Sunday, August 24, 2008

2008 BMW M5

After 600 miles, the M5 is still just as much fun as the first mile. However, some of the appeal has been lost due to multiple trips to the gas station. That V10 is thirsty ... but you tend to forget about that when you are winding it out past 7000rpm. It gathers speed unbelievably fast and sheds it off equally as fast considering how large it is.

Let's go over the car from the beginning.

The sticker price on this car is just shy of $100k ... is it worth it? If you are looking for an autobahn crushing family cruiser, then the answer is unquestionably without a doubt. The looks of the car have been claimed by many to be less than perfect, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I behold greatness here. The interior while new and modern not typical of BMW's of the past has won me over and finding things is easy and intuitive.

The iDrive system, that many hate... does not phase me one bit. I'm able to use the voice commands and the control knob easily. Maybe this is because I am a computer person, maybe it's just because I spent more than two minutes reading the manual and playing with it ... who knows.

Now the stuff you are really looking for ... the performance. How does this thing drive? It drive good. Thanks for coming reading. Just kidding. The car drives really nice and not too firm. Even in the hardest of suspension settings (there are three -- soft, normal and hard) it is quite tolerable. The power is intoxicating. Getting it moving takes a moment because well, it is heavy and mass requires power to move, but once moving... any sort of acceleration is only a flick of the wrist away. The seven speed SMG unit executes down shifts with lighting speed and up shifts equally as fast. The faster you want to go, the faster it shifts gears. At speed well in excess of common, the car continues to gather speed.

Does anybody need a car this fast ... no. Is it nice to have, you bet! There is nothing like having a car that can haul a family with luggage around and still be able to blitz a mountain pass when you want to.

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