So as some of you may have noticed, I have a bit of a car fetish (I think it's safe to call it that). My boss went car shopping today and I went along. He was going to look at a used black on black convertible '07 M6 (SMG) w/ 20K miles and a used silver on black '07 M5 (Manual) w/ 10K miles. I was pretty unexcited about the M6, especially after trincap's not-so-positive review.

Both of these cars were actually at the Bentley/Rolls Royce division of the dealership as they had just been traded for Bentleys and hadn't made their way over to the BMW used lot; and were waiting in the Bentley holding lot. I'm used to tooling around on car lots in golf carts, but the salesman took us over to his "selection" to use to drive to the other lot - a brand new Bentley Continental Flying Spur. I have never been a fan of Bentley until I got in this one. The car was just short of amazing. Even the exhaust note on it was perfect. Alas, it was just a short ride to the other lot, but an enjoyable one at that.

We got there and started out with the M6, me in the back. Even for me it was pretty uncomfortable. The roof was touching my hair and the rear seat is at an awful angle that makes you feel like you are going to fall forward out of it. The rest of the car was equally unimpressive. It had some upgraded leather package which actually looked worse than the normal due to the way it wears/creases. The car was quick, but the SMG was horribly jerky and unpleasant (to me, as a passenger); and the car was otherwise boring and uninspiring. My boss was leaning towards the '6 before we got there, but I kept telling him he wasn't going to like it; he didn't believe me. He feigned interest in it for a little bit........ until we found the M5.

I'd never been in an M5 before but have a reasonable level of disdain for the "regular" 5 series (the interior is very .. blah). Getting into this M5 was a wholly different story. I was expecting to be equally unimpressed with it as I was the '6, but this car was something completely different. It was actually a whole car, and a nice looking/feeling one at that (and LESS expensive than the used M6 which had twice the mileage).

Once we were on our way in the '5, I was a little disappointed. Everyone's response was a little tepid, but I knew there was something missing. I told my boss to hit the 'M' button on the steering wheel, and he did; and at that instant the car transformed into an amazing beast. The pickup was impressive, as was the handling/stability on a fairly curvy road. It still absorbed imperfections in the road without much intrusion into the chassis. Both cars had the AWFUL iDrive that I lamented about in the X5 I had for a little while.

The manual, in this case, seems to have out shined the SMG by far. Still only being a passenger, the car was much smoother between shifts. At the end of the day - I was really surprised how much I liked the M5. Enough to consider one in my future, despite my general dislike of the BMW-brand-image.

And here are some random pictures I shamelessly took while at the dealership (I somehow managed to only get 1 interior pic of the M6, and no pics of the M5 at all..)


F599 in the background:



Assortment of Bentley's, etc. The one "above" the Ferrari is what we got chauffeured around in.



.. And more cars... (hey.. one of those looks familiar!)




Inside the Bentley:







Inside of the M6:



A Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe (the stainless is pretty cool I must admit)



Rolls Royce Phantom:


Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe:





So much for a recession, huh?



PS - I think the RR's look freaking ridiculous in person. They have 21"s with HUGE tires on them. They look like they are ready to go 4x4'ing.

Nope!  

Hopefully by Friday i'll have infinite chances to get pics..

Buahahahahahahhahahah!!!

Shame on you Oz...ok you'll redeem yourself Friday...the 13th 

Like the M?  

Well, but it's taller in the front...I mean look at the wheel gap...

Yeah, love hate relationship with my M6.  It's great when you hit the M button and go tearing off but the SMG thing.  Man is that bad.  I could shift faster and smoother with one foot and one hand (seriously I could, just don't use the clutch and feather the pedal, upshift).  I hear that they are giving up and switching to dual clutch.  Sad thing is the 330i or whatever version has twin turbos has one of the nicest manual I've ever had the pleasure of driving.  Now that thing is smooth as silk.  Amazing how there can be such a divergence between cars under the same brand.  I wouldn't suggest the M6 to be honest.  Still got a year on this one though, then it's back to the R8 unless something more interesting comes along.
P.S. The 599 is a truly amazing car.  The RR Phantom is kind of stupid (mink floor mats? W T F?).  The Bentley is a superb car and I'd suggest it any day.