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Lyndon Conrad Bell | 9/6/2007 | BMW
The 2006 BMW M5 defines an entirely new paradigm. It’s not rare for a car to be fast, comfortable and handsome. But to achieve true greatness, a car needs to perform exceptionally well in all of those areas and still offer more. And on that score, the new BMW M5 delivers - huge.
Yes, the 500
horsepower V10 engine with its 8,000 rpm redline is impressive. And
yes, the seven-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox breaks new ground. But
the most notable thing about the 2006 BMW M5 is the way it seamlessly
incorporates those ultra high performance attributes into a package
that carries five people and their luggage in absolute comfort, supreme
luxury and reassuring safety.
Additionally,
the 2006 BMW M5 bristles with technological advancements. The M5’s
operating dynamics can actually be custom tailored by its owner to
deliver vastly differing performance attributes at will. You’d like a
soft suspension to go along with mild throttle response and smooth
shifts for your day-to-day driving? Simply pre-program the BMW M5 to
operate that way. Do you prefer all out handling, lightning fast shifts
and great honking performance from the engine? Lock in those variables,
and at the press of a button, the M5 will instantly transform itself
into a land-based guided missile. Looking for something in between
those two extremes? The M5 will accommodate that desire as well. In
fact, the M5’s performance is infinitely variable between those two
extremes.
To
encompass what BMW has achieved with this car, most other manufacturers
have to build at least three distinct models. With the acquisition of a
single 2006 BMW M5, you can actually get many different cars for the
same money.
BMW M5s have
technically been with us since 1980, when BMW introduced the M535i to
North America. However, the first car to be labeled simply “M5” was
introduced in Germany in 1984. That car crossed the Atlantic in 1988
with a 256-horsepower, inline six cylinder engine. Eighteen years later
finds us in awe of an M5 that delivers 500 horsepower from a V10 engine
redlined at 8,250 rpm. Acceleration to 60 happens in a scant 4.5
seconds from a dead stop.
A
close relative of BMW’s Formula-1 racing engine, the M5’s V10 is
outstandingly smooth in operation. The engine serves up a suitably
hormone-stimulating yowl at high rpm, and yet is civil enough to leave
your passengers blithely ignorant of the death-defying potential that
lurks just on the other side of the M5’s dash.
Designed
to wind, the S85 (BMW’s internal designation for the powerplant) makes
its peak power at 7,750 rpm. The comparably “modest” 383
foot-pounds of torque are produced at 6,100 rpm. This provides the car
with more than enough torque for extreme quickness off the line, but
leaves it with enough headroom to wind delightfully as it goes about
the business of converting petroleum into high velocity.
A
technological masterpiece, the M5’s V10 boasts separate, electronically
controlled throttles for each cylinder, an extremely high compression
ratio of 12.0:1, knock-sensing sparkplugs to handle the high
compression, and a G-sensitive lubrication system that always insures
an adequate flow of oil to all moving parts, even during the
exceptional cornering maneuvers the 2006 BMW M5 is capable of executing.
A
central computer manages all of the engine’s electronic functions. The
same device also communicates with the Sequential Manual Gearbox and
incorporates the MDrive functions that allow the driver to select
varying performance parameters to tailor the car specifically to the
task at hand.
The
M5’s new seven-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox is the first
purpose-designed SMG employed by BMW. It is lighter and more compact
than the unit it replaces, even though it has seven forward gears,
compared to its predecessor’s six. The transmission offers 11
driver-selectable shift programs ranging from boulevard mild to
racetrack wild. The new SMG incorporates automatic downshifts, over-rev
protection, slip control, and a start-off assistant that prevents the
car from rolling backward on a hill when starting from rest.
The
2006 BMW M5’s suspension system incorporates a special version of
Electronic Damping Control that is driver adjustable; as well as
Servotronic steering with two levels of power assist. The front track
is narrower than the standard 5-series’, but because it wears a wider
tire and wheel set, its footprint is actually larger. The EDC allows
the driver to select either comfort, normal or sport suspension
settings.
MDrive
puts 279 combinations of control settings at the driver’s disposal. It
gives you control over power and throttle response, transmission
mapping, the suspension system and the stability control system. You
can set all of these parameters to be as aggressive or as sedated as
you please.
The
brakes are the largest, most powerful ever fitted to a 5-series BMW and
incorporate disc drying and a standby mode. In wet weather, the
calipers will graze the rotors very lightly every so often to dry
excess moisture. This enables your brakes to remain dry and maintain
their effectiveness. The standby mode automatically poises the brake
pads just above the surface of the rotors when you lift off of the
throttle abruptly. The system equates a rapid lift with an imminent
emergency stop, so the calipers pre-set the pads in anticipation.
With
all of these electronic aids and variable parameters, one would expect
the M5 to deliver an automaton driving experience. Nothing could be
further from the truth. At speed, the car feels absolutely alive in
your hands. The steering communicates readily, the tires and suspension
speak very clearly to you about the road surface, and the brakes are
powerful enough to defend against a Navy SEAL Team.
The
SMG’s shifts do take some getting used to, as it isn’t as smooth as an
automatic transmission. In fact in some of the more benign modes,
shifts can take on an awkwardness, not unlike someone just learning to
drive a manual transmission. However, in the more aggressive modes,
shifts happen quickly and with more smoothness.
Overall,
this is a perfectly balanced car that you can drive hard with total
abandon, confident that it is your willing partner in controlled
mayhem. Conversely, it also has a respectable side that absolutely
defies the outrageous performance to surface unwarranted.
The
finest leathers and the most sumptuous carpeting BMW could find
upholster the interior. A full leather option enables you to swath
practically every surface inside your M5 with the material. BMW’s
highest performance audio system, incorporating Logic 7 surround sound
and digital signal processing further enhance the M5’s cabin.
Adaptive
Xenon headlamps that swivel in concert with the steering wheel, Park
Distance Control, auto dimming mirrors and heated front seats are all
on the list of standard features. Soft-close doors, first seen on the
7-series, mean you need only to pull the door up to the frame, at which
point an electric motor takes over to close the door the rest of the
way. The heated, multi-adjustable (naturally) front seats can be set to
automatically inflate and deflate their side bolsters during cornering
to help keep you centered in your seat when the M5 is in full attack
mode on a winding mountain road.
Yes, BMW has gone and created the perfect car––sort of.
For the record,
we love this car. The thing is, when you initially acquire the car, you have to be ready to dig deeply into
the iDrive’s sub-menus while thoroughly thumbing the owner’s manual to
set the new M5 up the way you really want it to run.
The
good news is that once you’ve hit the books and put in the time, you’ll
be rewarded with your own personalized, absolute ultimate driving
machine. And you only have to do it once, after you've locked in your preferences they're immediatel available at the touch of a button. Of course, with so many combinations available, odds are, no two M5s will
ever be set up identically by their respective owners.
This, of course, begs a few good questions.
1. Does anybody really need all of the performance this car is capable of generating?
2. Why is it so much trouble to learn how to program the car to do so?
3. Why on earth are there so many different combinations available?
4. Why couldn’t BMW just set it up for comfort, aggression and
outrageousness, give you a single button to push to choose one of those
three parameters, and call it a day?
Of course, most good questions are typically answered with questions...
To
wit: Why do some people just buy clothes off the rack, while others go
for the tailor-made garments that fit their bodies specifically?
Ultimately, it’s
about more than just money or ability. It’s about having it exactly
like you want it. And frankly, if you can afford the $81,895 it takes
to put one of these up under you (plus the $3,700 gas-guzzler tax), you
deserve to have it your way.
If that’s what you want.
The 2006 BMW M5 may well be the perfect car, but it also proves that even perfection comes with compromises.
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