FIRST Delivery Of A 2014 BMW M5 Competition Package Arrives In Sakhir Style

What a BEAUTY!

It seems to be a pretty epic car. I used to really like M5's. I remember when they were $60k or so. They are just so expensive these days and you can say all you want about technology and performance but unlike computers and phones and so forth, auto tech seems to not be coming down in price so for every bit of performance improvement that the current M5 has over the old ones, you are paying for that difference. Except that the "intangibles" of having a premium high-performance BMW in turn simply become more expensive. It's not any more awesome to have a nice BMW parked in front of your office building than it was 10 years ago, and may actually be less awesome due to oversaturation with those 3-series and all BMWs looking fairly similar to the layman. Sorry for the rant but much as I love looking at these cars when I scroll down to the sticker price (or typically the "as-tested" price or whatever) I am far less impressed. It's why I really respect the new Stingray and that it stayed at under $60k for a great-looking and fairly well equipped sports car, and why I like other "performance bargains", but find the mad price hike of the GT-R to be epic trolling. And BMWs have become far more expensive over the last several years as well (as have their competitors; I shouldn't single BMW out I suppose) which is really just a shame. Maybe if I were really rich I'd have a different perspective or just not care, but I'm also bummed that the high price of the M5 and E63 and so forth is pushing even the next CTS-V into a higher price range. It's making these cars less and less attainable as their prices outpace most "normal" pay raises.

Really nice..

Looks can be deceiving.

This generation M5 is no epic car: Car and Driver mag ranked the 2013 BMW M5 (193 points out of 240) in last place in its comparo with the 2013 Audi S6 and Mercedes E63 AMG.
http://tinyurl.com/cqntdwx
http://tinyurl.com/6olv8mu

BMW's Competition Package did not do much for the last M3 (it couldn't even keep up with an Audi TT RS Plus or Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport on all six race tracks in an Autobild competition) -- so it's interesting to see whether this M5 Competition Package and pretty colors will be able to fix or compensate the inherent flaws on this M5.

Horst von Saurma is a world-renown tester of cars and motorbikes on the Nurburgring and Hockenheim race tracks. In his August 2012 supertest of the M5 (see links), von Saurma questioned the press hype of the M5 as a "high-performance sports car on the track". Von Saurma achieved his 8:05 min laptime on the Nurburgring on his first run and was unable to reproduce or improve the laptime in subsequent attempts because of brake fade and overheated tires (despite having excellent Michelin Pilot Super Sport). Even on the smaller track at Hockenheim, subsequent runs were a problem. von Saurma found the M5 to be too heavy, aerodynamically worse, etc compared to the previous generation M5. M GmbH could only work with the base car sent to them by BMW but this weight problem and other flaws forced M GmbH to make compromises that von Saurma and other BMW enthusiasts did not like. No doubt von Saurma (on behalf of M GmbH) was sending a message to BMW management to eliminate these flaws in the next generation of 5 Series. The first two links (especially the second link) provides von Saurma's assessment of the M5.
http://tinyurl.com/l79a3bb
http://tinyurl.com/btnczwz
http://tinyurl.com/lztemu2

Seeing HD photos of a Sakhir Orange BMW M5 car is one thing... now watch a video of a Sakhir Orange M5 against a Porsche.

Motor Trend 2012 head-to-head comparo of the Sakhir Orange BMW M5 and Porsche Panamera GTS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhykdFxSWR0

MT's Jonny Lieberman likes BMWs (and this test was done one year before the Audi RS7 was to be released in Germany. But even Lieberman had to admit that the Panamera GTS was simply the better of the two cars to drive, had better steering, was more precise, and would win more stoplight-to-stop light races than the M5. The M5 was a blunt instrument.

The Panamera five-door sportback is longer and bigger than the M5 sedan. What's worse is that the naturally-aspirated, 440 HP, 384 lb.-ft torque Panamera GTS sportback was underpowered and not the appropriate car in August 2012 to compare against the twin-turbo 552 hp, 502 lb ft torque BMW sedan. The more appropriate Porsche last year was the twin-turbo 550 hp, 590 lb ft torque Panamera Turbo S sportback. Car and Driver clocked the Panamera Turbo S at 3.0 Sec to 60 mph and 11.4 sec to the standing quarter mile. Even today's regular Panamera Turbo with Sport Chrono option is more appropriate than the Panamera GTS.
Audi S7 vs Porsche Panamera GTS
http://www.autobild.de/artikel/audi-s7-sportback-gegen-porsche-panamera-gts-3430056.html

Even the M6 Coupe has similar problems.
Motor Trend test of the Sakhir Orange BMW M6 Coupe:
"(the M6) feels a little less in its element when you point the nose towards your favorite bit of winding road.... the M6 doesn't move or communicate as well as lighter, sportier cars in this price range. Initial understeer can transition through neutral to oversteer with a boot of throttle exiting tighter bends, but road feeling seems like it's filtered through thousands of pounds of metal, leather, and rubber. By the time it reaches the driver, it's been censored enough that the feeling of involvement is minimal.... But let's face it: Anyone buying an M6 under the pretention that it's a light, nimble sports car is woefully misguided and should have bought a Porsche 911.... the car's sheer size makes it a little ungainly in heavy city traffic.... The M6 transmits far too much road noise to be a suitable grand tourer. The stock Michelins demand that stereo volume is raised to a high enough level to subdue the unrelenting groan of rubber against road. Frankly, it's just a frustrating experience for anyone looking to cover hundreds of miles in relative quiet..... Since its 1986 inception, BMW's M6 has always been a bit of a compromise. Too bulky to play sports car on the best back roads and too high-strung to soak up the miles in comfort, the M6 tends to fall into an in-between space.... if you're a dyed-in-the-wool enthusiast looking for an everyday supercar with soul, there are better options available."
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1308_2013_bmw_m6_coupe_first_test/

I really like the refreshed M5 with the competition package. The updated headlights and lower ride height make it look even better!

My co-worker has an imperial blue M5 with black merino leather and it looks very very nice. It's fast has hell too!! :)