read. Keep up the great work guys. Love this forum. My dad has a 325i (previos gen) and it's an absolute pleasure to drive. Only complaint of mine is the amount you have to press the throttle to get acceleration. I would have liked more torque delivery for less throttle pedal travel. So im glad to see that can be modified somewhat with the new M5.

Rehaan, absolutely brilliant write-up! :thumbs up

Fantastic attention to detail. And excellent photography to boot!
Bookmarked this thread to read again, later.

The M5 is no doubt a special car. I just hate how massive BMWs have started looking these days. The thought of a modern day E30 M3 makes me... have a crisis! :D