For those members (or guests) who have not viewed davidoli's long running thread recently, in which the above titled BMW Car Magazine special is discussed, I thought I'd lift its profile and highlight it via a dedicated thread.
This special, 163-page booklet (£8.99 from Unity Media) combines most of the magazine's past articles covering all four incarnations of the M5, plus the original E12 M535i and a few other lesser known editions of the M5 - including the mothballed prototype of the E34 M5 convertible.
Although any longterm subscriber to the parent magazine will have read all or most of these articles in years gone by, it is good to have them published collectively in a single, high quality, handy reference book such as this.
One small gripe however, upon receipt of my copy today via airmail from the UK, is that the spine was damaged/torn and the front cover was dog-eared at the top corner, despite the book being packaged in a jiffy bag. I feel that a little more packaging care is needed, such as a light cardboard sheath to protect the cover during transit.
Now I don't want to detract in any way from the excellent articles contained in this book, and I mean no disrespect at all to the journalists, photographers, editors and the featured car owners themselves, but in my view, for a little more effort and a few more pages, they could have turned this into the 'absolute ultimate M5 guide': firstly by including a section detailing all of the M5 series production data, and further by introducing some more fresh material not already published.
And from an E28 M5 perspective, it was disappointing to see the NA-spec cars virtually excluded from this book, with only one sentence in a single article acknowledging the existence of both the SA and NA spec cars - no pictures or articles featuring these variants.
Owners and enthusiasts in the wider forum may disagree, but as good as this special is, I would gladly have paid another couple of £'s for a more complete and comprehensive guide, mailed in a more robust form of packaging.:Thumbdown::M5thumbs:
This special, 163-page booklet (£8.99 from Unity Media) combines most of the magazine's past articles covering all four incarnations of the M5, plus the original E12 M535i and a few other lesser known editions of the M5 - including the mothballed prototype of the E34 M5 convertible.
Although any longterm subscriber to the parent magazine will have read all or most of these articles in years gone by, it is good to have them published collectively in a single, high quality, handy reference book such as this.
One small gripe however, upon receipt of my copy today via airmail from the UK, is that the spine was damaged/torn and the front cover was dog-eared at the top corner, despite the book being packaged in a jiffy bag. I feel that a little more packaging care is needed, such as a light cardboard sheath to protect the cover during transit.
Now I don't want to detract in any way from the excellent articles contained in this book, and I mean no disrespect at all to the journalists, photographers, editors and the featured car owners themselves, but in my view, for a little more effort and a few more pages, they could have turned this into the 'absolute ultimate M5 guide': firstly by including a section detailing all of the M5 series production data, and further by introducing some more fresh material not already published.
And from an E28 M5 perspective, it was disappointing to see the NA-spec cars virtually excluded from this book, with only one sentence in a single article acknowledging the existence of both the SA and NA spec cars - no pictures or articles featuring these variants.
Owners and enthusiasts in the wider forum may disagree, but as good as this special is, I would gladly have paid another couple of £'s for a more complete and comprehensive guide, mailed in a more robust form of packaging.:Thumbdown::M5thumbs:
