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2018 F90 M5


i_love_cars

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While I enjoyed pounding the go pedal on the F10 M5, things started going downhill when a "sport sedan" came with soft-close doors. Granted the DCT is a fantastic transmission, I too would much rather have the manual and pure RWD. That shift knob has a lot going on! Otherwise F90's in general are pretty similar to F10's in my eyes. Curious to see what the Harris monkey has to say along with other reviews. 

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Personally I'm extremely impressed with the stats on the car. I can't say I've driven past M5s, but to my mind an M5 is the best car you can create with 4 doors and 5 seats. If you want a more precise driving experience you have other, smaller, cars for that. Let BMW go mad with awd and dct and see how fast they can make something this fat move.

Also that interior is absolutely stunning

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Guys, it's not even DCT, it's a steptronic trans.  True automatic with a torque converter and all.  That's stupid.  The bespoke engine thing doesn't bother me as much as they proved they can make a great M car without using a bespoke engine in the 1M.  The S63 was a great engine in the F10 and will continue to be a great engine in the F90 and we know they left gobs of power on the table when they put it in the F10.  The drivetrain seems like a good idea but i'll be interested to hear how it feels.  The M5 keeps getting heavier and faster but it was never meant to be a hardcore racer.  It's an executive sedan.  It was made to have really nice materials, cutting edge technology and a badass engine to impress your country club friends with.  I don't think the F90 is a particularly bad looking car, they definitely furthered the design language that started in the F10.

If I had $150k to go spend on a daily driver this would be a serious contender.

1 hour ago, Snap said:

 

For the price/size/performance Id rather have a Tesla

The switchable drivetrain is a great idea

Shut up with your electric car talk you robot loving asshole!

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Interesting. I actually think BMW is still way behind the curve on overall interior design compared to competitors, and I do agree with Chris that this is still reminiscent of the F10 which wasn't a horrible looking car on the outside. I'd take an E63 AMG wagon over an F90 all day long, though. It doesn't matter how much power BMW left on the table with the past use of the S63 - the odds are still in favor of Mercedes having the faster car, historically speaking. In the past, the M5 was the car you bought if you want something that can go 200 mph and be comfortable, but still have some attention to the road. AMG was the 200 mph and more luxurious with a stronger motor, but far less "driver-centric". As far as anyone with a brain can see, BMW is shifting the discussion away from driving experience and over to clinical results.

IMO the M5 struggles with its identity just like the M3/M4. The lines have blurred enormously across competitors. For many years these cars used to represent a specific staple and they were "it". They defined the idea of "perfect balance" of a car that had luxury, could handle well, and still be modestly fast. Look at all the cars these days that make the M4 look stupid. There are fewer competitors in the M5 level of car to compare against, but judging by the rest of BMW's higher end lineup results when compared with other manufacturers, the reviews haven't been stellar. They are lagging and I feel like with the specs on this new M5, they are chasing approval ratings rather than just focusing on what made M great to begin with and letting that speak for itself, which would undeniably bring a greater win.

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1 hour ago, i_love_cars said:

In the past, the M5 was the car you bought if you want something that can go 200 mph and be comfortable, but still have some attention to the road. AMG was the 200 mph and more luxurious with a stronger motor, but far less "driver-centric". As far as anyone with a brain can see, BMW is shifting the discussion away from driving experience and over to clinical results.

I think that's a really fair point, but hard to say for sure until you get to drive it. The leaked specs from a while ago suggested this generation actually lost some weight (or is staying pretty close after the awd system) because of the newer lighter chasis, and with the rwd only mode it could be loads of fun.

To me, the idea of it getting softer comes from the pursuit of no compromise, which is way up there on the reasons I love BMW. Any monkey with a wrench can make a bad car go fast, but BMW makes wonderful cars go fast. As they get better at doing so, going fast becomes easier for the engineers and the drivers, and you're left with something easy to drive. A fantastic achievement but perhaps a boring experience.

Personally I think I can look past all that and respect the car for what it is; Unique with the awd system, nice to look at, and ridiculously fast for its size.

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I will agree with you when it comes to interior design.  This looks like a giant step forward for the series but compared to competitors it's sad.  Look no further than Audi, I think they're interior design is gorgeous, the seats feel great and look bad ass and all of the touch points are wonderful.  Mercedes has always had a great interior and they only get better.  I always dealt with BMW's interior because it was drivercentric and I knew I was getting the best sum of all parts.  BMW really lost me when the center stack stopped facing towards me.

As far as driving dynamics BMW has always been the beacon of light that others hoped to attain.  I don't know that BMW has gotten worse but everyone else has gotten so good!  You talk about competitors to the F8x and you look at the Camaros and Mustangs running around the track and they are absolutely fantastic!  The other Germans still aren't in that realm but Mercedes has taken a leap in the power game and can most certainly run down an M5 in a straight line.  Audi is resting on it's trendy good looks as opposed to hardcore sedans. The other aspect of this whole thing is the market itself doesn't want a sedan.  SUV's are the thing to buy and as a company if you don't make what people are buying then you'll be left behind.  BMW is a business first and foremost, they aren't a boutique car maker anymore.  They have made no qualms about wanting to be the largest volume luxury car maker.  With that comes compromise to hit mass market targets.  This is what we have with the F90 and it's still not a bad car.  It's not a razor sharp track tool that can also take you golfing.  It's a status symbol that does everything kinda good.

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I see Audi Sx cars everywhere, rarely ever do I see someone using any of the car that it is. Is bmw trying to follow their car selling technique, idk. What I do know is that I don't see a lot of M cars. People drive M cars for a reason. It's completely up to bmw, if you ran a company and knew you could make more money you would. 

When people buy these cars. (By these cars I mean luxury sports car, M, S, Amg) they think wow this better then the rest of them. Well of course it is, it has different bumpers, side skirts, aero, interior, and other little things. Also it has more power and different suspension? "Oh it's the most expensive one... I'll take it"

These cars fall into a status symbol now not a driving experience. 

Bmw flew into the sun and got in front of the game, now everyone is caught up. 

The fastest way around the track is in a formula 1 car. Who is going to buy that? 

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