Wow its a BMW sandwich !!!

E39///M5 · 18th July 2012, 06:38

Sorry no crazy Alaska mountains in the background this time but its still a very nice photo. Hope you like the picture

Have a great week everyone !!!!

k.vu246 · 18th July 2012, 10:07

Nice spread of cars there! These are actually the three cars I've been considering for the last few months. What are your thoughts on how they compare to each other?

Ribs · 18th July 2012, 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by k.vu246

Nice spread of cars there! These are actually the three cars I've been considering for the last few months. What are your thoughts on how they compare to each other?

Nice cars!

Depends what you're after.

R32 is slower by a large margin, but still drinks about the same as the M3 (23mpg ish) and will generally cost you less to maintain.

M3 (Don't think It's a CSL - I see CSL wheels but I don't see a carbon front splitter) is incredibly highly rated, even as a used car - My brother's got one and can generally get a return of 23 mpg on standard journey - Also better if you're considering track days.

I can also quote my brother saying "If my M3 wasn't convertible, I'd have your M5"

M5 is the one I'd personally choose - It is less common than either of the above and is also by a small margin faster than the M3.
It also costs more to maintain and drinks more fuel - I'm usually doing about 21mpg, but did manage 30 on a 1500 mile road trip to Switzerland.

Not sure what you guys pay for insurance over there, but certainly here you're looking at similar costs for all three (Actually a bit lower for the M5 - something to do with number of crashes especially the R32!)

Also you may want to consider the car's size and number of doors (The M5 with a winning 4 doors and massive boot) and the fact the the M5 has front parking sensors (Here in the UK the M3 only has rear, not sure about the R32 although I doubt it!)

There is of course a ton of other stuff you should consider, but I think that most people here will steer you to the M5!!
I've had mine 2 years now and apart from the maintanence/fuel costs couldn't be happier!

Enjoy, whatever you decide to purchase.

yellowgixxer · 18th July 2012, 14:14

Technically it's a VW sandwich, though. Assuming that you colonial types put your filling inside and then name the sandwich accordingly. Otherwise everything would be a bread sandwich...

It is a nice spread of cars though, and having driven all three I'd agree with Ribs and say they're all good, all different and all enjoyable in their way.

But the M5 is the best

YG

TMcNasty · 18th July 2012, 14:47

Nice .:R32. Looks a lot like my blue one (check profile pics). Ribs there's only 5,000 .:R32's in the U.S....didn't BMW send 10,000 M5's here?

k.vu246 · 18th July 2012, 18:55

Shanks Ribs. I only considered the R32 because it's the least expensive of the three to own. I've driven the M5 a handful of times and its got some cajones, not even sure if I want to put in the time to test drive the other two.

TMcNasty, what are your thoughts since you own two of the three?

Didn't mean to hijack your thread E39///M5, just got too excited when I saw all three cars together. Moar pics!

TMcNasty · 18th July 2012, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by k.vu246

TMcNasty, what are your thoughts since you own two of the three?

Both are great cars, but remember one was ~$30k new and the other was ~$75k new. One is an AWD 3-door while the other is a RWD sedan. Apples to oranges in many ways.

The acceleration is a no contest. Hands down the M5 wins there, but the R32 isn't slow and in turns and twisties it feels like a go-kart. The braking (100-0?) at the time was on par or even better than a Ferrari. VW nailed the braking...and also the exhaust note if that matters to you.
The R32 has a MUCH better sounding stereo out of the box, but no navi or HID's. And I assume it's cheaper to maintain. I'm not really sure I've only brought it to VW once for out-of-warranty work.
Gas mileage is also better, but you still need premium.
Amazingly the insurance rate is very close for both. The R32 apparently is accident prone because of the default age bracket of the owners.
Personally I wouldn't recco an M5 over an R32 to someone who can't do their own repairs. The 'laundry list' of things that always seem to break on the R32 is MUCH shorter than the M5. After 36k miles I've had my wheel bearing replaced...that's basically it.

Go test drive 'em both for laughs, but if speed is your main thing you won't choose the R32.

k.vu246 · 19th July 2012, 02:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMcNasty

Amazingly the insurance rate is very close for both. The R32 apparently is accident prone because of the default age bracket of the owners.

Haha truth. My buddy recently spun his into a ditch.

I'm coming off of riding motorbikes for the last 3 years, so I think I'm still favoring the M5 for the 'kick in the pants' acceleration feel.

bmwMcrzy · 19th July 2012, 02:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMcNasty

Nice .:R32. Looks a lot like my blue one (check profile pics). Ribs there's only 5,000 .:R32's in the U.S....didn't BMW send 10,000 M5's here?

You're correct about both numbers. The MKIV R32 was only solid in MY 04 while the E39 M5 was sold in MY 2000-2003.
Those R32s hold their value quite well.

E39///M5 · 19th July 2012, 08:34

Actually we are supercharging the r32 this week and will be somewhere in the 350 bhp range !

I can post pics after I help do the install if anyone wants to check it out