[Magick Man]

How does the M5 fare as a daily cruiser? 

It's wonderfully brilliant in every single way. This one makes ~340hp, so it isn't stock, but otherwise it drives like it did when it left the factory. The gear shifts are short and sure, it has great throttle response, when set to Road the ride is firm but comfortable (with little body roll), the steering has great feel and is very precise, and it's quite capable of getting up and hauling ass when you put your foot down. Then there's the fact that it doesn't stand out in any way, only another gearhead would really know what it is. I like it very much.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Maybe we're getting a little numb to the incredible parade of vehicles we've watched you buy. It is fairly overwhelming!

I really don't know much about the history of the M-cars other than that they came out of the racing division of BMW. I remember seeing pictures of the 3.0CSL race cars in Road & Track when I was kid.

What has you so enamored by the M5? Was it another of your childhood dreams, like the Ferrari 318? One of my dream cars was an M635CSi.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

It's wonderfully brilliant in every single way. This one makes ~340hp, so it isn't stock, but otherwise it drives like it did when it left the factory. The gear shifts are short and sure, it has great throttle response, when set to Road the ride is firm but comfortable (with little body roll), the steering has great feel and is very precise, and it's quite capable of getting up and hauling ass when you put your foot down. Then there's the fact that it doesn't stand out in any way, only another gearhead would really know what it is. I like it very much.

Always something to be said for the "sleeper"....

 

[Magick Man]

Always something to be said for the "sleeper"....

Not sure I'd call it a sleeper, rev the engine and you'll raise eyebrows. hahaha

Maybe we're getting a little numb to the incredible parade of vehicles we've watched you buy. It is fairly overwhelming!
I really don't know much about the history of the M-cars other than that they came out of the racing division of BMW. I remember seeing pictures of the 3.0CSL race cars in Road & Track when I was kid.
What has you so enamored by the M5? Was it another of your childhood dreams, like the Ferrari 318? One of my dream cars was an M635CSi.

I'm not crazy, there's a reason. Trust me. None of these cars are getting any cheaper, but with the recession their value has... slowed for the time being. People need money right now, so prices are reflecting that. The economy is going to show strong recovery in the next couple months, especially when the 4Q reports roll in. Also car sales are lowest in the Fall and Winter. This Spring collector car values are going to skyrocket. My wife thinks I'm a little nutty, and so do some other people, but there's a method to my madness. I'll make as much as 15% on my car "investments" in 6 months, that's a killer rate of return. Not that I'm selling them any time soon.

No, the M5 wasn't a dream car, but I've been interested since I saw a 5th gear special on the older Ms. They claimed they're some of the best cars ever made, bar none. And you know, I think they're really on to something. billy, you were talking about a neat commuter car, one of these might be what you're looking for.

I think I'm going to trade the `12 Carrera S for a 2013. Since it's financed, they're going to let me swap pretty close to even, less 5%, because mine only has ~800 miles on it. But, the `13 has a manual and a few more toys, like a better sound system and voice control. The paint is the same color, think my wife would notice the change to a stick shift and red interior?

 

[Achmedisdead]

Only 800 miles? 

I would have put that much on it in a few days, given the opportunity. Then again, I haven't ever had the chance to drive something like that, so I'd go nuts...lol.

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

Not sure I'd call it a sleeper, rev the engine and you'll raise eyebrows. hahaha
I'm not crazy, there's a reason. Trust me.

None of these cars are getting any cheaper, but with the recession their value has... slowed for the time being. People need money right now, so prices are reflecting that. The economy is going to show strong recovery in the next couple months, especially when the 4Q reports roll in. Also car sales are lowest in the Fall and Winter. This Spring collector car values are going to skyrocket. My wife thinks I'm a little nutty, and so do some other people, but there's a method to my madness. I'll make as much as 15% on my car "investments" in 6 months, that's a killer rate of return. Not that I'm selling them any time soon.
No, the M5 wasn't a dream car, but I've been interested since I saw a 5th gear special on the older Ms. They claimed they're some of the best cars ever made, bar none. And you know, I think they're really on to something. billy, you were talking about a neat commuter car, one of these might be what you're looking for.
I think I'm going to trade the `12 Carrera S for a 2013. Since it's financed, they're going to let me swap pretty close to even, less 5%, because mine only has ~800 miles on it. But, the `13 has a manual and a few more toys, like a better sound system and voice control. The paint is the same color, think my wife would notice the change to a stick shift and red interior?

Im sure she wont just dont mention it and you will get away with it for a few weeks........ by then the Mclaren will have came and take her eyes off it 

 

 

 

[veyrongatti]

^^ Never mind 

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

The paint is the same color, think my wife would notice the change to a stick shift and red interior?

 
You should totally mess with her.  "I don't know what you're talking about honey, it's always been red..."

 

[veyrongatti]

Quote:

 
You should totally mess with her.  "I don't know what you're talking about honey, it's always been red..."

I dont know what you are talking about that stick is a decorative piece 

 

[Magick Man]

You should totally mess with her.  "I don't know what you're talking about honey, it's always been red..."

That's actually an awesome idea, man. I'm gonna do it.

 

[billybob_jcv]

If she notices, just say: "Oh look, the baby just took a step!!" Then jump in the car and take off...

 

[billybob_jcv]

Not sure I'd call it a sleeper, rev the engine and you'll raise eyebrows. hahaha
I'm not crazy, there's a reason. Trust me. None of these cars are getting any cheaper, but with the recession their value has... slowed for the time being. People need money right now, so prices are reflecting that. The economy is going to show strong recovery in the next couple months, especially when the 4Q reports roll in. Also car sales are lowest in the Fall and Winter. This Spring collector car values are going to skyrocket. My wife thinks I'm a little nutty, and so do some other people, but there's a method to my madness. I'll make as much as 15% on my car "investments" in 6 months, that's a killer rate of return. Not that I'm selling them any time soon.
No, the M5 wasn't a dream car, but I've been interested since I saw a 5th gear special on the older Ms. They claimed they're some of the best cars ever made, bar none. And you know, I think they're really on to something. billy, you were talking about a neat commuter car, one of these might be what you're looking for.
I think I'm going to trade the `12 Carrera S for a 2013. Since it's financed, they're going to let me swap pretty close to even, less 5%, because mine only has ~800 miles on it. But, the `13 has a manual and a few more toys, like a better sound system and voice control. The paint is the same color, think my wife would notice the change to a stick shift and red interior?

It doesn't surprise me that the early M-cars are the best - I'll bet the AMG and the Audi RS are the same story. Once the marketing dweebs get involved and push the engineers from the racing divisions back into their Morlock holes, the result will not be good for the cars...

 

[obobskivich]

I'm on a business trip, and I'm renting a car with Hertz. I'm a Hertz Gold member and Hertz was running some sort of special for renting a Nissan Altima 2-door coupe. Ok - whatever, it was the same price as the typical Chevy Cruze of Ford Fusion that I typically rent, so fine. I get to the airport and go to pick-up my car - and they gave me a Chevy Equinox. Hmm - reserve a 2 door coupe, end-up with an SUV crossover. Yeah, that makes sense. Why do companies even bother running nationally advertised specials like that? I made this reservation at hertz.com - they knew where I was going - and (I hope) they know what cars they have in inventory. Is it really that hard to manage their inventory? I made this reservation over a month ago - how about an email telling me "sorry, we don't have the car you reserved, here's what we do have, please choose one" I don't know why, but this irritates me - why is it that any service connected to travel is allowed to be so horrible?
As far as the Chevy Equinox - it is actually a nice vehicle. I was very surprised - it drives well, and it's quiet and comfortable. The rear-view camera is pretty cool - I've never had a car with that feature before. Chevy really is making some decent vehicles now - I'm pleasantly surprised.

Rental car companies hire the LCD of college grads and woo them with images of legitimate employment. I've yet to find a single one of them who's sales training doesn't include lying, cheating, or misleading the customer to seal a better sale (and that's unfortunately how sales training is done these days). Ugh.

And yeah, the Equinox is a pretty swanky car-ish-thing.

think my wife would notice the change to a stick shift

Let's ask the MG...

I'm actually betting she notices some other change that you/me/billy/etc are viewing as "trivial" - like let's say Porsche moved the turn signals around by .5", or changed the color of the brakelights slightly, or changed some dimension of the car very slightly, you know - something innocuous and minuscule.

That's actually an awesome idea, man. I'm gonna do it.

LOL!

If she notices, just say: "Oh look, the baby just took a step!!" Then jump in the car and take off...

This would also work.

It doesn't surprise me that the early M-cars are the best - I'll bet the AMG and the Audi RS are the same story. Once the marketing dweebs get involved and push the engineers from the racing divisions back into their Morlock holes, the result will not be good for the cars...

The Audi RS cars I would *not* say that about - they fall apart early and are incredibly expensive to maintain into the triple digits. I dislike Benz's for the same reason more or less universally (they're always expensive to maintain). BMW, especially older BMW, seems to actually care about making a car that will be driven more than 800 miles a year though. I've never much cared for the styling or the proprietary computers that require special "BMW technicians" (ha!), but they aren't terribad cars (at least everyone I've ever seen - mostly 300s and 500s, a few X5's here and there - never actually had or known someone with a 600 series, nor a Z car (I've actually never SEEN a Z car outside of car shows and dealerships - we have a few 100 series coupes that run around town, but no Zs)).

With the Audi RS cars its the multi-turbo fiesta that racks up the big bucks on repair charges. My understanding is the older (as in pre-marketing dweeb) Audis that don't have 2+ turbos hooked up to them are pretty reliable (and I see a lot of 1980s Audis trucking around in the snow, along with older Saabs and BMWs), it's just the newer "I wanna go fast" cars that ruin it for everyone.

 

[Magick Man]

It doesn't surprise me that the early M-cars are the best - I'll bet the AMG and the Audi RS are the same story. Once the marketing dweebs get involved and push the engineers from the racing divisions back into their Morlock holes, the result will not be good for the cars...

Well, they definitely find ways to cut corners and add a lot of things to make them "safer". The M5 doesn't have a lot of the new features they're putting on cars now, but it sure is a lot more fun to drive. That aside, I would rather drive the baby around in something like the Cadillac, Rover, or even the Mini, the Beemer does feel more fragile in comparison.

Let's ask the MG...

I just want to forget that, talk about a bad day.

I'm actually betting she notices some other change that you/me/billy/etc are viewing as "trivial" - like let's say Porsche moved the turn signals around by .5", or changed the color of the brakelights slightly, or changed some dimension of the car very slightly, you know - something innocuous and minuscule.

The only body difference is the shade of black isn't exactly the same, the current one is metallic while the newer one is the darker regular black, and the `13 has the clear European lights as an extra. She probably would notice that. They said they'd move my black wheels over to the other car, because I bought those aftermarket.

With the Audi RS cars its the multi-turbo fiesta that racks up the big bucks on repair charges. My understanding is the older (as in pre-marketing dweeb) Audis that don't have 2+ turbos hooked up to them are pretty reliable (and I see a lot of 1980s Audis trucking around in the snow, along with older Saabs and BMWs), it's just the newer "I wanna go fast" cars that ruin it for everyone.

This is a fact, repairs on turbo sports cars are scary, a friend of mine dropped 20k repairing his tuned 450hp Evo, and that's just a Mitsubishi. I'm itching over what the first major out-of-warranty repair for the 458 is going to run. I've heard it compared to passing a kidney stone. I wonder if my local shop can do it? He's worked on Italian cars before, probably can. Hmm...

 

[obobskivich]

Well, they definitely find ways to cut corners and and add a lot of things to make them "safer". The M5 doesn't have a lot of the new features they're putting on cars now, but it sure is a lot more fun to drive. That aside, I would rather drive the baby around in something like the Cadillac, Rover, or even the Mini, the Beemer does feel more fragile in comparison.

I'm guessing those newer cars also have airbags too.

The only body difference is the shade of black isn't exactly the same, the current one is metallic while the newer one is the darker regular black, and the `13 has the clear European lights as an extra. She probably would notice that. They said they'd move my black wheels over to the other car, because I bought those aftermarket.

Nice that they'll swap the rims for you. You should get a pic of the two together just for kicks.