[Turbanator]

Great report Vid .. these cars -M3 & M4 are same they take everywhere , I got opportunity to drive these at Chandigarh - unfortunately on regular roads - there was no test track ..

The M cars get a space saver vs the regular BMWs. Reason? The M cars don't use runflats:

X6 should have a space saver even in regular one , mine has one not sure if they have removed on new regular one though

[karan561]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I think this is the same car that I drove on the track.

Yes, we drove the same car

Here's another picture i'd taken of the M5 which i drove;

[amansanc]

Would have been a great experience driving these beasts on the track. Got a chance to drive a car on the same track some months ago. The only difference was that it was a Nissan Micra CVT and only on a small part of the track But, it was still a lot of fun. Would love to ride a bike on this track someday.

[deetjohn]

Brilliant report there Viddy. Thoroughly enjoyed. Wish the circuit was bigger. Too bad BIC is too far up there.

Any idea why BMW used the Diesel as the pace car?

[snan]

Thanks for sharing the pics and experience. Though a fan of the Ms, I cant help but stare at the i8 ! If that is what future of automobile is, I am not complaining even if it means less of petrol grunt. What a beautiful creation !

[SreeT]

Excellent Write-up Sir! So much detail and I have to say the pics induce so much droll! BMW already makes quite handsome cars and the M is a(n excellent) cherry on top!


About the LED reflectors- Reflectors are cheaper than lenses as I believe making lenses is a difficult process, also I think reflectors are more accurate than lenses (condenser I believe it's called); but I might be wrong. And since LEDs need to be cooled, a single powerful led is difficult to cool than a bunch of them spread over an area. But the new Audi A6 seems to have many small LED w/ lenses for the low beam and reflectors for the highbeam as seen here. And IMO, Reflectors look way cool as they can be designed to be wide and short- e.g. the new XC90. Gives it a menacing look I think

Edit: I just read up that reflectors can produce complicated light patterns here.

[Par_neon]

Excellent write up
and thanks for posting the driving video... the jerky movement of the water bottles gives a good idea of the involved forces.

[renegade004]

I couldn't help notice the 'Off-road' button in the X-series M cars. Can any one give me an idea as to what function the button performs and how the off-road performance of the X5 M and X6 M compares against the regular X-series cars? All I know is that all BMW X-series cars are fit only for 'light' off-roading.

Also, should the BMW X-series cars be referred to as SUVs or cross-overs?

Please pardon my ignorance!

BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the race-track performance of these lovely cars. The only observation I have to make is that any one who wants to push these cars to the limit should perhaps replace the stock tyres with high-performance ones first.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by renegade004

I couldn't help notice the 'Off-road' button in the X-series M cars. Can any one give me an idea as to what function the button performs and how the off-road performance of the X5 M and X6 M compares against the regular X-series cars? All I know is that all BMW X-series cars are fit only for 'light' off-roading.

Also, should the BMW X-series cars be referred to as SUVs or cross-overs?

Can you tell me where you saw "Off-road" button? I don't remember seeing it on the X5 M or the X6 M. The button on top right with "OFF" written is for switching the electronic aids such as DSC (Dynamic Stability control) OFF. It does the opposite of assisting you

BTW, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the race-track performance of these lovely cars. The only observation I have to make is that any one who wants to push these cars to the limit should perhaps replace the stock tyres with high-performance ones first.

The tyres were already high performance road tyres Pirelli or Michelin Pilot Sport. If you want to push these cars to the limits you just need lots of spare tyres.