The "old" M5 is beautiful. The newest M5 is hideous. What were they thinking? Take a look at the CL65 (and SL65) due to arrive in August. 604HP and 738lbs of torque! This car will be insane! And it is, in my opinion, a beautiful car. http://www.mbusa.com/main/container.jsp?/future/cl65/index.jsp&menu=3
THe old M5 was a wicked performer, and now they have knocked 25 seconds off the Nurburgring lap? Thats insane. I also think it looks like crap. That photoshop above is awesome. Those are the only two real problems with the asthetics of the car IMO, the eyebrow headlights and deformed kidney grill. EDIT: Its amazing how slight modifications to those two things can really throw off the whole car!
Mike I tend to agree with you on the topic. I do not like the new shape. The old shape is great! As for the Mercedes Benz's, that power will be AMAZING!!
Yeah, but the CL/SL65s are offered at ... 350k!!!! Yup. That's a crapload over msrp. Very nice car, but not at that price.
It's hard to compare the 65's to the *simple* M5. Those are Bi-Turboed V12's that are tuned to be torque monsters. Heck, the engines are de-tuned because the tranny can't handle all that power! M5 vs E55. Leave it at that, unless of course the E60 (bigger engined W211) comes out. But those are still rumors. As said before, the M5 better be whipping some serious Mercedes butt as they've had too long to plan a better, faster, more drive-able (sp?) car.
Ryan, I agree with you but let me quickly tell you about my experience with both cars. I purchased a 540i (couldn't get an M5 at the time) six speed and then got on the list for an M5. I waited awhile until the M5 arrived. I was about to trade the 540i for an M5. At the same time my dealer had a customer cancel their CL55 order. I decided to drive the CL55 the same day I was going to take delivery of the M5. The CL55 just blew me away. I have to tell you, there is no substitute for HP and torque. The CL55 (493HP version) is amazing in terms of straight line speed. The M5 is lighter and handles better. It demands more of the driver. It was a really tough choice for me but it came down the fact that I already had sports cars and I decided the CL55 was, for me, a better every day driver. I had the CL55 at Road America last summer and my good friend had his M5. He is a really good driver, unlike me. He was surprised at how well the CL55 handled, and of course, he was really impressed with the power. I had the chance to drive his M5 alot and I was really impressed. The car handles/brakes so well and has more than adequate power. It's just a blast to drive. M5 vs. CL/SL 65? Tough choice. Two different cars. Two great cars. BTW, I have both a CL65 and SL65 on order. I cannot afford both so I'm not sure which one to take. The SL65 is supposed to be at my dealer in a month so I'll probably take that car simply because I already owned a CL. The really cool thing about the CL55 is it is kind of a "wolf in sheep's clothing". I could pull up at a stop light next to Trans Am or Corvette or 911 and absolutely blow its doors off just be pressing on the accelerator. The look on the driver's faces was priceless because even many "car guys" don't really know what the car is or what it can do. I can only imagine what the CL65 will be like.
