Paris, France. A beautiful city with a lot of culture and history. La Tour d’Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysées. All hotels are fully booked within a 50 km radius of the city.

But this wasn’t because of the beauty of Paris but for the Paris Autosalon. And the star of the salon was the new BMW M5. 

This Thursday the 23^rd of September I went to the official launch of the new BMW M5. BMW’s stand was one of the largest and must functional stands with three different levels, for a good view of the fair as well as different themes. BMW had big screen displays familiar from Geneva show in 2004, showing different product clips with appropriate background music.

The two different upper levels was not for all visitors and there you found Individual 1-, 6- and 7-series cars along with excellent food and drinks in the BMW Lounge. In addition to this, visitors with a sharp eye could recognize top-BMW personalities like Director of BMW Group Design (BMW, Rolls-Royce and Mini, BMW Motorcycles and BMW M) Mr Bangle and BMW automobiles design director Mr van Hooydonk.

The star of the stand was definitely the two new BMW M5 E60. After seeing the “Concept M5” in Geneva in March I and as well as the members had a lot of questions for BMW M.

Arriving at the stand there were two M5 E60, one in Silverstone II and one in Sepang Bronze. The thought behind these two different M5 was that one should appeal to the sporty driver and the other one should appeal to the luxury oriented M5-driver.

 

After five minutes I was greeted by the very friendly and professional BMW M employees. They asked if I didn’t know everything since last we met in Geneva 2004, which was nice to know that BMW M are interested in a dialogue with owners and enthusiasts.

 

I also met the person responsibe for the exteriour design of the M5 as well as the M Sport Package for the regular 5-series. We had a very interesting discussion, and some of the highlights I have mentioned below.

 

“BMW M does not want to develop their own design language but rather follow BMW current one.

 

For the rear diffuser of the M5 there is not much you as a designer can do. The air must come out there and engineering really comes first here.

 

Regarding the black inserts on the mirrors they are purely for creating a visual separation between the other models. The inserts were inspired from racing where you put different colours on the rearview mirrors in order to differentiate your car and easier spot cars in your team. You often see team have bright colours on the exteriour mirrors, and of course black is the best colour for the M5 for this.

 

The quad exhausts are of different lengths to follow the lines of the bumper and the rest of the car.

 

ACC (Active Cruise Control) is not an option and it would not fir the typical M driver. Also the sensor would take up alot of space (see the M Sport Package for the 5 series and if it has ACC it looks like a big hole in the spoiler.)

 

Front wheel arches are of aluminum and are widened 10 mm on each side. Rear is not widened. "Power Bulge" on the hood as the M3 is not needed since the E60 can "swallow" the engine with no problems. The M3 needs that space.

 

There is no plans whatsoever of different sizes of wheels for the M5 since bigger ones would be less comfort. Other designs could be a possibility in the future but that is just speculation. The silver colour was chosen instead of the Chrome Shadow of the past generation since it is easier to take care of if they are damaged. Chrome Shadow is very difficult to reproduce.”

 

After my conversation with the design responsible I immideatly recognized one person  walking with a colleague near the two M5: Mr Bangle. One of the most known designers if the last couple of years. I remember the fiest spy.pictures from the desert far away from the upcoming 7-series (E65) and I could not believe what I was seeing, also even after the 7-series has been launched I have had a very difficult time accepting the design. As much as I have had a difficult time enjoying the design of the 7-series I start to enjoy the 5-series design more and more, especially in the M5. It is the best looking 5-series there is. So I presented myself and congratulated Mr Bangle on what I said was the most beautiful product that have been released under his design direction. I then asked for a picture near the M5 and he would not mind was the impression I got of him. After the photo-session I told him the basics of the the BMW M5 community from all over the world I have and why I was in Paris covering it. After that I wanted to be frank to him and told him that the “Stop Chris Bangle Petition” was started by members on my site, but it is not hosted on my site. In mid-sentence I was starting to regret what I was about to say since I could assume (a bit too late) that this would not be received too well. After all, if somebody was responsible for over 10 000 signatures that you should be fired, you should’t be so happy either. And that is what seemed to happen. Immediately after I told him about the “Stop Chris Bangle Petition” he told me he had to go and looked on his watch and left, which was not the perfect scenario. I would have enjoyed to have a longer discussion with him, discussing past models as well as new models such as the 1-series which I think looks good, especially compared to competitiors in it’s class. Hopefully we’ll meet some other time and lately I think BMW has made progress in the design, especially the 1-series. But still there are alot of people including me that are very hesitant to BMW new design direction, and that begun with the 7-series.

 

After the meeting with Mr Bangle, I couldn’t have more luck. I met head of management for BMW M Mr Bruhnke himself. Mr Bruhnke took over after Mr Prommesberger retired after being a director for BMW M since 1994. Mr Bruhnke comes directly from a management position from Mercedes-AMG. Mr Bruhnke have been at BMW M since 1^st October 2003. I noticed Mr Bruhnke was in  a hurry since he brought a bag with him and ready to go back to Munich. Currently there are journalists in Munich testing the E60 M5 which I understand is also important to be present to. But he realized that the Unoficial BMW M5 Homepage had a lot of owners and enthusiasts as visitors so he was happy to talk for a short while.

 

Realizing that he was in a hurry I complimented him and BMW M for doing a great job with the M5 and I told him I would only ask him one question: why no manual gearbox? Mr Bruhnkes answer was that the first priority was to change gears fast, and the SMGIII will surpass any manual gearshifts. He also said that you can handle the SMGIII as a manual, shifting from the console.

 

Then I explained that some customers still want a clutch and complete control over it in a traditional way. But Mr Bruhnke told me that shifting optimally at 8300 rpms with manual gearbox will not always be 100% correct, you have the comfort with the SMGIII to shift with both hands on the wheel, you can use it in automatic mode and also the M5 would have had less power if a manual was offered. A manual would not have been impossible, everything is possible but for a cost. And that cost would not have made sense since the car was developed from the ground and up to have the markets best sequential gearbox, as close as Formula One without having to change it every week as the F1-cars do.

 

I asked if I could take a picture of him and he suggested we should be near the M5 engine and I suggested both the engine and the car. I thanked for his time again we shook hands.

A SMGIII clutch wil last alot longer than a manual, even when driven by professionals. Extensive studies on the M3 E46 with SMGII and M3 E46 with manual gearbox have shown that.

 

After the discussion with BMW M Manager I was ready to ask BMW M representatives some more detailed questions on the car, the questions gathered from the members of The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard as well as my own questions.

 

Problems with markup over sticker price is something BMW can’t do too much about since it is on dealer level. BMW M believes in BMW philosophy to do a launch of a car so that the supply is enough and the customers won’t have too long leadtimes. First BMW M starts to produce the European version, after that the European right-hand drive cars and last US-versions. The US-versions have to go through various US-specific testings that takes time.

 

There is no fixed date of a launch neither in Europe nor USA. Official answer for Europe is spring 2005 and “unofficial” launch of the M5 in the USA will most probably before 2006, so we’re looking at autumn 2005 unofficially for the USA launch. USA is still projected to be the largest market for the M5. For the record there never have been a fixed launch date for the M5, and the M5 have been produced since after summer but that have been pre-production cars such as presscars.

I got a short look at the BMW M specific I-Drive meny, M unique options and details. Sitting in the M5 and gripping the steering wheel felt very good. I can imagine the feeling when you start that engine and drive away, which must be an awesome experience. There is a choise of P400, P500 and P500 Sport in the I-Drive menu. However this can all be saved along with the three settings for EDC and if you choose to have DSC active or semi-active through MDM (M Dynamic Mode) so they are all activated by pressing the M-Drive button. The M-Drive configured settings are saved in the key, which you will have three of. P500 Sport has stiffer steering and more sensitive gas pedal, more or less like the old M5. You cannot change ride height, but the different EDC settings are adjusting all the time due to external variables.

 

The brakes of the M5 are the same story, they have to work for comfort, the pads should be able to work in everyday use, rain, witner etc. Cant be compared to Porsche since they have different weight distribution. Mercedes-AMG might have big brakes but the M5 will leave any AMG on any track in any weather

 

Regarding of BMW Individual official BMW M5 E60 brochures states these colours as possible choises for the exteriour: Sepia, Messing, Diamand, Dark Malacitgreen, Blue Onyx and Carbonblack.

 

Individual colours for the interior in Merino leather are: Individual colors Platinum, Light écru, Caramel, Champagne, Polargrey and Amarone.

 

I asked why only six Individual colours where available through BMW Individual, the ones listed in the brochure. The answer was surprisingly good: BMW Individual will deliver a car in any Individual colour the customer wants if only it adheres to BMW safety standards and it is technically feasible. For example very light leather cannot be used on surfaces near the windscreen (for example on the dash) since it gives reflections on the window that car cause disruptions to the driver.

 

Good surprise number two: any Individual oder or package is available to US-customers, it is only a matter of a more complicated dialogue with the dealer but it is certainly possible. There are already some Individual US-M5 in the order database.

 

Waiting time for Individual could if the planning from al parties are optimal (consumer, dealer etc) an extra two weeks as opposed to standard M5. But sometimes depending on how rare the options are it could take more time if for example the wood-panels are rare and takes time to manufacture.