BMW M5 CS

[mikeavelli]

The E46 CSL might have lost its crown with me. I am head over heels for it. It recently won EVO car of the year. Dropped over 200lbs, those trick M3/4 seats front and rear, 10 more hp and some other stuff.

2023 BMW M5 CS review: nonsensical on paper, sublime in practice | Evo

Never has a modern supersaloon been more tactile or engaging; the M5 CS is truly an all-time great

www.evo.co.uk

Unfortunately like any car in demand it’s going for like 20-60k over. That’s is a used one here for 199k with 3k miles lol.

I checked one out in person and it’s just wonderful to me.

 

[Gor134]

These are insane machines. Nothing will top an E9X M3 Competition in Le Mans Blue or Alpine White for me though 😮‍💨

 

[Ian Schmidt]

There are several genuine classics in BMW's past (when I lived in Orlando I saw a 2002 out on the road almost every day, which is exactly what you should do with a car like that), but this is easily the best thing they make today.

 

[Motor]

It’s a bloody monster.

 

[Levi]

Car is top. Brand has become undesirable.

 

[CRSKTN]

At the risk of being contrarian here I would love for someone to explain to me the appeal. I respect the car for what it is, buts it’s not appealing to me. The idea of a mid size, high powered saloon is great, I just don’t quite get the M5’s strong following.

 

[mmcartalk]

At the risk of being contrarian here I would love for someone to explain to me the appeal. I respect the car for what it is, buts it’s not appealing to me. The idea of a mid size, high powered saloon is great, I just don’t quite get the M5’s strong following.

There's probably no one Explain-it-All, but the most likely reason(s) is that BMW's image is still basking in the 1980s, when it was the classic Yuppie-Brand, and later in the 90s, when the auto-mags loved BMWs and they were winning all of the comparison tests. However IMHO at least, much of that actually went out with the Chris-Bangle cars, I-Drive, lighter-weight construction (tinnier-feeling doors/hardware, etc...), and the relatively recent steering/suspension re-designs. The electric steering systems were simpler and more reliable, but basically changed the way the vehicles felt on the road.

This is not characteristic of only BMW by any means. Many people are still judging today's Hyundai and Kia products by what they produced a quarter-century ago. Minds sometimes change very slowly.

 

[Levi]

At the risk of being contrarian here I would love for someone to explain to me the appeal. I respect the car for what it is, buts it’s not appealing to me. The idea of a mid size, high powered saloon is great, I just don’t quite get the M5’s strong following.

It mostly appeals to BMW fans. It is the ultimate performance version of what BMW has to offer. It is the brand, the rather iconic model name, the performance. And there is nothing wrong with that IMO. I just don't like BMW since they went turbo and awd, because I do not associate them with this. And then there is the brand image, especially in Europe, where every grandma and their dog drives one, while the brand is usually used by criminals, and stands for criminality in Russia and Romania.

 

[F1 Silver Arrows]

I'd say BMW is making a renaissance as of 2015 in terms of building overall good cars. However the styling is such a miss on some of the newer BMW's.

 

[ssun30]

The M5 CS had one purpose, to be the fastest sedan in a straight line possible while complying with European emissions, and BMW engineers spared no effort creating it.

 

[NXracer]

It mostly appeals to BMW fans. It is the ultimate performance version of what BMW has to offer. It is the brand, the rather iconic model name, the performance. And there is nothing wrong with that IMO. I just don't like BMW since they went turbo and awd, because I do not associate them with this. And then there is the brand image, especially in Europe, where every grandma and their dog drives one, while the brand is usually used by criminals, and stands for criminality in Russia and Romania.

The awd system intrigues me, but i assume is overly complex.

 

[mikeavelli]

At the risk of being contrarian here I would love for someone to explain to me the appeal. I respect the car for what it is, buts it’s not appealing to me. The idea of a mid size, high powered saloon is great, I just don’t quite get the M5’s strong following.

For me
1. Rare
2. seems to be the best M5 in years in performance
3. those seats
4. looks (especially before they surely destroy it with the next generation)
5. size is perfect to me.

 

[Ian Schmidt]

Everything Mike said. Plus this may be BMW's last great ICE car.

 

[ssun30]

I test drove the regular M5 today. It deserves every compliment it gets. Best go fast and be practical car on the market. Not a track machine but not really necessary. Wish the GS-F wasn't killed.

Still, for that kind of price I would take a LC500.

BTW I also met the most knowledgeable and enthusiastic salesperson ever. He knew every single detail of the car and we had a really nice conversation despite knowing I'm not buying a M5 (yet?). He drives the M5 Competition himself because he felt the beaver teeth grill on M3/M4 is ridiculous.

That's the part I really like about BMW shopping experience so far. It seems they always assign a real M enthusiast to me with great knowledge and patience. Porsche is similar. That's something I don't get from a Mercedes or Audi to the same level. And Lexus is just awful in that, their salespeople are so used to selling RX and ES they have zero idea how to sell a performance car.

 

[CRSKTN]

Lexus salespeople seem to know nothing about their cars.

It’s truly shocking. They asked to see my NX because none of them knew about the system. The guy who was supposed to be walking me through the car was like sitting with someone not familiar with operating a tablet as he reads an instruction manual or waits for my phone to install an app. Why are you even here? They couldn’t even tell me if the LX would get OTA LSS3 or not.

It’s a shame when the rest of the experience has been good (but deteriorating).

When cars sell themselves, I guess it’s hard to motivate sales teams.

Maybe time for higher salary, less commission boutique service approach to dealership client facing talent.

 

[F1 Silver Arrows]

Lexus salespeople seem to know nothing about their cars.

It’s truly shocking. They asked to see my NX because none of them knew about the system. The guy who was supposed to be walking me through the car was like sitting with someone not familiar with operating a tablet as he reads an instruction manual or waits for my phone to install an app. Why are you even here? They couldn’t even tell me if the LX would get OTA LSS3 or not.

It’s a shame when the rest of the experience has been good (but deteriorating).

When cars sell themselves, I guess it’s hard to motivate sales teams.

Maybe time for higher salary, less commission boutique service approach to dealership client facing talent.

This.

Lexus needs to get their act together in terms of having passionate and knowledgeable salespeople. I remember us complaining about Lexus' issues with their dealerships for a couple of years now. Customer service is and always will be A+, but they lost that competitive edge over their German rivals in terms of attitude and selling product.

Lexus' avoidance to compete with the Germans with excellent entries like the RX and ES has yielded salespeople who just push customers to those two cars as a cop-out, over actually selling cars that are in a lot of ways, are better dynamically and are unique to Lexus.

This was a huge reason why the GS was killed, and cars like the GX, IS, RC, LS, LC, LX were in danger for some time until Lexus has revitalized themselves in the past few years. I expect with the newer, more enthusiast-oriented Lexus we'll have salesmen to back up the whole host of exciting cars that are coming (and are already here).

 

[Motor]

 

[JustADude]

Hopefully we see something around Porsche's rated 700hp from Lexus, TTV8 Hybrid. M5 is such a beast, especially the CS

 

[ssun30]

They will have a 700hp sports sedan when everyone else make a 2000hp sedan. So it will happen.

 

[mikeavelli]

The M5 CS gets me all hot and bothered.