Big thanks to member warrenatc for doing this testdrive for us
"My drive of the delimited Hartge M5
I would like to thank Mathias Hemmer of Pentagon military sales for organizing the test drive andJörg Wey at Hartge for allowing me to take their pride and joy out on the public roads alone for some fun.
I got word I could test the car vice a regular M5 as none were available as you could imagine so Mathias scheduled my drive for after work on Friday 24th Jun. I drove the 55mins to Saarbrucken from Ramstein to their facility. I wish I knew they were this close before, as I would have made more visits. Unfortunately the test would be right before closing so I only spent 20-30mins driving the beast and a little longer chatting with their representative Jörg Wey. It was rushed as the car is going to a customer the following week, but I could not turn down the offer. On arrival, I was greeted by Jörg Wey and I could tell this was a great organization, nice facilities with friendly knowledgeable people. After taking a few pics and getting some paperwork out the way we went to the M5. Jorge showed me around the car to display the mods they had done and how to operate SMG since it was my first time driving with it.
The mods on the car are pretty much complete per Hartge, front/rear lip, new exhaust (still needs the laser Hartge inscriptions though) delimiter box, wheels and interior components (handbrake handle, pedals, floormats). Upon startup, the exhaust sounded deeper and meaner than stock from what I have heard on other posts of M5’s in idle and getting the gas on. Apparently four M5’s are headed down to their facility from Sweden for fitting of the Hartge exhaust…any board members we know off?
Wheels: Huge! 21”rs with rubber band tires on it they looked so thin but held up well. Around 5100 Euro for the set, they make my 18’s on my e34 next to it look tiny! The ride was quite compliant, not rough and the car was easy to navigate fast lane changes on the highway.
Body Kit: I liked the front lip and rear added on component. It seemed to complete the picture and gave the car a distinctive look.
Suspension: It was lowered approx 1” all the way round and felt tight and responsive, just like my e34 which has a lowered suspension. Not exactly go-cart like, however very little body roll was felt when I yanked the car over from lane to lane on the autobahn. I could not remember the price for the suspension mods but it seemed reasonable maybe 380 euros or less. I played with the EDC but did not notice too much difference on the highway maybe it was due to the suspension mods?
Delimiter: Jörg Wey told me that he heard that originally “M” engineers wanted a derestricted car to compete with the likes of AMG but Munich would not allow it. So it is an easy fix to apply the delimiter box which attaches with two wires (Did not see it). Jörg Wey said it would cost approx 2500Euros which I thought was expensive, but it comes with a 6500euro insurance policy if it screws up the engine. Due to traffic I did not get to test it out but got going pretty quickly (250kph+) on one stretch a can be seen in one of the videos clips The ride was smooth as silk and you could not tell you were going that fast. Darn the traffic!
SMG: I drove in s5 mode mostly but found the up shifts had a bit of lag and the car speed dropped for a moment before picking up. Since it was my first time driving SMG I was probably not doing something right. I thought the shift speed would be more or less instant. I tried it in “D” and found the car quite lazy it easily went up to 7th and felt like I was loafing around, a quick stab of the gas and the car downsleected to 3rd and we were off. I definitely need more seat time to get an accurate assessment of the tranny but it worked well nevertheless.
Engine: A masterpiece, willing and enthusiastic with tons of grunt on tap.
Brakes: Like throwing an anchor out the window they inspired confidence even at high autobahn speeds.
The best part of the drive was the intoxicating sound of accelerating, letting off downshifting with the computer blipping the engine and accelerating again. If it was not for the HUD displaying my speed, I think I would be in jail; it just wants to go fast and is ready to give it all. This is definitely a driver’s car!
I tried to capture the raw acceleration of the V10 through some video clips from my little Casio Exlim. I hope they give you an idea of what I experienced; it was a little difficult holding the camera and driving/shifting but I wanted all the board members to feel what I felt. It was a great experience; my heart was definitely beating much faster when I arrived back at their facility. Good on Hartge for stretching the envelope on an already impressive car. If you are on the fence, don’t wait, life is short, get your order in now for an M5, you won’t regret it. I hope you found this review helpful, enjoy the pics/clips!
Respectfully
Warren Barreto"
Some shorter videos will come
Pricing of the wheels:
HARTGE CLASSIC 2 wheel set
9.5 x 21" offset 18 with 255 / 30 ZR 21 ContiSC-2 front
10.5 x 21" offset 22 with 295 / 25 ZR 21 ContiSC-2 rear
The front comes with 10 mm spacers (equals to offset 8).
Retail price: 5,100 EUR + VAT and transport or installation.
Technical requirements:
Front wheel housing, no modifications necessary
Reworking the rear wheel housing is required (rolling the inside
edge in the lower region of the wheel arch)
Reworking the bumper paneling in the region of the wheel arch (cut
some small plastic pieces)
ENGINE
12 60 5000
HARTGE modification of the top speed limit
(in preparation)
SUSPENSION
31 60 0200
HARTGE sports spring set for M5 E60, 30 mm lower
(in preparation)
CAR BODY
51 60 0410
HARTGE front spoiler lip for M5 E60
(in preparation)
51 60 0420
HARTGE rear skirt for M5 E60
(in preparation)
99 63 0000 C
HARTGE set of emblems for bonnet and boot lid
COCKPIT / INTERIOR
32 63 0600 C
HARTGE 3-spoke leather steering wheel
with carbon inserts
(not in conjunction with heated steering wheel)
32 63 0650 C
HARTGE 3-spoke leather steering wheel
(not in conjunction with heated steering wheel)
32 99 1000 N
Charge for original BMW steering wheel
(refunding after return of the original steering wheel)
41 46 0050 C
HARTGE set of aluminium pedals (2)
41 85 0100 C
HARTGE aluminium handbrake cover
99 49 0100 A
HARTGE aluminium emblem for steering wheel
"HARTGE" embossed
Ø 45.5 mm for all BMWs from 09/98
41 60 0900 E
Set of HARTGE velours floor mats, black
(other colors on request)
EXHAUST
18 60 0760
HARTGE stainless steel rear silencer
with dual round tail pipes left and right
(in preparation)
18 60 0765
HARTGE stainless steel rear silencer
with dual oval tail pipes left and right
(in preparation)
18 60 0755
HARTGE connecting pipe (replacement of pre-silencer)
(in preparation)
WHEEL / TYRE COMBINATION
All HARTGE wheel sets can be equipped with Tyre Pressure Control (TPC) and sets of lockable wheel bolts.
37 60 0285 J
HARTGE CLASSIC wheel set
9 x 20" offset 8 with 255 / 35 ZR 20 front
10 x 20" offset 22 with 285 / 30 ZR 20 rear
37 60 0295 J
HARTGE CLASSIC 2 wheel set
9.5 x 21" offset 8 with 255 / 30 ZR 21 front
10.5 x 21" offset 22 with 295 / 25 ZR 21 rear
37 60 0286 J
HARTGE NOVA 7 wheel set
9 x 20" offset 8 with 255 / 35 ZR 20 front
10 x 20" offset 21 with 285 / 30 ZR 20 rear
All HARTGE wheel sets can be equipped with Pirelli or Continental tyres.
ACCESSORIES
99 49 1904 B
HARTGE insignia 120 x 19 mm
99 49 1905 B
HARTGE insignia 90 x 11 mm
99 49 1906 B
HARTGE insignia 72 x 12 mm
99 49 0904 B
HARTGE insignia, blue 130 x 40 mm
99 49 0903 E
HARTGE decal 215 x 65 mm
99 49 0922 E
HARTGE embroidered emblem 130 x 40 mm
99 49 0125 B
HARTGE key ring
99 49 0973 E
HARTGE pin, 26 mm
99 49 0106 E
HARTGE Roadster V8 watch
99 49 0107 B
HARTGE dual time indicator quartz watch, silver
with black leather strap
99 49 0971 B
HARTGE aluminium umbrella, outer colour silver,
underneath royal blue
99 49 0960 E
HARTGE Parker ball point pen
99 49 0921 B
HARTGE towel 70 x 140 cm
99 49 0975 E
HARTGE cap, dark blue
Please note that technical data is subject to alterations.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact our service team.
Please find our latest news on the internet under www.hartge.de
HERBERT HARTGE GmbH & Co. KG · An der B 51 · D-66701 Beckingen · Germany
Tel. 00 49-6835/506-11 · Fax 00 49-6835/506-17 · Internet www.hartge.de
Approved as an automobile manufacturer by the KBA
(German Government Motor Vehicle Authority).
I couldn't get either of the 2 hi res pics to work. Do you by any chance have any shots of the interior? I'd be very interested to see what they have done with the iDrive knob.
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\m/ O_o \m/
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Last edited by citystar; 28th June 2005 at 21:36.
Reason: misspelling
Great report. It looks like the quality of E60 M5 modifications is going to be first rate, although I wouldn't put 21" wheels on mine.
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Ashok
2002 E39 Carbonblack/Caramel M5 (best car I ever owned)
2005 E60 Blue Onyx/Caramel/Light Figured Ash M5 (worst car I ever owned)
2007 E90 Montego Blue/Black Alpina D3 (sublime) Let me tell you what SMG stands for...
Thanks for the report, Warren. I don't see the videos. Will they be posted in the future?
I agree that the 21" wheels are too big, and have to degrade ride quality due to the extreme low-profile tires. I do wonder how 20" would look.
of course in Gérmany (and some other places) where roads are pretty flat that size is real cool, but I guess 20" would be compromise
LOL I still remember when 16" wheels were COOL
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Forza Ferrari, Kimi vs Schumi..
Testdrive:Hartge M5 E60 conversion (chip, exhaust, interiour exterior, delimiter etc)
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