What key feature is missing from the new BMW M5?

When I drove the new M5 this week at the USA press launch (I'll post my personal review soon) one item that I've been used to having on virtually every car I've owned was missing from the new M5.

Can you guess what it is?

Because of the necessity of front brake vents in the front bumper of the car, BMW removed the foglamps from the lower bumper area.

When I posed the question of why they did not compensate by adding a foglight inside the main front light housing to the M5 product manager, he said the reason was because exterior lighting on cars is the third most expensive thing to develop on today's vehicles.

Plus there were all kinds of legal hoops you have to jump through to get them certified.

Interesting....has anyone else heard this?

Chip - 10/31/2005 7:32:55 PM

+1 Boost

You wouldnt buy a car because it doesnt have foglights?

Seriously..??? You cant be serious.

An M5 with Bi-Xenon Adaptive Headlights isnt enough.

I personally think the car looks cleaner without them.

Shows off the beautiful lower valance in a way the 550i cant.

Dont kid yourself. If you were ready to buy an M5, you wouldnt give two sh*ts about a 40-watt bulb in your lower bumper.

This is just yet another stupid reason for people to jump on the bashing BMW bandwagon.

Foglights??????

Whats next?

The ashtray is too small....I'm going over to Lexus.

pauloc - 11/7/2005 4:53:02 AM

+1 Boost

I bought a new UK spec M5 in July and questioned my dealer as to where they had gone. The response was that the V10 engine and brakes require so much more air to cool (nearly double that of a 545i) that the fogs were put back in the parts bin.
However the light spread of the Xenon is so good you will not need them!!!!!!

Whatever!, just know you really do not mind having them as the car is AMAZING on a daily basis!

lseven - 11/7/2005 1:37:30 PM

+1 Boost

I agree that the fog lights are not necessary 99% of the time, so I think this is no big deal. Also, BMWs tend to be driven without the foglights on more than other models, partially due to the fact that a dash light appears whenever the fog lights are on. Too annoying to leave on all the time, and I think BMW doesn't intend them to be left on all the time anyway.