BMW M6

And if you will note there are a lot of other cars out there that have now copied the Bangle design rear end, especially the Japanese and Korean car companies...

 

Yup, I have noticed that................and they are all butt-ugly as well. They look like they are wearing a toupees as a trunk lid.

 

I have driven both the QP and of course my own M5 and I can tell from my 25+ years of high performance track event driving that the M5 sure feels faster...and, yes I have driven an Elise and it would likely outrun both an M5 and QP on a tight road course...but, not on a high speed track like my home track, Road Atlanta...

 

Of course it feels faster.............the M5 is faster.........in a straight line. Do you honestly feel the M5 handles and brakes better? Have you driven both cars on a track?

I didn't mention the Elise to compare it to a QP and M5. I was just making a point about how a car can have quicker lap times over cars with more power.

 

I've driven my M5 on Road Atlanta and the road course at BMW in South Carolina as well as some pretty curvy roads in the North Georgia mountains and the M5 does handle better IMHO...and on one track event there was a QP on the track but we never had any head to head competition... as to braking, the M5 specs list 60mph to 0mph in 112 feet...does anyone know that spec for the QP?

 

That test was performed by the same rag that decided before that M5 was a better car then F430....
Following their logic Qp beats 430 hands down....

 

I would certainly consider an M6 (the best looking of the newer BMW's) once they came out with the manual. I have driven the new M5 very nice car, not very good looking in my opinion but nice, but I have never liked the SMG or that damn idrive crap. Looks are very sujective, but I would imagine if someone is coming to a BMW dealer it is because they like the looks of the cars. I would not waste my time going to one just to say your cars are ugly. I have alway liked BMWs( in the last 4 years I had owned 540i, M5, Z4, M3, 745I) I just wish they looked better. I love the looks of the DB9 myself, looking for a used gearshift droptop right now.

 

BMW sales are on a roll now...so you're in the minority.

 

The M6 has always had a manual...the older version had a 5 speed stick and the latest version a sequential manual gearbox, a/k/a SMG....I love the SMG in my new M5 and can't imagine going back to an antiquated clutch pedal for a daily driver...the i-Drive is very easy to use as well...even my 8 year old can use the entertainment and nav portions with ease...

 

I just created a poll on the subject...........let's see how it turns out.

 

Enough said, love my M5.

 

A poll on a ferrari board isn't an accurate cross section of the population.

 

Maybe I should hire your 8 year old, I have to take the 7 back to the dealer just to change the clock. When I say manual I mean gearshift.

 

The fact is there is a waiting list on most of the M models, and in some areas they are still selling for over MSRP...so there must be a lot of people that do like them...including me...I had to wait about two months to get my M5 and it was not the one I ordered but one that the sale fell through on as the original buyer couldn't get financing...

 

I still fail to understand how anyone could find difficulty in using iDrive...it is so simple...just turn and click. I prefer it so much over all the buttons, switches and knobs other cars have all over their dash and console...check out a new Porsche...there are so many buttons, switches and knobs it is impossible to make adjustments on the go...with iDrive I can change things without even looking down...And, FYI the SMG does shift the gears, i.e. "gearshift"...

 

That's it.........make excuses before the poll really gets underway. What will you say if the results are favorable towards the styling?

 

i'll say the same thing...eventhough it's not gonna be the case

 

Every Aztek owner really likes their vehicle as well. Read up on random sampling...

Problem was the new 7 replaced a design that was hugely popular, even to the point of appearing in a James Bond film with 007 driving it.

And I think it would have sold very few units without the BMW badge on the hood. The car borrows from BMW's brand equity, and there's a cachet to owning the top of the line BMW.

I agree about the Z3. They've aged a lot better than the Z4, which needs to be re-skinned.

 

Given that the general consensus is that the new Bangled BMW's are hideous, I suppose that means BMW has been suffering serious slowdowns in sales! Most likely, they are on the verge of bankruptcy since the "general consensus" is they suck and out of all the masses of car folks you interact with, none have said they like Bangle designs.

Well, after a little research, BMW's sales increased over 10% in 2005 over 2004 sales. That doesn't really make sense since the general consensus is they suck and out of many interactions with car guys, not a single person has ever said they like the bangle designs.

Which leads us to one of two conclusions, one of which must be true

-The people who are whinging about the new BMW designs are not buyers of the car
-Only the malcontents are doing the whinging, the rest are enjoying their BMW's!

So I respectfully submit that either you are only talking to (or hearing) the whingers, or the people you are talking to are not buyers of the cars anyway. Who cares what little Joey down the street who rides a Huffy thinks of the new Bentley?

I also think Bangle has done wonders for the designs of BMW's. The new M5 is gorgeous in person, WAY better than the old one. The new M6 is awesome too. It's easy to pick at it with a few pictures but anyone who has seen the car, that I have been around, has said that it is a curvy sexy car. It looks great in person. The new 3 is the same - looks fantastic, and I'm glad I got one for my DD.

So that seems to be about 4 folks who love the Bangle-ized designs. It seems those who whinge about it are the ones who fondly recall their old junker 2002's and say "now there was a REAL BMW!" (whatever that means). I know few folks who are real buyers (read: capable of an willing to buy a luxury sport sedan) who think the Bangle-ized BMW's are crap.

 

Ask and you shall recieve. No lap times per se, but IMHO Evo's subjective ciriticisms are far more valueable anyway. http://www.evo.co.uk/cargrouptests/cargrouptests/67221/maserati_quattroporte_v_bmw_m5_v_mercedes_cls_55.html
You may need to register to read it, but here are some highlights of a comparison between the Q-port Sport GT, M5 and CLS55:

" Shepherd knows a good cross-country route, so we follow his lead and head up into the hills. There's a lot of snow, but the roads are clear, if a bit wet. Up here the M5 really comes alive, its big V10 filling its lungs with cold, crisp air and powering us though the snowfields with a feral bark. The way it pulls through the gears is dizzying, each upshift sustaining the squeeze on your torso. The Maser can't live with this kind of savage power, though it doesn't fade too far in the mirrors. However, when we get to an inviting sequence of broad hairpins, the M5's more aggressive set-up, quick-witted M diff and truly switchable DSC system make it a riot to powerslide. It might not have the bespoke exclusivity of the Maserati, or its mature feel on the autobahn, but it certainly knows how to attack a country road."

" Indeed, if the Sport GT had the pliancy and measured poise of the standard car, together with its superior progression and feel, such uniquely satisfying dynamics might have compensated for its very obvious lack of grunt in this company. As it stands, however, the M5's sharper, tighter and more polished damping highlights how wrong Maserati has got its chassis modifications, and the seismic shove of AMG's supercharged V8 makes the Maser's naturally-aspirated engine feel embarrassingly gutless."

" No-one is more disappointed in the Sport GT's showing than us, especially as we've championed the Quattroporte so vocally in the past. The truth is we're still huge fans of the standard car, but it's a great shame that the Sport GT modifications prove the old adage 'less is more' so conclusively.
The M5 is an odd one. Polar opposite to the Maserati concept of flamboyant style and exclusivity, its gritty, hard-edged delivery makes it the sharpest tool in the box when you get to challenging roads, but that uncompromising approach does limit its ability to cosset on a long journey."

On a final note, they liked the CLS the best.

 

So using your link to the comparison test, they had a comparison table that listed the Q-P's and M5's lap times as being identical at 94.85 seconds, whereas the Benz lagged behind. So using that info, a car with 105bhp less lapped in the same time.

Very impressive for the Q-P.

 

While I think the new AMs look great, the problem I have with them is there are so few dealers that if you were out of town and had a problem where would you be able to get a repair done? For a weekend toy like a Ferrari, that is no big deal...but, for a daily driver it is...that's one of the many reasons I choose a new M5 over the Maserati QP...also, the BMW 50k free service that includes everything but gas and tires is a big bonus for a daily driver as well...