m8 competition

Yea they needed a competition version of this car like a fish needs water.... ///Marketing again. BMW is playing catch up to Mercedes and Audi all day long. Did they take 800lbs out of it ?
 
Here's my review of the ///M5 competition:

Intro/build up to my ///M5 Competition experience (feel free to skip the paragraph if you want to read about the M5 only):

First and foremost I should say that an M5 has been a car to get for me.
A stepping stone in my list of dream cars.
As I got older, I have been taking a more reasonable approach to cars in general, but the desire for an M5 was always there.
It must be said as well that I have access to an F15 X5M. I drive this car often, for short and long distances. This is only to say that I am used to the power, and the "hurt your neck" lauches that this car can do.
The day I drove the M5 competition, I also drove an M550i first. I was REALLY impressed with the car. Never mind it's supposedly heavy nose with the V8, the car is very controllable in tight corners, rush steering changes, under acceleration and under heavy braking. At first it seems that the huge wheels with super slim tires are overkill for a "daily sedan", but once you get inside, experience the thrashing of the car, out of corner acceleration, and into corner braking, followed by cruising and driving around in comfort mode, the car really comes together as a package. It is just sufficiently rough and mean sounding when you want it to be, and it is smooth and silky comfortable when you just want to drive it for 500+kms. All in all, really impressed with the car. Also the deep growl of the exhaust in any setting, is for me sublime and classy.

Then it was the time to drive my "supposedly dream car #1". It was brought in on fresh tires, full of gas, washed an waxed to perfection. At first I took a moment to appreciate the look of the car, and what I was about to experience. The competition package differs little from the standard M5. It sits lower on stiffer springs, it has certain subtle design features and plastic inserts, but it looks largely the same.
When I got inside, I didn't rush to drive it off, but rather took time to look at the interior, and how it was different. Inside the car is really similar to the M550i, other than the fact that most of not all features on it come standard.
Personally, I am not a fan of the bright red M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel. I think it's too flashy for a car that is "supposed" to take you to work or visit/drive around customers to a restaurant. I much prefer the subtle M1/M2 buttons on the previous steering wheel: they do the same thing, and nobody will notice you switching between the beast mode and peasant mode (lol). I am really glad the dash is not yet the new BMW full on screen dash with triangular shaped dials. It is still a screen, with round physical countours. It is very easy to read, very intuitive, visual, while maintaining the classy rounded look. The touch screen is now actually usable, as they brought it closer to the driver.
As I was adjusting my seat and making myself comfortable for the "drive of my life" (lol), I noticed there were people gathering behind me to film the car's start/exhaust sound. When I fire it up, it sounds/gives you an impression of a short explosion followed by a deep, harsh growl down from ~2500 and down to 800rpm. "Come on, rev it up!" - is what I hear from the people in my rear mirror. I give it a couple of throttle kicks: the car sounds mean (we are not in sport mode yet), the engine is very quick to rev up, feeling like Mazda rotary engine in terms of speed. As I put the car is sport mode, the secondary flaps open up and the even louder, meaner growl is garnished with backfires that sound like gunshots. The entire impression on the driver that this sequence of events achieves (start-up and revs) builds you up even more so towards the drive. You're expecting a continuous orgasm from the entire experience.
As I drive out, I put everything back into comfort mode to further understand the car. Up until 60-80kph, everything feels normal, the car is quiet, the AC is cold, the seats are comfy. Having fiddled with the features, exhaust settings, and M1 preference menu, I put everything is Sport+ with AWD ON. I drive out and through an empty industrial area with large parking lots. I look at the instructor and ask him to specify the extent to which I can/could go nasty. I don't remember the exact wording of what I said or he responded, but he essentially told me to do whatever the fuck I want. While in Sport+ AWD I do a couple of launches. The car is quick. Having done these things before, I know that I am better off having my head against the headrest in the process. The launch is smooth, the car takes off, and the speedo climbs faster than you would think is possible. If you're not looking at the speedo though, it doesnt feel that quick or raw. Due to an overall lightenend chassis, suspension bits and wheels, the car is light and effortless to get to speed. Combine that with all the comfort and sound deadening, and the experience is even further worsened. It leaves you perplexed, looking for more feel and emotion, which you expected to follow from the car start and exhaust sounds. I then put the car in RWD mode, and launch the car several times from stand still, with and without left foot braking. Smoking up rear tires is a joke. The car has so much power, those Michelin Super Sports feel like butter spinning on a hot pan. I was halfway through a launch-burnout, which I abandoned early, and side-eyed the instructor, fearing that I was going to be asked to step out of the car: the guy was giggling his face off. I was left looking for more. The build up that I described earlier had no continuation. I put it back in AWD mode, and went through corners aggressively, accel/decel. The car's steering feels very similar (i'm afraid to say exactly like) the M550i. I saw no huge improvement, I saw no drama or tendency to oversteer more, both cars do it the same. This is all in Sport+ mode.
I went onto the highway - (now in comfort mode) this car's standard tires track the asphalt like there's no tomorrow. There is no way you will drive this to Toronto and arrive relaxed and rested - you will STEER the fucking thing the entire way there. The suspension is harsh (in comfort mode), it does not filter out anything, it bumps the steering left and right, if you have a half-full cup of coffee in the cup holder, it will spill on slightly un-even surfaces.
The conclusion I came to: this car does NOT do what an M5 should do (be great when you want to fuck around, and give you the thrills, while taking you home in peace and silence in comfort mode). It does not do either exceptionally well. It feels like a "happy" middle with a $ 40 000 dollar premium. It is not built to be the ONLY car you have, rather a weekend toy, because if you drive it every day on our roads, while you're not thrashing it - you will hate it. And that begs the question - why would you invest in excess of $ 120 000 for a car that will sit in the garage and has AWD??? I would much rather buy an M3 comp or a Porsche or a dedicated sports car of some sort for that purpose.
There are two things that I WILL give to this car:
-braking (it's instant, it's progressive, it's fucking crazy, it has nothing to do with pulling your face forwards, as car reviewers describe it, but rather, the balance of the car with respect to its weight and braking power is done so well, it is absolutely effortless to come to a stop from high speeds - all in all its impressive) and
-acceleration past 6k rpm. The m550i dies at about 6. The M5 comp keeps pulling to redline, where it gets a little bit exciting, however i felt that for better performance it's better to shift earlier, and get that e60 M5-like jolt on upshifts.

So all in all it was a "Do not meet your heroes" type of experience for me.
I was dissapointed to say the least, I will never buy the F90 M5, but I am strongly considering the M550i for a daily.

P.S. regarding the M8 Competition - I think it's going to be much similar if not worse. It's a two door cruiser, Monaco and around type of thing (insert similar location of your preference in the world here). NOBODY will buy it for track days. And it will be that much worse than an M850i for regular day to day application, where you want to bring your woman to a nice restaurant, bang her on the car's hood at sunset and bring the two of you home in comfort.
 
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So all in all it was a "Do not meet your heroes" type of experience for me.
I was dissapointed to say the least, I will never buy the F90 M5, but I am strongly considering the M550i for a daily.

P.S. regarding the M8 Competition - I think it's going to be much similar if not worse. It's a two door cruiser, Monaco and around type of thing (insert similar location of your preference in the world here). NOBODY will buy it for track days. And it will be that much worse than an M850i for regular day to day application, where you want to bring your woman to a nice restaurant, bang her on the car's hood at sunset and bring the two of you home in comfort.

Un peu en retard dans mon repost. Tu constate ce que j'ai remarqué avec mon X3. J'ai essayé le X3M competition et j'ai un X3 M40i comme daily. J'adore mon M40i, beau son, en masse puissant quand tu met en mode Sport +, et vivable au quotidien en mode Comfort. Le X3M compétition, je me faisait barouetter d'un bord pi de l'autre comme un sac de patate. Le X3M a plus de puissance certe mais pas sur que ce hedge compense le manque de raffinement sur nos routes. Au final j'en suis ressortis en me disant que j'échangerais pas mon M40i daily pour un X3m competition. Tu semble arriver au même constat entre Le 5 M550 et la M5 comp.

ça m'amène à me questionner.

1) Est-ce la faute de nos routes? Exemple si on restait au USA sur des routes lisse et parfaite est-ce qu'on dirait la même chose?

2) Est-ce nous qui vieillis? Quand j'avais 20-25 ans une voiture sans compromis sur le confort était ce que je visais, je me fichais pas mal d'être à 4 pouces du sol et de sentir la route dans mon dos.

3) Est-ce que BMW livre la marchandise avec la "competition", le repproche que tout le monde leur font est de dire que les anciennes BMW était driver oriented, que ça s'est embourgeoisé et que les nouvelles manque de piquant. Là il arrive avec des versions competition sans aucun compromis, track oriented, des monstres qui dévore l'asphalte et en réponse on dit qu'on s'ennuis de notre confort et que nos os font mal à chaque trou, que nos café à moitier plein se renverse.

En quoi crois tu que le M3 comp serait mieux? Il sera avec le même système AWD désactivable que le M5...

By the way je te repproche rien, j'ai pas essayé le M5 mais je pense probablement comme toi au final que je serais écœuré après un mois. Je me questionne juste si c'est la faute de BMW ou facteur externe.
 
Un peu en retard dans mon repost. Tu constate ce que j'ai remarqué avec mon X3. J'ai essayé le X3M competition et j'ai un X3 M40i comme daily. J'adore mon M40i, beau son, en masse puissant quand tu met en mode Sport +, et vivable au quotidien en mode Comfort. Le X3M compétition, je me faisait barouetter d'un bord pi de l'autre comme un sac de patate. Le X3M a plus de puissance certe mais pas sur que ce hedge compense le manque de raffinement sur nos routes. Au final j'en suis ressortis en me disant que j'échangerais pas mon M40i daily pour un X3m competition. Tu semble arriver au même constat entre Le 5 M550 et la M5 comp.

ça m'amène à me questionner.

1) Est-ce la faute de nos routes? Exemple si on restait au USA sur des routes lisse et parfaite est-ce qu'on dirait la même chose?

2) Est-ce nous qui vieillis? Quand j'avais 20-25 ans une voiture sans compromis sur le confort était ce que je visais, je me fichais pas mal d'être à 4 pouces du sol et de sentir la route dans mon dos.

3) Est-ce que BMW livre la marchandise avec la "competition", le repproche que tout le monde leur font est de dire que les anciennes BMW était driver oriented, que ça s'est embourgeoisé et que les nouvelles manque de piquant. Là il arrive avec des versions competition sans aucun compromis, track oriented, des monstres qui dévore l'asphalte et en réponse on dit qu'on s'ennuis de notre confort et que nos os font mal à chaque trou, que nos café à moitier plein se renverse.

En quoi crois tu que le M3 comp serait mieux? Il sera avec le même système AWD désactivable que le M5...

By the way je te repproche rien, j'ai pas essayé le M5 mais je pense probablement comme toi au final que je serais écœuré après un mois. Je me questionne juste si c'est la faute de BMW ou facteur externe.

Just remembered I made this post, and read your answer.

Pas mal certain que le facteur de notre vieillissement joue un role important quand on commence a regarder ces voitures, qui constituent une depense importante, et alors meme si on les voulait "no questions asked" dans la phase d'exploration, on commence a regarder toutes les points et aspets lors de l'achat serieux.

Par contre le temps passe et les choses changent.

Les voitures electriques arrivent...

La taxe de luxe arrive aussi...

I will never buy the F90 M5, but I am strongly considering the M550i for a daily.

Should probably never say "never" :p haha

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C'est sur que c'est du cash aussi. Plus on avance en âge plus on a de cash, ce qu'on n'avait pas plus jeune, mais plus on avance en âge moins ils nous restent d'année que le cash rentre. Si je peux prendre ma retraite à 55 ans pas de M8 est-ce mieux qu'avoir la M8 mais avoir à travailler 2-3 ans de plus? La vie c'est spécial lol

Pour le EV ça me chicotte aussi, chicotte pas dans le sens que ça me fait peur pour la valeur de revente, mais plus qu'avec la génération de Woke on peut aussi bien se réveiller un matin en 2035 et qu'on refuse d'immatriculer notre bébelle a gas. Comme le ban des véhicules militaires.
 
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