E60 M5 - Manual...but not in Europe?

[tazsura]

Just seen this article on autocar

http://www.autocar.co.uk/news_article.asp?na_id=222991

Are they serious? Have they got it the wrong way round? Manual in US..but not in Europe?

[Leadfoot]

I reckon this is a case of AUTOCAR getting it wrong again. Think about it, even in the U.S. the M5 isn't that big of a seller, it wouldn't make sense making it only available to the Americans and not the rest of the world.

[m3fan]

Maybe there just launcing the 6spd in the U.S. The U.S. is the number 1 market for BMW's M and Mercedes AMG.

[Charles DLF]

you guys are wrong, at least for 2007 the manual M5 will only be avalaible in the US, and it will most probably remain that way. People on the M5 board have started to receive manual m5s, and are very disapointed with them, since in a search of making things less complicated, BMW deleted several setting buttons (suchas power, dsc...), making the car less fun (i.e. no wheel spin for instance) My beleif is that BMW wants people to buy SMGs...

Any way, no manual gearboxes for european M5s...


Cheers

C

[Klint]

you guys are wrong, at least for 2007 the manual M5 will only be avalaible in the US, and it will most probably remain that way. People on the M5 board have started to receive manual m5s, and are very disapointed with them, since in a search of making things less complicated, BMW deleted several setting buttons (suchas power, dsc...), making the car less fun (i.e. no wheel spin for instance) My beleif is that BMW wants people to buy SMGs...

Any way, no manual gearboxes for european M5s...


Cheers

C

Charles is correct, this car was never intended to have a manual gearbox. (It's why the E39s are the mutts nutts of M5s)

To protect the clutch and due to the low percentage of drivers in the states who are capable of driving a manual car for longivity, BMW have decided to have a Mercedes Benz ESP system in place that can not be switched off entirely. This dilutes the experience somewhat and makes the SMG a better propersition. The power button has gone but the P500 and P500S options do exist afaik through the I-drive.

Come resale the manual E60 M5s will take a big hit.

At the end of the day the S85 engine was never made for a manual gearbox.

[mr]

At the end of the day the S85 engine was never made for a manual gearbox

well ... when reading through the postings on m5board and finding members over there that have had the tranny of their m5 or m6 replaced twice ... well then i must say that it seems that the smg gearbox wasn't really designed for the that engine or they threw it on the market 1/2 year to early.
just my opinion.



rgds
mr

[rks838]

of note, the European market goes for automated manuals most because they are much more into Formula 1 than the U.S. buyers. Overall, Europeans drive more manuals, but the high-performance want to imitate their vision of high-performance driving, which because of Formula 1, has consisted of automated manuals for a long time and not true manual transmissions. The U.S. follows NASCAR (unfortunately...so boring), which still uses the good old clutch.

[Leadfoot]

I have also read that quite a few M5/6's have had to have their transmissions replaced. BMW like N/A engine because they usually produce a lot less torque than a turbo so the transmission can be smaller/lighter allowing the engine to be moved further back. But in this case they have went to far in the scaling down to the pursuit of weight with bad experiences for customers. Similar things have happened with M3 engines, so maybe Audi are right delaying the release of their RS models until the are 100% right because if the M models experience is the norm than rushing the models for sale would only hurt the brand as a whole.

IMO Audis RS models give an ora of unbust-ability that equals or betters AMG's. Something that can't be said about the BMW M's for all their Ultimate Driving Machine BS.

Best experienced from the back of a tow-truck.

[Audihead]

It is the demand for the car in their best market they are listening to.

"BMW North America has therefore bowed to customer demand and, as of next year, the M5 will be available with a standard six-speed manual gearbox with clutch pedal as a no-cost option.

Currently there are no plans to offer a manual gearbox in European M5s, but if demand is sufficient, BMW could change its mind."

Now you know what we have been experiencing here in the U.S. for years.