While still wishing for a faster shifting SMG, I headed for the rural hills
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| M5's cabin isn't at all like a race car, it's comfortable and quite plush. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
on my day's voyage - I actually took a full day away from the editorial desk to fully road test this car. As mentioned, the weather didn't cooperate, with a rain that came down so powerfully at some points that I couldn't help but pull back a touch when tackling winding corners. On the positive, however, the thoroughly soaked road conditions helped me to experience just how capable this suspension system is; assisted by various electronic aids, mind you.
First
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| No wood, but plenty of carbon fibre and aluminum. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
and foremost, the M5's dynamic drive (active roll stabilization - ARS) offers amazing maneuverability at all speeds, making it one of the most, if not the most agile sedans currently available - Maserati will contest this, saying that they've lapped a number of tracks faster in their Quattroporte, despite its 100+ horsepower deficit. Nevertheless, it is relatively easy to negotiate in tighter areas, like parking garages and while parallel parking, while it is stunningly capable in the corners and incredibly stable at high speed - which is rather important at the M5's 155 mph rev-limited top speed, or even more critical if, like many, you were to chip the super-sedan to achieve its actual unlimited 205 mph maximum velocity.
Dynamic Drive, by the way, effectually flattens out curves, adjusting
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| DSC III, electronic damper control, variable torque-sensing differential lock, and these cool engine vents... they're all a part of the M5. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
to road surface imperfections virtually before the actual bumps and dips occur, therefore the M5's ride is not only smoother than some competitors' super-sport sedans, but its handling is otherworldly. Along with Dynamic Drive, the M5 also incorporates DSC III with two selectable driving dynamics programs, Electronic Damper Control with comfort, normal and sport modes, and a variable, torque-sensing differential lock.
While the M5 takes advantage of these electro-mechanical driving aids, also available on lesser models, each, like the reworked 5-Series suspension, has been modified for the specialized sedan's higher performance. Uprated brakes have been added too, featuring twin-piston aluminum sliding calipers, resulting in 100 km/h to standstill in only 36 meters (118 feet). And believe me, the feeling of applying full binders from high-speed is almost as thrilling as reversing the process. Even in the torrential conditions, with rivulets cascading down stretches of pavement, the M5 made no excuses when panic-like braking tests were performed.
And with such high thresholds of performance, it begs the question:
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| With power comes a price, a hefty curb weight price. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
is BMW's M5 the best sport sedan in the world? I would have immediately said yes to this question four years ago, after spending an equal length of time with the previous iteration. In many ways, six manually actuated forward speeds being some of them, I still like it more than the new one. Sure the old car didn't have as much real metal trim inside, nor did its seats actively embrace your backside as the new M5 takes on corners, the mechanical equivalent of a girl on the back of your sportbike holding on for her life as you wind your way up California's Bouquet Canyon. That feature was pretty cool, by the way, and for those who find it distracting, can be defeated, but back to the argument I'm building on behalf of pure simplicity in sport sedans, the 2006 M5 is a geek's tour de force. If you've made big money coding high-stakes poker websites or masterminding a cure to the virus that your online-buddy created in the first place, this high-tech machine is for you. If you're less turned on by electronics and more into the pure sport of driving, well, it's still an insanely fun vehicle, but I'd stick with the old M5. Overall the previous-generation is more hands on, but not because the new car is all that much heavier. Actually, BMW should be commended for adding all of its electronics while increasing weight by a mere 4.5 kilos (10 lbs). Still, the new M5 hits the scales at a gluttonously overweight 1,830 kilos (4,034 lbs).
